AS Media Studies Opening Sequence Initial Ideas

1. Mina Margo Spasic
AS Level Media Studies
Final film opening sequence ideas

2. - After discussion with my partner in media studies course, we decided that we
should do an opening sequence for a film idea called “Last Masterpiece”.
- It is about a girl, an artist that vanishes leaving behind her artwork, journals and a
critical masterpiece. The detective who got assigned the case gets charmed by her
writings and her work as he works to uncover the case. Weeks go by, him reading
and discovering more of her letters, messages, diving deeper into her character
and getting obsessed with the idea of her. The film ends on a sad note as he finally
succeeds to find her, but chooses to respect her wish to remain hidden and lets her
go.

3. Manuela is in her studio, working on her masterpiece. Her movements and brush strokes
are very passionate and expressive. The objects around her (brushes, palettes, cans
with paint, journals, wine, books, folders etc.) are shown in close ups which indicate
her chaotic, artistic personality.
- Pros: easy to film, location is available, props are easily obtained, only one actor
required.
- Cons: Possibly not captivating enough.
1.

4. Starts with a tracking shot of a woman walking hastily through the company, carrying
a file of papers. The workplace is very busy and loud. She enters an office where the
detective is sitting, drinking his morning coffee. He gets flustered by her sudden
intrusion. She flops the file on the desk in front of him and informs him of the
emergency. After she leaves, he puts his cup of coffee down and thoroughly inspects
the paper. He is shown flipping through the pages. There is a zoom in of her picture
from the file and the screen goes black.
- Pros: Easy to film in terms of camera work and props.
- Cons: There is no intrigue, which means that audience might not have the interest
in continuing watching the film, difficult to find the location and actors.
2.

5. The opening sequence starts with scenes of a man/preparing breakfast. Bread from a
toaster pops up, he pours milk, gets a box of cereal from a cupboard sits down and yells
out “Manny, you coming down to have breakfast or not?” After a moment of silence, he
gets irritated, gets up and starts going upstairs. A tracking shot of him going up the
stairs, murmuring random things expressing his annoyance. When he comes to the
studio, he sees that the studio is empty. After he tries calling her phone, he dials all of
her friends. As nobody knows where she is, he decides to call the cops.
- Pros: Easy to find location, easy to film in terms of camera angles and movements,
audience will be left intrigued.
- Cons: Requires a male actor.
3.

6. First shot is a tracking shot of a car from which few friends get out and go into the
building and have a conversation about an important exhibition that is about to take
place. Next is the shot of the reporter saying how the audience can not wait for
Manuela to reveal her artwork that she has been working on for the last few months.
There is a stage with a microphone on it that stays empty until a man shows up and says
that exhibition has to be canceled because Manuela can not be there right now.
- Pros:A fast-pace opening sequence which indicates the tempo of a whole movie.
the ending is intriguing which will result in the audience wanting to continue
watching.
- Cons: A lot of additional actors will be needed, difficulties with finding and filming
in the desired locations, may be hard to film the sequence, in the terms of camera
work.
4.

7. An arial shot of the bus stop which transitions to a medium close up of Manuela. Then a
bus arrives and she gets on, carrying her luggage. She sits down and puts in earphones.
Shots of the places she is passing by are shown. Her tranquility is interrupted by an
elderly woman sitting next to her, asking where she is going to go. She takes out her
earphone and says how she is yet to decide. It finishes with a bus driving away.
- Pros:Easy to find location and obtain props.
- Cons: There is no intrigue, which means that audience might not have the interest
in continuing watching the film.
5.