The document discusses conventions used in the openings of action/adventure and horror movies. For action/adventure films like Now You See Me, editing uses jump cuts to create an intense pace. Props hint at magic and mystery, while low lighting, shadows, and a mysterious protagonist grab audience attention. Horror openings like Insidious and The Conjuring also use low lighting to create fear. Exaggerated diegetic sounds heighten tension, as unsettling music presents sinister characters or impending danger. Mysterious props and gestures further connote dark themes.

1. Conventions of
Action/Adventure moviesNow you see me
MAYA SHEHATA

2. Production institution
Summit entertainment
Summit entertainment is an American film distribution business. It is a label of Lionsgate films,
owned by Lionsgate entertainment and is headquarter in Santa Monica, California. In 2008.
Summit entertainment ranked eighth place among the studios with gross of $226.5 million
almost entirely because of the release twilight. In 2009, Summit entertainment ranked seventh
among studios with a gross of $482.5 million. K/O PAPER PRODUCTS is an American Television
and motion picture company. It is mainly known for Star Trek since it was the biggest grossing
film at the domestic box-office in the US. The institution Logo is presented with high pitched and
slow music which creates a positive mood and gets the audience excited to watch the film.
However when K/O paper products is presented the non-diegetic music changes to set a gloomy
and mysterious mood. It is deeper and much slower with a pause which creates tension.

3. Sound
In ‘Now you see me’ they often exaggerate diegetic sound to allow tension to be created in the
film. The first piece of dialogue in the opening sequence is “Come in close”. This engages the
audience because it is an imperative command which makes the audience want to follow the
characters orders. It questions the reader making them think about why do they need to come
in close or what is going to happen after they come closer. The dialogue is not presented with
the character, it is shown as a black screen which creates some ambiguity and suspense as the
audience are not familiar with the voice of the character speaking. There is usually fast and
upbeat non diegetic sound. High drum beat/ intense music, explosions. When a pan shot is
presented of Chicago, the music increases its pace to infer that some action will be taking place
and to excite the audience compared to when the audience was introduced to the first
protagonist the music less upbeat and had a slower pace. A voiceover has been used to help
create an idea to the audience of the jobs/ideas of the magicians, this connotes the mood that
they are dangerous and individual beings. It is further evidence to the mysterious character they
are trying to portray because we don’t actually hear the diegetic voice of the character.

4. Lighting
In the very first scene of the opening sequence, dark lighting is used to give the sense of something is
about to happen and ultimately causes the audience to feel scared and nervous. We are only presented
with the back of a man and very limited lighting coming from a small ceiling light. The low lighting could
also set the mysterious mood. Several shadows of objects around the room are casted on the walls and
the floor. We can make out that is a mirror however very little light is reflected on it which makes it
difficult to see the rest of the room that is not in the camera frame. There is a faint spotlight on the
character that can be seen from the light being reflected off the top of his head. This could emphasize
how dominant the character might be. Although the audience are not given any information on the
character, they get a sense that the character is important. Later on in the opening sequence, When the
audience is shown the main character performing a magic trick on an audience, we see that it is dark
outside. Only half of the characters faces show because of the lighting, the rest is covered by a shadow.
This could be done to remove the focus on the characters and more on the cards that the protagonist is
playing with.

5. Enigma
The first shot is a medium shot of a male character that the audience is unfamiliar with. The
character has their back towards the camera which creates an equivocal idea towards what is
happening in the first few seconds of the film. There is a zoom into the back of the mysterious
characters head which creates tension and suspense since the audience do not know who the
character is and what his intentions are. There is then a short cut of the characters hands
shuffling a deck of cards which begins to create ideas in the audiences head about what the film
is going to be about, while still creating a sense of ambiguity. The Title/ Name of the film is not
presented in the opening sequence, this creates enigma towards the audience because the title
of the film usually drops some hints about what the movie is going to be about, however this is
not the case here, instead the audience are left to figure out on their own what the film is based
on from the conventions of action- adventure the filmmaker incorporates Their diegetic dialogue
also creates a link between darkness and the characters because magic is often seen as
something which is dark.

