The document contains analyses of three opening film sequences: a horror film, a war film, and an action film. For the horror film sequence, the analysis notes that it follows a girl who is killed by a villain and will likely continue to focus on the killer. It conforms to horror conventions like an isolated female victim. The target audience is seen as teenagers. For the war film sequence, it depicts a bloody WWII beach battle and focuses on the protagonist Tom Hanks' character. It uses conventions like explosions and costumes to immerse the audience in the war. The target audience has an interest in WWII history. The action film sequence shows invincible characters killing people in impressive ways. It aims to appeal

1. OPENING SCENE
RESEARCH
JAMES GAFFNEY

2. HORROR CLIP HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE
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OOKYA

3. ANALYSIS
• In the sequence, I understand that the narrative is following a girl at home on Halloween, were she is
chased by a villain for her sexual exploits and for her death,
• So far, I expect to see the film follow the story of this killer, killing more girls like the first one.
• I believe that the target audience will be teenagers. They will find the jokes amusing and this age
group want this genre of movie as they are old enough to watch it. I know this because they choose a
beautiful female to entice heterosexual guys in as they are attracted to her, and for heterosexual
females it offers them something to aspire to.
• This opening sequence conforms to many common conventions of the horror genre. We see
iconography in the sense that we have the girl who is sexualised alone. We see the classic chase scene
which ends in her demise. Furthermore, we can see through the mise-en-scene, that the killer is
covering his face. This creates tension for the audience as they don’t know who is behind the heinous
crime.

4. ANALYSIS CONT.
• We are introduced to 5 characters in the opening sequence. Firstly, the young girl. We
know she is the classic dumb blonde, who sleeps around and ends up getting
murdered. This is evident when she says “I’ve f**ked him a couple of times” when
talking about our 2nd character. He is locked up on a chair. Usually this character
hasn’t done anything wrong, but is in this situation because they are somehow
associated with the person in the wrong. Character 3 is our killer. This is clear when we
hear him with his creepy questions during the phone call and when we see his
costumes. His costumes consist of dark colours and the classic ghost mask, which
leaves the audience on edge and confirms he is our “Villain”(Propp) character. Our 4th
and 5th characters are Mum and Dad. We can infer from the opening sequences that
they are bad parents, because they have left their daughter alone in the house on
Halloween.

5. ANALYSIS CONT.
• There was a range of camera angles used to convey meaning in this scene. We see a high angle
shot of the girl on the floor when she is in the struggle with the killer. This shot was used to
show her vulnerability and how she is going to lose this battle. Likewise, we see that the
following shot it a low-angle one of the killer. This paints the killer as superior to the girl and
reflects the way the battle is going.
• We see a close-up of the killers mask to unnerve the audience and further infer that he is the
killer when we see the mask is indeed of a ghost, which is part of the iconography of the horror
genre.
• There are elements of sound that conform to common horror movie conventions. We hear a
choir cluster rise as the chase scene begins, with a cacophony of sounds building as it continues.
This unnerves the audience and will put the “caregivers”(Maslow) among the audience on edge
as they want the best for our protagonist. We hear triumphant music when she is running
through the sprinkles. This is contrapuntal sound and will add a comedic moment for the
audience in an otherwise terrifying opening sequence. By adding this element of comedy it
implies that the film may be a hybrid film between comedy and horror, making it a sub-genre
film.

6. ANALYSIS CONT.
• We also see editing within the opening sequence. Towards the end of the sequence,
we the killer in command against the girl who is on the floor about to meet her end.
Editing is used her through the use of the eye-line match. We see that the girl is
looking towards the killer absolutely terrified and then next shot shows us what she is
looking at. This ‘gratifies’ (Katz) the audiences needs as we now know what she is
looking at and it is also used to keep continuity within the sequence.
• Overall, I believe that this is a successful opening sequence and titles as it had
“repeated” (Neale) conventions which would entice an audience who like the horror
genre, however it also had elements of comedy in to keep it innovative and fresh so
the audience members didn’t get bored.

7. WAR CLIP HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE
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8. ANALYSIS
• In this opening sequence I can deduce that it is going to be a gory film as we see mass destruction on the beaches
during a WW2 battle.
• So far, I would expect to see more of the same. As it is a war based film I would expect to see more death through
the film, especially as WW2 was notorious for thousands of casualties.
• In my opinion I believe the target demographic would be people who have an interest in the history of the world
wars. If they are fans of Tom Hanks or Steven Spielberg. The age would be teenagers and above. It would not be
children as it is to graphic. We know this through the graphic nature of the opening scene.
• The opening scene conforms to many conventions of the war genre. We see a “series of whammos” (Silver)
throughout the scene. This use of explosions is something commonly associated with the war genre. Through the
mise-en-scene, we can see classic conventions. The camo costumes portray war and this is further anchored by the
actual WW2 helmet design. This will “gratify”(Katz) the needs of the historical audience members.

