The document analyzes and describes the opening sequences of several films, including: - American Horror Story, which uses low lighting, flickering shots, and increasing music to create tension and mystery. - Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, which uses animation and zooming shots to depict important story elements and introduce characters. - Sherlock Holmes, which uses music, lighting, and shots of a distressed horse to set a mysterious atmosphere. - Lord of War, which follows the journey of a bullet through its manufacturing process to a battlefield, exploring the scale of war.

1. MEDIA AS LEVEL:
OPENING SEQUENCE
ANALYSIS 1
By Christine Lane

2. The American Horror Story
The American horror story opens with a gruesome house
which looks abandoned with blood in medical equipment also
the house is dirty. The low key lighting conveys to the audience
that this is an dark mysterious place, which is filled with
danger. The sound affects in the back ground are static
interference this produces a imagery of darkness however not
alone that something is wrong. The continuous cut shot
throughout the opening sequence gives a dramatic feel
suggesting thing don’t flow the way they should. The bold big
writing jumps up onto the screen with no transition. There is
continuous low key lighting and pan shots throughout the
opening sequence also there are a lot flickering transitions
between each shot this creates tension for the viewer, there is
also fire flickering between the end shots this is like the flicker
of the flame. The music starts off with just radio interference
then there is a deep slow beat added then an increasing scale
of a mid pitch tone (Mid pitch to high pitch) throughout the
opening sequence however the music comes to a cut as there is
no fading out and the title ‘American Horror Story’ is a jump
shot. http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/american-horror-story/

3. Cirque Du Freak: The Vampires assistant
The sequence is highly animated showing some
important events which have taken place throughout
the film. The Opening sequence starts off, with
Darren (The main character) in a coffin and it’s silent.
Then the camera zooms out to reveal a DNA strand
attached to the coffin resembling the change from
human to vampire. The music becomes up beat
however in a low key suggesting mystery and
darkness. The camera then zooms out again to reveal
a lot of coffins on a spider web while stating the
production company. There is continuous zooming
out from the camera thought the opening sequence
leading onto the next image. Each image before its
changed to the next there is a black liquid (suggesting
its blood) what chase the writing. The word vampire
turns into a face of a vampire. Each letter is either
hanging off a spiders web or on a spider’s web. There
are two stick men of boys which are tied to string
which they are trying to run away from. This is
resembling the boys in the film and then at the end of
the opening sequence Mr Tiny, one of the main
characters eats them. This shows he has a power over
them in the film. The music suddenly speeds up at
the end, however it finishes on one loud violin high
note.
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/cirque-du-freak-the-vampires-assistant/

4. Sherlock Holmes
The music of the Sherlock
Holmes is a slow beat from a
piano and gradually starts to pick
up pace to create tension. Its
very effective how the company
and producers have their names
and logos carved into the
pavement. The low key lighting
and the over a head camera shot
which paths onto a next shot
creates a mysterious
atmosphere. The sudden
entrance of a distressed horse
catches the viewer’s attention as
the music is cut by a horse
neighing after the camera zooms
in following the horse and
carriage and the music becomes
a lower beat. The camera
continuously follows the horse
and carriage until it has zoomed
into the carriage to fine two men
loading shot guns. The pleonastic
sound of the guns shows the

5. Lord of war
The opening sequence starts off with
happy joyful music with the employees
chatting in the back ground also noise of
metal crashing and being bent. The low
key lighting suggests a dirty factory and
that they are working very hard. The
camera travels through how the machine
works eg: cutting metal into round circles.
The noises of crashing mental and then the
title pops up in a cut shot on a bullet, the
title looks like it has been made from metal
this keeps in the theme of war. The lyrics
pick up pace as the path of the bullets
comes to end on the conveyor belt. The
lyrics stop and only pick up pace once the
workers are handling them. One of the
employees pick up the bullet we have be
following, this make the viewer feel small
and vulnerable. The soundtrack is "For
What it's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield.
The bullet finally travels to Libya where
there is a war commencing the bullet has
been mainly on high angles making the
bullet superior but when it turns up to
Libya its suddenly small and insignificant
explaining how big
the war is.

6. The opening sequence starts off with Daniel Craig grabbing someone's hand (this
hand is symbolic for life which he is trapped in) and being pulled down into the
ocean. The music is “Skyfall” by Adele. As the title comes up he is dragged into a
hole in the ocean bed, suggesting life has swallowed him up. A floating cardboard
shot guide of James Bond (the main character) has a shot thought his shoulder
which is bleeding in the ocean, with loads of broken cardboard men around him.
The camera goes to the bottom of the ocean bed and the sand has been swirling up
blocking the view. The cut shot to knives and guns fall from above. The camera
zooms, in around sea weed, graveyards and ruined building then the camera shows
a mans eyes coming clearer, the camera zooms into his eye to show building and a
man with a gun shooting his own shadows and the blood of the shadows turns into
a skull. The camera following into a tunnel and then comes out with a high angle on
fire pit that may resemble hell, the camera zooms in close onto the flames to show
the characters of the film and then the flames turn into Chinese dragons. The
camera then shows a symmetrical line of clips and important objects from the film.