Thriller openings review

During a lesson with my class I reviewed some film openings to famous thrillers and student thriller work, all of them where "Hollywood" or professional films except Micky thriller opening (student work), it was clear that Micky's Thriller opening was not made by a professional this is due to the level of quality of the camera's and editing, however this is understandable given the little money for expensive equipment. Watching this A-level students work will help me when it comes to creating my own and his given me ideas of what to include in our story board.

Watching different film openings has helped me understand how to add elements of horror/ thriller into a film for example how to use different types of camera angles and shots to create suspense and anxiety in a film opening. For example whilst analysing Analysing Arlington Road I noticed that a low angel shot was shown, this can make an audience feel uneasy and anxious because it is an unusual shot to have. 

I also learnt about what types of sound, editing and mise en scene I could use so that our thriller opening can be as effective as possible. For example during the film 28 Days Later sound such as footsteps and echoing is used this created tension and mystery within a film opening and therefore may be something I research in to. 

I was able to fill out a sheet whilst analysing thriller openings and therefore was able to write down the types of shots that I found interesting in each film that I may want to research. 

Openings	Images	Sounds	Titles
What lies beneath	Close up of women to show fear Low angle shot to show the steam  Panning (slow) Over the shoulder to show the characters point of view	Slow/suspicious  A lot of silence  Rumbling noises  Dialogue of screams	No titles
28 Days Later	Long shots to make character look small  Birds eye view shows character and their surroundings  Over the shoulder shot to show point of view and position of character  Establishing shot to show character is alone	Footsteps  Echo to emphasize the emptiness  Non diegetic music	No titles
Arlington Road (opening)	Blurring, this leaves the audience wondering  Low angle shots  Bright images to show time of day  Dissolves  High angle shots	Whispers/voices builds fear Dramatic music that speeds up and builds tension  Shouting creates anxiety and suspense	No titles

Arlington Road (titles)	Close ups to show detail  Small clips  Colour changes throughout sequence  Dark/blurred images  Children  Animals	Singing makes it seem creepy and builds suspense  Screaming	Bold writing  Capital letters  Clear text  Producers names  Film company  Directors  Actors  Film title
Collateral	Main character in focus and backing people out of focus  Slow motion to emphasize things and show detail  Close ups Panning	Dramatic non diegetic music  Crowds talking Fast music to build action  Diegetic sound of footsteps	No titles
The shining	Tracking of a young boy  Image of hotel to set the scene  Over the shoulder shot to show characters view  Long, continuous shots	Non diegetic music gets more tense and the opening goes on to build suspense for the audience.	No titles apart from the day of the week