9. ANALYSIS CONT.
• In the opening sequence there are many characters playing the soldiers, however we
are only formally introduced to our lead protagonist, Captain Miller( Tom Hanks). We
can deduce from the opening sequence he is a leader. Lots of wide shots are taken of
him emerging from a pool of blood around him, and the dead soldiers as well. This
implies his importance. The fact he is still alive in an almost impossible situation,
implies that he is crucial to the narrative of the film and gives an “enigma”(Barthes) to
the audience of what may be to come.
• There are many uses of camerawork throughout the opening sequence to convey
meaning to the audience. Firstly, we see the use of a hand held camera which
emphasises this point of devastation the soldiers are having to deal with. Its abrupt
movements could have been used to show the unpredictability that war brings. We
also see many close-ups of Captain Miller’s face showing the audience his emotion
during a battle. It paints him looking distressed and also slightly in disbelief at the
pure devastation he can see which is shown to the audience through many camera
angles to show as much of the damage as possible

10. ANALYSIS CONT.
• Throughout the opening sequence we hear lots of examples of sound to convey
meaning to the audience. For the entirety of the sequence there is lots of
pleonastic sound. This exaggerated sound is used to further anchor the battle
that is on screen. It is used to keep the audience on edge. It makes the audience
feel like they are really in a WW2 battle. An example of this is the opening shot
when we see the water crashing against the wooden crossed in the sand. This
sound is heightened to make the audience feel like they are fighting on the
beaches. We hear lots of diegetic sound as well. When we hear an explosion we
usually can see the explosion as well which “gratifies”(Katz) the audience. Diegetic
sound would have been used in order to create this affect on the audience.

11. ANALYSIS CONT.
• Editing is also used in this extract to give meaning to the targeted demographic. We
see on many occasions an eye-line match being used. We would see the face of the
character and their shocked expression, then the subsequent shot would reveal the
devastation they were seeing. This would have been edited to be the same eye-line as
the actor and is used to make the audience full immerse themselves in the scene and
make them feel like a soldier. Furthermore, their were lots of jump cuts. This sharp,
abrupt movement of shots would have been used to adhere to the fast paced tempo
of the scene and in turn would have created more tension and meaning for the
audience.
• Overall I believe this was a successful opening sequence and titles as it complied to
usually conventions on a war film and as an audience member I felt fully immersed in
the scene because of the “repeated”(Neale) conventions used.

12. ACTION CLIP HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE
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13. ANALYSIS
• In the opening sequence I can deduce that there will mass destruction and that
the team we support are invincible.
• I would expect the film to continue in the same fashion of killing people in
awesome ways.
• In my opinion the target audience is teenagers and above, due to the gory
elements shown in the opening sequence. It will appeal in particular to “Social
climbers”(Maslow) among the audience as they may see these muscular
characters and aspire to be like them. This is a common convention of the action
film genre.

14. ANALYSIS CONT.
• Throughout the opening sequence we are introduced to many characters the majority
of whom are dead. We only see soldiers. There is a small section of the sequence
where we see a hostage. It is not clear this early on if this hostage will prove relevant
for the remainder of the film. It does give the audience an “enigma”(Barthes) of what
type of movie is in store.
• As the scene progresses we see many close-ups shots of the action “hero”(Propp) in
battle. We continuously see his scrunched facial expressions and hard-core character
through this frame as he tries to drive through the devastation. We also get many
wide shots. This is used to “gratify”(Katz) the audiences needs as they want to see the
entirety of the battle. We see a “series of whammos”(Silver) in this scene and the use
of the wide shot is the best way to achieve this.

15. ANALYSIS CONT.
• In terms of sound in the sequence, there is a cacophony of noise. Firstly, we hear
lots of diegetic sound coming from the shouting of the actors as they embark on
this treacherous mission. This will convey the attitude of the soldiers to the
audience, which comes across as confident due to the jokey nature of their
shouting. This gives a clear characterisation to the audience. Furthermore, we
hear the use of Foley sound, which comes across as pleonastic at times. When we
hear an explosion or the car smash through the wall, it is exaggerated for the
audiences pleasure. This would have been most likely created in a Foley studio to
give this heightened noise to the screenplay.

16. ANALYSIS CONT.
Editing is used in this scene at times, to create
consistency in an action packed battle
sequence. We see the use of the eye-line match
again, to create this consistency as the audience
wants to see what the character Is seeing from
their point of view. This is important in a fast
paced scene like this. Another convention of
fast paced scenes is the use of the jump cut. We
see this frequently in this opening sequence. It
adds to the tension of the scene when the
camera cuts between the two opponents and
gives the scene unpredictability.
Overall, I believe that this is a successful
opening sequence and titles. It complied to all
the classic conventions of an action movie. It is
a brilliant form of escapism for the audience.