6. Protagonists
We meet our protagonist ( Daniel Atlas) in the first few seconds of the opening sequence. However the
audience are only presented with the back of the character and his voice. We are properly shown his
face the opening sequence as a close up shot. He is shuffling cards in a very professional way which
gives the audience an understanding that he’s a magician and/or extremely experienced with cards. The
main character directly speaks to the audience, he says “Come In close, closer, Because the more you
thing you see, the easier it'll be to fool you” His dialogue emphasizes his dominance and his power over
the audience. He is able to lure them in, grab their attention and give them a hint about what his goal is
in the first few seconds of the film. He is presented standing in a room, not moving his legs or any other
part of his body except for his hands due to the shuffling of the cards. This builds a sense of suspicion
and mystery as the audience is trying to understand what he is doing. We see very little eye-contact due
to the shadow of the light on his eyes which ultimately adds on to the mystery the character is creating.
The following scenes show him looking directly at the camera talking to his street audience in Chicago.
The audience start to get to know more about him and what he does for living. (entertaining people
with magic and illusions)The audience are also presented with a few other characters in the opening
sequence. A woman that is Daniel Atlas’ volunteer and is asked to pick a card. And a mysterious guy
whom we only see wearing a dark hoodie having its back face the camera. The music changes and
becomes more thrilling and creates tension which has a negative effect towards this character.

7. Editing
The pace is dictated by the editing which uses a large amount of jump cuts connoting that the
film is going to be intense with lots of things going on. The rhythm seems to be fairly steady to
begin with because the characters all seem to be comfortable in their actions and are all
interlinked through crosscutting. When the main character says “come in close” the camera
zooms into the back of his head. This is effecting because it grabs the audiences attention and
they feel as if they are really coming closer. Another example of this is when he says “searching
for meaning” .We see a pan shot of the room which could ultimately parallel and reflect what he
saying because the audience is shown the room as if they are ‘searching'. A number of close-ups
have also been used to help increase the intensity and connote danger which can link back to
the idea of something being fast paced and signify to the audience that this is a fast paced
opening. A voiceover has been used to help create an idea to the audience of the jobs/ideas of
the magicians, this connotes the mood that they are dangerous and individual beings. We also
see use of CGI when the location and the day of the week is edited onto the pan shot of Chicago.

8. Props
A sense of mystery is created by the use of props which give the audience an idea that the people are
magicians. This is coupled with the use of low key lighting an enigma is created about the ties between
these different characters props such as cards, spoons, chains are presented in the first 2 minutes of
the film which hint at the audience what the film is going to about magic and illusions.
They are shown as having a dark side because they are wearing dark clothes.
Their gestures are also quite dark because they are performing magic tricks using a variety of props
which also help to signify dark and mysterious ideas.

9. Conventions of
Horror moviesInsidious and The conjuring
MAYA SHEHATA

10. Lighting
In both the conjuring and Insidious dark lighting is used to give the sense of eerie and
could hint that something bad is about to happen. It also Causes the audience to feel
scared and nervous because a room that is dark makes the audience strain to identify
that huge shape that is lurching toward camera caused by the shadows which sets the
mood in horror films. For example, in opening sequence of insidious, there is a
montage of specific areas around the house such as the kitchen; it shows the light
flickering and dangling from the ceiling and a baby room that’s dark and the curtains
are blown by the wind. In the opening sequence of the conjuring there is a shadow
casted on the Doll which portrays a sinister minded character. The room in the house
which has been haunted by “Annabelle” has very limited lighting to give off a sense of
danger and abnormality in the room.

11. Sound
In both opening sequences they often exaggerate diegetic sound to allow tension to be created in
the film. There is usually fast and upbeat non diegetic sound can add to making the audience feel
scared. From the opening scene in the conjuring you can see the effect in which the sound has on
the film, the first time the doll is presented with music showing the intensity it creates an
unsettling tone towards the character of the doll. The loud noises help to build on the sense of
claustrophobia and there being no escape. At the beginning of insidious, the music is a sort of
ringing in your ear echoing sound. When we first see the shadow we hear high pitch violin being
played fast. There isn’t a sound bridge to emphasize shock of seeing the shadow. When we get
close the woman’s face it goes quiet and then the title shows up with the high pitch music again.
In the opening sequence of the conjuring, the audience is shown a black screen with people
talking at the back. This is effective as the audience tries to carefully listen to the conversation as
their attention is caught by the people talking, which is crucial to the film.

