Timeline of a film openingBy Alessia Carofalo

Conventions of a film opening:• close-ups• Background music (diegetic and non) that link it to the

genre• Credits• Specific lighting e.g. dark or light to set the mood• Some film opening take you straight into the film

introducing characters and plot however some don’t.• Credits stating how they actors are and what character

they played

Conventions of a horror film:

Shots & editing:• Fast panning shots• Fats paced editing

Locations/setting/mise en scene:• Small towns • Past scenes e.g. back to a murder scene• Church or graveyard or old house/mansion • Someone usually dies

Characters:• Victim e.g. young defenceless girl• Killer/murder• Supernatural creature• A range of weak and strong characters

Characters:• Victim e.g. young defenceless girl• Killer/murder• Supernatural creature• A range of weak and strong characters

Props:• Murder weapon e.g. knife• Transport e.g. car or train • Costumes e.g. a hat or bag or a victims personal

belonging

(non) diegetic sounds and music:• Doors and floorboard creaking • Heavy breathing • Footsteps• Screams• Creepy daunting music • Animals making noise e.g. howls

Beginning & ending of horror films:• Start and end finishes with a creepy song that most the

time is very repetitive

General other conventions:• Supernatural elements• Victim being overpowered by a stronger individual

(usually the bad guy or killer)• Struggles/battles – mental and physical

I watched the opening sequence of Dead Silence, I recorded all the titles and text that appeared in the 03:10 sequence. There were a total number of 25 titles within the time frame of 03:10. the director has two set titles nearer the end of the opening sequence at 02:59 and 03:10, this is to show the importance of the director. However the phrase ‘perfect doll’ also has two set titles, moreover this emphasises that the phrase is extremely important and shouldn’t be ignored. Universal Picture also had two set titles too which shows the importance of the company behind the film. In addition I also mapped out pout how the non- diegetic sound is fast from 01:06 then right before the end of the opening sequence of the film the sound (music) abruptly stops. It starts up again slowly like it did in the beginning of the opening sequence with a slow, quiet non-diegetic song that repeats itself, then finally it gradually decreases in volume and fades away.

Dead Silence Opening Sequence

I’ve collected nine shots from YouTube and watched them, I took screenshots of the images and uploaded them straight onto the PowerPoint. The opening doesn’t give much away, its creepy and keeps the audiences attention throughout however whilst keeping the plot hidden.

It’s a very good film opening as it’s a long introduction to the film providing many names of the actors in the film as well as companies and producers. In addition it also gives away some conventions of a horror film, such as:

• Creepy non- diegetic music giving away that it’s a horror• Fast editing

• Lighting colour FX which consists of whites/blacks/blues and shadows