1. EVALUATION OF OPENING
SEQUENCE
KARISHMA PATEL
‘SOPHIE ’

2. Using, developing and challenging forms and
conventions of a thriller opening.
CAMERA WORK
A technique often used in thriller opening sequences is framing
the shot so that the face of the protagonist is cut out. We used
this to build up the tension for the audience and present the
character as more mysterious while she was colouring.
We combined these shots with
extreme close ups of the
character’s eyes (which we then
sped up in post production).
These close ups provided a
contrast to the regular mid shots
that were used, as well as
presenting the sinister side to the
character.
The establishing shot we used was of the ballerina spinning in the music box. Usually, the establishing
shot of a thriller opening sequence is a extreme long shot, panning around the surroundings, but our
shot introduces the audience to the theme of innocence of the film, as well as giving them some context
of where the sound is coming from.

3. Using, developing and challenging forms and
conventions of a thriller opening.
MISE-EN-SCENE
Location 1
Location 2
For the bedroom scene, we chose to use a pink, cream and We chose a section of the forest where although it was dark, there
white colour scheme. We added fairy lights to the bed to was natural light that could be picked up on camera to provide
create more of an atmosphere and provide opportunities to shadows. This lighting combined with the ‘night mode’ on the
create shadows. We also lit mini candles all over the room camera produced a dull, washed out effect. We used the same
to aid lighting. The props we used were childlike, mostly Barbie doll that we used in the bedroom scene but we melted it
toys and dolls. We wanted to present a stereotypical 10 and cut its hair to present a disturbing image of a regular child’s
year old girl’s bedroom – although being a familiar location toy. We also used a piece of rope to tie the doll up with, along with
for our audience, it has the opportunity to be fairly sinister. ripped out pages from the colouring book we used earlier on. We
changed Sophie’s make-up so she had darker eyes, and messed up
her hair more.

4. Using, developing and challenging forms and
conventions of a thriller opening.
TITLES
The font of the titles that are used in thriller openings are conventionally
representative of the themes or ideas that feature in the film, (for example,
the font used in the Saw films appears to have blood dripping off it).
We challenged this convention in the sense that we chose a more classic font
to fit our theme rather than fitting the thriller element. The font reinforces
the childlike quality of our sequence, adding a sinister touch to the final
product.
We also challenged the conventional order of titles used, for practical
reasons. Many of our clips were short cutaway shots, and so we didn’t want
the sequence to be overcrowded with too many names for the audience to
read, so we chose the most important titles and used them.

5. Representation of social groups.
We used two locations to differentiate between
the separate lives of the main character. The
audience are introduced to what seems to be an
innocent 10 year old child playing with dolls in
her bedroom.
Mise-en-scene was something that we focused
on in detail to present the audience with a typical
child’s room (pink and cream furniture, fairy
lights, dolls etc.)
When the main character is seen walking through
a quiet forest, we wanted to present her sinister
side in the most subtle way possible. We decided
to keep her wearing her pyjamas to remind the
audience of the supposed innocence, but we
changed the props from a normal Barbie doll to
one that was melted and distorted.
The intention was to create a stereotypical 10
year old child, but to hint on the idea of her
having the capabilities of being something much
more sinister.

6. Media institutions that might distribute ‘Sophie’
HOW SIMILAR FILMS ARE DISTRIBUTED:
Cinema DVD Television Internet
1) High budget films 1) Audience have 1) Available to a wide 1) Cheap and easy to
2) Money made from to wait some audience access
ticket sales at the time before 2) Publicity e.g. adverts 2) Can be downloaded
box office release date 3) Replayed on channels or streamed online
3) Publicity e.g. 2) Can be watched such as Sky Movies 3) Watched worldwide
posters at bus stops, over and over 4) Can be purchased at Sky
outside cinema, film 3) Continually Box Office, or sometimes
trailers in the popular, even free on demand
cinema after the film
4) Film shown for a has been
limited period of released for
time depending on years
its success Many amateur film directors could use websites such
as YouTube and Vimeo to upload there work.
Creating an internet buzz nowadays can lead to
much bigger things and is a free platform that could
be used for this.

7. Media institutions that might distribute ‘Sophie’
Warner Bros. Pictures could be a possibility for
distributing our film, mainly because they have
distributed many successful thriller films in the past,
including House of Wax (2005), and the inspiration for
our sequence, Orphan (2009).
The gross revenue at the box office for Orphan (2009)
was $78,337,373. This means that Warner Bros. Pictures
have been hugely successful in distributing psychological
thriller films in the past, which is why they would be the
perfect media institution to distribute ‘Sophie.’
The publicity used for Orphan (“There’s something
wrong with Esther”) was a successful way of drawing
people in to see the film, and would be particularly
relevant in regards to the publicity of ‘Sophie.’

8. Media institutions that might distribute ‘Sophie’
Film London Microwave are a
company who specialise in
distributing ‘micro-budget’ films. This
company would be the most realistic
way of distributing our product,
apart from the websites YouTube and
Vimeo that I mentioned earlier.
The company not only help with
funding and resources needed, but
have experts who have knowledge in
marketing and legal aspects of film
distribution.

9. Target audience for a thriller opening.
Gender Age Film
Generally, both genders
enjoy thriller films.
Our target age group is
15 and above, mainly
Certification
However, with our main because the film may Looking at films that
character being a 10 year be slightly have similar themes
old girl, I think it would uncomfortable for to ‘Sophie’ such as
attract more of a female younger viewers to Orphan and
audience. Despite this, watch, especially with Paranormal Activity,
the fact that there are the violent and we decided to certify the
elements of violence and haunting elements it film as a 15. The film
action means that a male includes. contains mature themes
audience may also enjoy and has a psychological
it. aspect that younger
viewers would not
understand fully.

