BW Film Opening Research

To start looking at the style of film that we want to make, I looked at a number of films. I looked at films from the 3 genres: horror, (SAW, SAW 3, The Shining, The Blair Witch Project), thrillers, (Memento, Phone Booth), and teen drama, (Brick, Kidulthood).

From watching the openings, I realised that there are a number of trends with film openings:

• There tends to be little of no dialogue, especially for the first 30-90 seconds.


• The first few shots tend to be either fast cut, to build instant tension for the audience, or a couple of very slow panning shots to slowly reveal the subject and action.


• In terms of opening credits, names either appear before any footage (for instance SAW), or they fade in and out at the bottom of the screen.


• The name of the film usually appears at the end, in front of either a black screen or the film footage.


• Character exposition is important, as the title sequence often follows the character who will be central to the entire film. First impressions are important.


• With horror openings, the amount of light is often limited, for instance, in the clip below - the opening of SAW 3 - the only light is of the torch in the room, which helps create dramatic effect.

Click here for Ali Hookway's opening research

Click here for Chris Jutting's opening research