12. Title of the film
In Insidious, the title is written in a gothic, red striking font which sets the mood of the movie.
The title is shown to flicker to also create an unsettling atmosphere and emphasize the
abnormality in the movie. The words then fade The words then go The writing left shown the
titles in a upwards and the into a pale blue and then fades out harsh, unfriendly font, writing
becomes clouds out, making it letter by letter linking to the genre lighter seem more ghostly All
of this links to the conventions of a horror film. They often have iconography such as ghostly
symbols, dark places, and unusual things happening such as doors slamming and swinging lights
and haunted houses. In the conjuring, the title is not presented in the opening scene which
creates a unsettling atmosphere because the audience are not reassured with the name of the
film and could leave them with questions about what the movie is really about.

13. Enigma
At the start of a horror movie there is a strange disruption and is the shown later on in the
movie. Throughout the movie there would be some elements which hint back to the beginning
of the film. This is evident in the opening sequence in Insidious where we are shown a montage
of strange things happening in several areas of the house, we later realize that many scary and
unusual situations happen in these places. Not to much is shown at the beginning as this would
revel too much to the audience, it just tends to drop hints and create enigma to make the
audience want to watch the film and find out what happens next.

14. Color
Insidious and the conjuring both tended to use colors which connote danger and darkness.
Insidious is written in red which connotes to the devil and blood. The conjuring in black which
connotes mystery, darkness, fear and death. The same color scheme is used throughout the
opening sequence and text to create a semantic field of danger and evilness throughout. For
example in insidious all the credits are written in a red/gothic font as well. In both movies, the
filmmakers attempt to create a sinister atmosphere by constantly using colors that symbolize the
devil such as black and red. These colors tell the audience that the theme of the movie is
devilish and paranormal. Writing and drawing on the wall from the red color crayon stands out
as the rest of the colors used in the scene are dull and red is a color which also connotes fear,
danger and blood.

15. Protagonists/ costume
We meet our protagonists in The conjuring when there is an extreme close-up to the doll
“Annabelle”. This is followed by a flashback scene of two ladies who appear to be threatened by
the doll which is portrayed as alive and demonic. In the opening scene of insidious, we are
introduced to the first character through an extreme close up of a lady’s face as she sleeps. The
shot is black and white which tends to emphasize the spooky and sinister vibes. The lady is
sleeping which could show that she is a vulnerable character and the audience is drawn in to see
what would happen next. The main characters in insidious and the conjuring are mostly females
and are represented as the weaker sex. In the conjuring the two ladies are being haunted by the
doll “Annabelle”. The costume worn by the characters are of an old-fashioned style, this tells the
audience that it is the period in the past, which is a commonly used time period for horror films
as viewers over the years have come to find it more scary than others

16. Editing
The pace of the editing in the conjuring starts slow but speeds up very early on and the faster the
music and sounds get the faster the editing and transitions get. Special effects such as; props falling
off walls and mantelpieces, children getting pulled off the bed etc. are used throughout the opening
sequence. The fact that the first thing we see in this movie is a close up of a creepy doll signifies that
it's either a dominant part of the movie, or a dominating part of this scene at least. In insidious,
After every shot there is a fade out from one shot and another fade into the next making it look
mysterious, also when we go into the next shot it is unfocused suggesting confusion within the
house. Each new shot is slightly unfocused, encouraging confusion within the audience as to what is
going to happen in the house. The film opening is in black and white. The most typical convention of
'black and white' is that black is evil and white is purity and innocence. This suggests that
throughout the film there will be a clash of good and evil, which excites the audience for the twist to
happen.

17. Props
In the conjuring there is A close-up of the doll's hand is evident in this part (shows red crayons). This
signifies danger which alarms the characters. As red represents blood, danger and gore; this hints the
audience that something evil or mischievous is about to happen. The "miss me?" notes adds suspense -
which is vital for a horror film. This leaves the audience guessing. The use of the note creates tension
because the audience are aware that the doll wrote it however they are no shown the doll writing it
which brings up a lot of questions and creates a spine-chilling atmosphere because dolls are not alive;
this one is shown to be possessed. There are no physical props in the opening sequence of Insidious,
only a montage of different rooms that are foreshadowing the danger that happens later on in the film.
E.g. the babies crib or the wind blowing the curtains.

