Aice Media Portfolio (The Three films)

Research/Analyze/Discuss Three Film openings About my genre

Opening 1: "Fall" 2022

In the Fall, it begins the scene showing Becky, her husband Dan, and her BFF Hunter. They're climbing up mountains with little to no equipment, most likely hinting that they're experts in this field of expertise. The beginning sequence starts with lively music after a very risky jump Becky had to make to get to the other side of this crevice along the mountain. The camera angles cruise throughout the mountain tops, and sides, showing inserts and different viewpoints of the entire mountain from a long shot to sometimes extreme long shot point of view. This leads audiences to believe everything will go well, a sense of freedom in this sense of living, showing what this trio enjoys best. The entire mood of the opening switches as the camera is then placed inside what seems to be a hole, zooming inwards while facing the exit of the whole. Mise-en-scene can be used to discover that the hole most likely is used as a bird's den, following the depictions of feathers throughout the hole.

As the camera zooms farther and farther in, the tone of the music switches from the lively one mentioned, transitioning to this more eerie and sharper vibe. Following this Dan (The husband) reaches into the hole (to apply an anchor to hold him) and unfortunately loses footing, plummeting down, snapping the safety thing holding him, and falling to his death. This opening scene helps introduce the viewer into the environment of what is to be the movie, immersing them in the high-stakes that this type of hobby includes, forming the suspenseful environment, and encouraging them into the sense of dangerous heights, isolation, and the threat of danger. I believe this is an excellent choice of how to set the mood for a psychological thriller, adding intense moments with near-death experiences, as well as adding crucial moments to the development of characters like giving Becky, a traumatic experience, giving her mental issues, and insecurities. This is a crucial part of developing the psychological aspect of the film. 

Fall (2022) Opening sequence

Opening 2: "The Invisible Man" (2020) 

In The Invisible Man, dim lighting is used throughout the entirety of the sequence. It shows a blonde-haired woman, Cecilia, escaping her abusive partner in the middle of the night. (not specified but implied) She carefully moves all cameras angling into spots where she can check them if needed to know if her partner wakes up. This house uses a lot of mise-en-scene, to emphasize the fortress-like appearance of this home. It includes a lot of white coloring, like paint, using darker furniture to show off the modern type atmosphere of the home. This sequence focuses on the intense atmosphere that he created throughout every precise movement. This creates a feeling of urgency and anxiety, showing the audience that this woman desperately needs to escape. Mise-en-scene continues to enforce this stress, showing props like duffel bags filled with money, passports, and legal transcriptions to show how this woman is packing to leave the home.

Further mise-en-scene is used to show a laboratory of some sort within the man's home, showing countless PhDs, multiple computers, and mountains of high-tech equipment for possible research and experiments. This offers attention to detail of the surroundings, cold, lifeless, bland, and unsettling atmosphere. Furthering in the opening, more establishing shots are taken of just empty, showing low-key lighting, encouraging this idea of the unsettling and empty environments, as if something could be watching. As she starts changing her clothes, with everything ready to escape, the scenes become her high pace, showing her speed walking through the house, incorporating tracking shots to follow this haste. This offers further insights into her paranoia and fear of getting caught, offering uncertainty about whether she'll be caught. Right before she leaves, she goes back to the dog of the boyfriend, using mise-en-scene with props and costume design, viewers can tell the dog has a shock collar on, not letting her get so far. This further implies the idea of abusiveness of the boyfriend as even he keeps the dog captive. (As soon as the collars are removed, the dog goes sprinting out, so it's also implied) In the final events of the opening scene, Cecilia runs out of the garage while taking off the dog's collar, the dog bumps into the car, setting off an alarm. This inclusion of Digetic and NonDigetic through the pace of the music, as well as the car's alarm, adds intense amounts of intensity to the scene, a thrill whether she'll escape or not. I believe this is a good example of an opening for a psychological thriller as it includes traumatic experiences, as well as troubled pasts, as someone like the abusive ex-boyfriend could haunt her psychologically. The thrill, mixed with paranoia and uncertainty also exemplifies how horrific a situation like this could be for anyone. This helps prove, that you don't need ghosts or monsters to create terror, the situation is enough.

The Invisible Man Opening Sequence

Opening 3: "10 Cloverfield Lane" (2016)

I also believe this opening is a great example of a psychological thriller, also like "The Invisible Man" the scene incorporates mise-en-scene to show the main character, Michelle, picking her things up, packaging her belongings, offering near empty room to the audience, while zooming on an abandoned wedding ring, this signifying she's also running away from something or someone. Before this, she was on call with someone, showing uncertainty in her expressions, hinting at relationship problems, or emotional trauma. Throughout this entire part of the opening, no diegetic sound is used, relying only on the characters, facial and body language to incorporate the anxiety shown throughout this part. With this tone mixed with the non-diegetic sound of the pace of music, it creates a feeling of mystery. 

To further the opening, the following scene incorporates inserts of shots using, long shots of the outside of the vehicle as it drives on a road, using close-ups to show the character's facial language, and then switching to an extreme long shot/ Master shot of the camera zooming backward, tracking the car, as it moves down the highway. This builds up tension with the recurring theme the author uses to incorporate the feeling of distancing away.

The story shifts, further building the tension as throughout the night while checking through her phone, bam! She gets struck by another car. This immediately ends the music played, switching over to purely dietetic sound, including inserts, showing different mid, close-ups and hand-held camera shakes to incorporate the dramatic switch within the tone, enforcing this violent crash. The opening ends but uses cuts in between the scenes showing the crash to show the credits. This type of cutting allows the viewers to take in what they're watching, understand this, and drag the devastation of the crash. The opening ends, leading with mystery to what happened. I really like this opening, as it starts the movie, making viewers believe it to be a sad coming of age as it leads those into thinking that'll be a Coming-of-age movie while adding some sort of urgency to why the woman is leaving. The dramatic switch leads audiences into a state of shock and confusion as the crash is unexpected, allowing it to make audiences truly think about what this story could lead toward.

10 Cloverfield Lane Opening Sequence

I actually really enjoyed going through these openings, finding them on YouTube, and watching them. I hope my analyzation.