anamatic opening

Mood Board

This is our mood board for our film opening, following the theme of a psychological thriller with a strong female lead. There is a recurring theme of darkness, and also images of characters from similar films, such as The Grudge, Gothika, The Ring and many more.

Mood Board

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Initial Ideas

We have decided to use the idea of a supernatural thriller with a strong female lead for our opening sequence. We have come up with some initial idea's which will form most of our animatic sequence - however, we may not use some of them in our final opening sequence depending on time and equipment/settings available.

We would like the overall feel of the sequence to be very dark and sinister to match the theme of the film. The main character will be a young girl to put across the idea of stereotypical innocence, but this girl will actually turn out to be completely different. We are not completely sure on the storyline at this point but we are aiming for a very dramatic, fast-moving and attention-grabbing effect. No detail will be given about the girl's background in the opening as this will create mystery and would potentially make the rest of the film more appealing. We would like to shoot some of the scenes outside in a mysterious remote location, and some inside in a very blank, impersonal environment.

We will have to carefully consider the four main aspects (mise-en-scene, editing, camerawork and sound) to make the film as realistic and professional as possible.

We would like the soundtrack to be very haunting; a piano may do this well.
Mise-en-scene is very important; we will have to carefully consider locations and sets, costumes, hair and make-up and also any props.

This Is Our Final Logo.

In Our Clip We Have The Logo Spinning And Coming Out Of Nowhere.
And The Text Over The Top Fades In.

Logo Production

This is one of our logo ideas that we did not develop further, therefore we never applied any movement or transformations. Although we were pleased with this idea, we thought one of our other logo's was more suitable.

If we did add movement to this image, we would have rotated the cogs at the top, faded in the writing and added a 'whirring' soundtrack to create the idea of a camera working.

The Notebook

The opening sequence for the Notebook is very calm and peaceful. It shows the setting and plays gentle music over the top which describes the mood of the film very well overall. We chose this sequence as although it lacks any real action or storyline, we all really like the film itself and there are many aspects of camerawork, editing, conventions, sound, mise-en-scene and titles present that can be commented on.

Editing;
There is a strong emphasis on transitions during this opening sequence which creates the idea of change. However, the sequence is mostly simplistic and subtle, and therefore not many editing techniques are used.

Camerawork;
The are a variety of shots from the present and shots from the past. There is a range of shots used, for example mid-shots and aerial shots. Each different shot is held for quite a long time which adds to the relaxed feel. The camera often follows the action; for example, it follows the birds and also the boat when the man is rowing on the water.

Sound;
There is a non-diegetic soundtrack playing over the entire opening sequence, which suits the mood of the film. Towards the end, the music begins to fade out and you can hear the sound of the birds which are very symbolic throughout the film. Also, the nurse in the home starts talking, which replaces the non-diegetic soundtrack with a diegetic sound.

Mise-en-scene;
The setting is consistent throughout the film. The costumes are appropriate to the time the scene was shot in, and so are the props. For example, he is in a simple old-fashioned wooden rowing boat and not in a modern yacht. The birds are also very appropriate to the storyline of the film.

Titles;
The titles are small, always displayed in the corner of the screen, white and in a very plain font. This creates the idea that they are insignificant. However, they are still very noticeable and sometimes draws the viewer's attention away from the action. They still look effective despite being plain. They fade in and out slowly which matches the feel of the opening scene.

Conventions;
The characters are not really established in the opening sequence. We are introduced to an old lady and her carer. We also see a silhouette of a man rowing a boat, it is not clear who he is. The location is a peaceful lake with a sunset, this is one of the main settings of the movie. The soundtrack is a very soft piano, this sets the very soft tone of the movie and creates a slow pace to start the film, this is representative of the genre. Altogether the opening sequence is very beautiful and calm, this successfully creates the romantic atmosphere.

The Notebook

Film Poster

The Notebook