10. Attracting/addressing the audience.
• The vagueness of the title, ‘Sophie’ would draw the audience in, and make them
want to find out who Sophie is and her story.
• The opening sequence quickly introduces the horror theme, rather than developing
the idea of innocence. This gives the genre away to the audience, which is
appropriate and would address the audience more than fooling them into thinking
it was an innocent story about a child.
• The camera shots we used were an attempt to include the audience – for example
the opening shot of the music box means that the audience can quickly determine
where the background music comes from, and instantly introduces them to the
childlike quality of the film.
• We didn’t overcomplicate the location and mise-en-scene, so that the audience
could familiarise themselves with the two surroundings and understand what they
represent character.
• When promoting our film, we would use a technique like the use of the quote
“There’s something wrong with Esther” in advertising Orphan. This would attract
audiences, and address them so that they would be aware of the genre of the film.

11. Understanding of technology from the process of
constructing my product.
Camera Equipment Logo
The camera and tripod we were provided
with were very easy to use, and we
ended up being able to film a variety of
different angles with a good quality of
image. We were also successful in
producing steady shots throughout the
sequence.
On the day of filming, we discovered We planned out the logo’s on our
‘night mode’ on our camera, which storyboard and went on to use a
washed out all the colours in the room, combination of Photoshop and Paint
and produced a more authentic quality to create them. We then added
of film which matched our genre. imported them as images to Adobe
We would have liked to have used a Premiere Elements and added them
camera that had a focus adjustment, but to our sequence.
we managed to use the lighting on the
day to create the same effect.

12. Understanding of technology from the process of
constructing my product.
Editing Process
We used Adobe Premiere Elements 5.0 to
edit our footage. The fact that we had used
this software before was useful as we didn’t
need to spend any extra time learning how
to use it, but we did discover a lot of new
aspects of the programme that we weren’t
aware of previously.
This was the first time we used text in our editing,
but it was easy to insert text and layer it on top of We also discovered
our film. The problem we did face was timing the new effects and
credits so that they faded in and out in time with transitions we could
the clips. We also wanted to make the sure each use to give our
credit stayed on the screen long enough for the sequence a more
audience to read it, but not too long as to bore professional look. We
them. experimented with
many effects such as
ghosting, blur, wash
fade and sharpen.

13. Understanding of technology from the process of
constructing my product.
Editing Process
After we found the music
box tune that we could
use as the sound of our
opening sequence, we
had to time it with each
section. The most
problematic section was
the very end, when the
main character walks
slowly towards the
camera, and then speeds
up until her face is the main focus. We had to find a point in the music where it built up, to
add to the drama of this moment, this involved cutting both the music and the film until we
found a place that matched.

14. Progression from preliminary task to full
product.
Pre-Production
During the final task, I learnt the importance of detailed planning and storyboarding.
When it came to filming, our storyboard made it much easier for us to get started, and
the fact that we included the exact positions of where the credits would be meant that
we could film appropriately.
I also produced a successful camera plan for the final product, which meant that I could
think about a risk assessment for our actor (for example, finding a suitable area for the
camera to go in the forest scene). The fact that I did mini mind-maps for each aspect of
the planning e.g. location, mise-en-scene and camera work meant that I could develop
my original ideas into something more substantial.
The research that I did into the conventions of opening sequences also gave me a clearer
idea of direction when it came to filming.
The use of a production schedule allowed us to organise our time more efficiently, with
clear targets for what we wanted to achieve by the end of each lesson. Although we
didn’t necessarily stick to the schedule exactly, it definitely gave us more of a direction for
our production.

15. Progression from preliminary task to full
product.
Production
I think that my camera skills have noticeably developed since the preliminary task. The
fact that I have learnt more techniques gave me the confidence to experiment with ideas
and develop them as I went along.
A large part of the development of my skills has come from the research I did into
opening sequences – watching various openings inspired me to try some of the ideas as
well as to take risks and produce something original.
During the preliminary task, I mainly concentrated on techniques such as match on action
and shot reverse shot, whereas I thought a lot more about framing in my final task.
Framing can be the difference between a shot looking amateur and giving it a
professional edge, and the opening sequence definitely gave me the confidence to try
some different framing ideas.
I feel that I now have the ability to create more of an atmosphere to a film than I did
before, by using mise-en-scene and sound. With the help of effective lighting and props,
we were able to create tension, and the sound gives the audience a clearer idea of what
they are watching. The preliminary task seems very basic when it comes to these
elements than the final product.

16. Progression from preliminary task to full
product.
Post-Production
Although we used the same editing software for the preliminary task and the final task,
(Adobe Premiere Elements) I was able to experiment with more advanced editing
techniques in the final task, by exploring the effects and transitions that are available.
The transitions we used were appropriate to the thriller/horror theme of our film – the
use of blurring and ghosting particularly. The ‘time stretch’ element was also a very
useful aspect to our editing, as it allowed us to speed up and slow down footage to
produce haunting images.
The success of the post-production, was in my opinion, down to the detailed pre-
production stage. The fact that we planned out transitions and fading techniques in our
storyboard meant that we could feel comfortable with using these effects. We were
conscious throughout the editing stage as to not overcomplicate the transitions, (e.g.
excessive speeding up/slowing down of footage could end up looking like a spoof video)
but it was good that we were able to take certain risks, and in my opinion they definitely
paid off in the final product. The preliminary task however, had no extra effects added –
we faded in the start and fading out the end, but that was it.