18. Setting /Cinematography
The first setting in the film that we see is a dark apartment, this immediately connotes fear, as
the audience cannot fully see what is happening which holds the idea of the fear of the
unknown. Also, a home is a typical setting used within the horror genre as it caused it to be
personal for the audience which makes the fear factor more apparent. There is a mid-shot of
three people, we learn that the doll belongs to these people and that it is abnormal and
somewhat possessed. The three people are filmed from the front and the zoom out camera
movement to an over the shoulder shot changes the focus from the three people to the doll. A
mid-shot appears of Annabelle and zooms in at a steady slow pace which emphasizes the
tenseness that the doll causes because of her blank expressions. There is a scene cut to a
flashback of what happened between the doll and the owners of the doll. the scene is just a
series of threats from the doll. The low angle close up of the women with the blonde hair is
shown from a spare room which is covered in red crayon lines and writings, this creates a
scary effects as it suggests that the doll has damaged the room. Both the women enter the
room, a strange soundtrack plays as the camera shot pan point-of-view shot takes place.

19. Conventions of
drama/romance
movies
The notebook
MAYA SHEHATA

20. Color
It is evident that film directors put a lot of effort and thought in using colors symbolism in their
movies in a manner that helps them connect with the audiences. In the opening sequence of
the Notebook, we are presented with the sunset. The color red is the most dominant color that
strikes the audience as well as further inferior colors such as orange, yellow and black. The
color red has conventions of passion, desire, excitement, romanticism, charming, and love.
These connote to the notebook. However, the color red signifies other things that do not
connote to the notebook such as anger, rage, fire, blood, war and violence. The filmmaker has
chosen to emphasize the color red because the movie is based on hatred and love. Hatred
because there is a lot of tension due to the main character having amnesia not being able to
remember her relationship with her husband. However, the movie is mainly a sad love story
and the love is strongly emphasized by the color red.

21. Sound
Calm non-diegetic music at the beginning. Piano, strings and harp sets the mood of film as a
whole. The majority of the sound is off-screen. The opening scene presents swans, the swishing
of the water, its very mellow and calming to match the scenery. The effects of having slow and
low pitched music could infer that the movie is based on a sad story and relaxes the audience to
set the mood. It doesn't’t create a sense of excitement because its slow and not upbeat which
gives the reader an understanding that the movie doesn't have any action or horror in it, it
connotes to the romance genre.

22. Lighting
There is very low lighting and the only source of light is coming from the sun set. It is casting
multiple shadows of the mountain on the sea. We also see a silhouette of a person rowing a
boat. The person is a silhouette which means their identity is hidden from the audience. There is
no one else in the scene, only darkness and the sun which could represent loneliness ultimately
contrasting the theme of the movie as it focuses on romance and love. This leaves the audience
questioning what is happening from the very beginning of the film . The reflection of the sun is
focused directly on the character rowing the boat, this drags the audiences attention on the
boat. The low lighting creates a romantic vibe .

23. Setting
The opening sequence is based on the sunset. This emphasizes the romanticism because
watching the sunset is beautiful and heartfelt. It is known that falling in love is easy at sunset,
watching a sunset makes people feel infused with dreamy inner warmth. We also see some
white birds flying across the sea . Birds specifically doves represent romance because Greek
mythology associated the small, white bird with Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
Aphrodite/Venus is often depicted with doves fluttering around her or resting on her hand. The
color white breaks the red in the scene, this could symbolize goodness, innocence and faith
which often connote to a romance movie although in the notebook, there is a lot of distress
due to the fact that the main character lost all her memory including her relationship. This
could be the reason why the filmmaker decided the ratio of red to white is big and that red was
much more dominant that white. In this case red symbolizing stress and danger.

24. Protagonist
The audience is first introduced to the main character through an over the shoulder shot when
we see her looking amongst the lake. We do not know much about her or who she is with. We
are not told anything about her yet but the audience have an understanding that she plays an
important role in the film. We then see her standing inside a house looking outside the window,
this could infer that she is isolated as well as the fact that she is very into nature because she is
constantly looking outside. We don’t see her face which maintains the anonymity of the
character. Towards the end of the opening sequence we are presented with elderly lady through
an eye line match. We see no emotion on her face which continues to portray a sense of mystery
towards this character, however the audience are still aware that she is a dominant character in
the film. Next, the audience is presented with the same elderly lady however this time we see
her through a close up wide shot from inside the house where we see a lady standing behind
her which creates a sense of depth to the shot as the lady is blurred. She still has very limited
emotion on her face, leaning towards an angry or fearful look. The lady behind her is not an
important character because her shots are very short and her face isn't clear.