
Textual Analysis of opening scene
Joshua Bhawanlall
After watching several thriller film openings I noticed several similarities. Firstly that the opening sequence started with clips showing the Production and Distribution companies. Following that the starting titles of the film would commence, usually in conjunction with dark shots and tense music. The Producers and Distributors name would be repeated, and then the Music directors name(s) would be shown with the Director of filming also. These had a usually bolder, bigger font than the rest that followed. Then the main actors would be shown in order of importance, one by one, usually with font, settings, or backgrounds that have a direct relationship to the films main themes. After this, the less improtant actors would be shown, usually in groups of two's or three's. In some cases further names such as makeup and wardrobe directors would be named however this was not common. Usually after this the main title would show, it would be bigger, bolder and more upfront than the rest, would linger for a while then fade out into the opening scene. Sometimes with a relation to time ore area in which the shot was.
Juriz
Within these couple of days, I’ve observed quite a few opening sequence to a Thriller film. It starts off by introducing the production company and who they’re associated with. Secondly, it portrays the word ‘starring’ and this is a signal to the audience that the actors/actresses names are coming up. Next, I’ve realised that they introduce the music director as this is very important in any film, especially thriller. Furthermore, the director of photography is introduced as they are the chief of what’s being portrayed on camera. Then, the producer’s name is mentioned as they are in charge of directing, the right scripts and many more.
I’ve also realised that there are other mentions such as Editors (edit anything that is not right or can remove/add more scenes if needed). In addition, some Thriller openings include hairstylist, Casting directors, makeup artists, costume designers and many more.
Andrew
I observed a lot of thriller opening sequences and what I found from most of them were that they normally introduce the production company first and what they are associated with. Next the actors and actress’ names and the supporting actors and actresses. Before this they tell you this by using the word ‘staring’ so you know that it is the names of the people in the film. Then I found out that they introduce the music director, this is important because music is the most key thing for a film, especially a thriller, as it will use a lot of BGM’s. Next was the director of photography. This is the chief over the camera crews working on a film, television production or other live action piece and is responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image. This person is also important because their role is to maintain the camera shots/angles relating to the image, so if they mess up the whole scene would have to be done again. Next the producer’s name. This is either employed by a production company or independent, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting script, coordinating writing, directing and editing, and arranging financing. Next the person who wrote the script so in other words ‘the planner’. This is the person who writes the script, most of the time it is the director however, sometimes others write it and the director is different. Most of the time I found out that during the shooting stages most of the time the writer and director change up the script, if they find out that bits are missing or take stuff out. Then the editors, normally this is one person but thriller films have had up to 3 editors. The editor’s job is to edit the film if they find that stuff can be added or taken out after a scene has been completed.
Maxwell
Many of the thriller opening sequences I viewed had a different style of opening, that is, the opening sequence including the production and distribution companies, traditional opening sometimes varied depening on the style of film. In terms of the order however, I found little variation, even between the big names that produce most films that make it too our cinemas today. The production company and associates always get the first mention, before the advertisements through 'starring' actors and actresses is seen. A few of the biggest and most renound actors and actresses are mentioned here to build up anticipation for the film and hopefully boost interest. Depending on the opening sequence a little variation I found was between certain films who put directors of music or directors of photography first, based on their importance. The producer and director follows this to similarly provide a sort of subtle advertisement such as seeing M. Night Shaymalan and expecting a plot twist within a film. The order is often exploited for the purpose of attracting viewers. Finally, editors, costume designers and screenwriters follow, having a less fundamental job.
For some added research, as a group we collaborated and studied the order of appeareance in 1 opening sequence and saw how it compared with our own to almost make a common list that all films follow. The order of appearance in the opening sequence of The Day After Tomorrow is:
- 20th Century Fox (Film Distributor)
- Centropolis Entertainment, Lions Gate, Mark Gordon Company (Production)
- Roland Emmerich (Director, Screenwriter and Producer)
- The Day After Tomorrow (Film Title)
- Prominent Actors List (Famous actors featured)
- April Webster, CSA (Casting)
- Harald Kloser (Music)
- Renee April (Costume Designer)
- Karen E. Goulekas (Visual Effects Supervisor)
- Thomas M. Hammel (Co-Producer)
- David Brenner, A.C.E. (Film Editor)
- Barry Chusid (Production Design)
- Ueli Steiger, ASC (Director of Photography)
- Production list (Order of Importance Prodcution)
- Roland Emmerich (Story)
- Jeffery Nachmanoff & Roland Emmerich (Screenplay)
- Roland Emmerich (Directed)

Evaluation:
Similar to a still frame analysis, looking at other openings was probably the most useful task we had to do. As a group we each completed this task as it gave us a starting point to compare. By looking and judging other openings we could then use techniques and cool ideas we like to incorporate them into ours without stealing from the openings we watched. Coupled with the useful notes on the conventions of our genre it has helped us build a kind of fact file on what we can include and the order of the important figures and companies appearance. Secondly, what we should include to make our opening more exciting, appealing and attractive for our target audience.
We had to this as part of our Pre-Production research and this will help us to make an opening sequence, as when we do our opening sequence to a thriller film, we would know what to include and in what order.
We also did this so that we understood the main title sequences. We understood what names came first and if they come in pairs normally they’re less important.
Maxwell St. Hill , Juriz Castillo and Andrew Fernando