The document discusses techniques used in the filmmaker's opening for a psychological thriller film. It begins by introducing the main character Oscar and the context of his partner's death which leads to nightmares. Locations like a kitchen and living room are used to give a sense of normalcy before surreal events occur. Costumes, props, characters, shots, editing, sound, and lighting techniques aim to build tension and suspense for the audience in a way that is inspired by other famous thriller films. Realistic elements are contrasted with surreal themes to create an unsettling atmosphere.

3. The first frame of the grid is of my title. I chose to call
the film opening “Dark Side” to emphasize the madness
of the protagonist. After the death of his partner
Costanza, Oscar, the protagonist, starts to have
nightmares and memories about that day. This becomes
part of him, his dark side. I chose to put the title at the
end of the film because the audience is in tension for
what happens in the last shot. The music gets louder
and faster to build the suspense up.
I chose the font called “IMPRINT MT SHADOW” to
give a gothic and dark look to the title, coherent with
the location and the genre. The white colour font on a
black screen gives the title a séance theme as well.

4. One of the most famous psychological thrillers of the
history of films is the masterpiece Psycho (1960)
directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
The name is split in half like it was cut by a knife –
foreshadowing the gruesome murders. This suggests to
viewers that the film is about something fractured,
broken such as the mind of a character. This title affects
the viewers’ subconscious by putting them on alert.
Obviously the alert is giving by the name itself: Psycho.
This is an example of how the title leaves clues about
the whole film.

5. The second frame is of locations. I chose this setting to
give the film opening a solemn aspect. It gives a sense
of loneliness as well, because the protagonist lives alone
in a house with big rooms and high ceilings. I usually
used the shape of the rectangle to emphasise the
concept of the dark side: the protagonist is always at the
opposite side of his visions, firstly at the table in the
kitchen (the table is rectangular) and in the last shot in a
rectangular and deep living room.

6. Most of real media products use ordinary
locations, such as a house or a hotel. This is to
procure a realistic aspect to the situation
happening in the film. This transmits the viewers
a sense of insecurity because what happens to
the characters happens where every normal
person can be.
The Shining (1980)
The Strangers (2008)

7. The protagonist wears a white T-shirt pyjamas because
he just woke up. It suggests he is the protagonist and
the innocent victim. This is contrasted by the costume of
his partner, who wears a red hoodie and black trousers,
these are warning signs that something bad will happen
t o h er.
The antagonists wear masks to hide their identity.
The costumes are really important in a film opening
because they help the audience to understand the role
of the characters in a very short time, such as two
minutes.

8. In real media products costumes, as locations, in
psychological thrillers are normally quite formal
or work uniforms, such as policemen/lawyers. All
this is to create a sense of reality around the
characters, which is contrasted by the surreal
themes that psychological thriller films usually
convey. The mask is a classic convention of horror
as it hides the face of the killer.
Se7en (1995)
Halloween (1978)
Silence of the Lambs(1991)
Friday the 13th (1980)

9. The first frame shows a cup of coffee and biscuits,
therefore this suggest to the audience the characters
are having breakfast in the morning. The cup of coffee is
spilt on the table, this could be mistaken for blood. The
place where this happens is a normal kitchen that
everyone can recognise. I wanted to shoot this film in
rooms like that, where normally a person feels safe in
there, not in a scary location such as a forest or an
abandoned house. Therefore it is like a paradox: the
protagonist doesn’t feel safe at his own house.

10. In real media products the props used are generally
weapons, such as a knife, a gun or an axe.
These help to build up the tension and to add
suspense in particular scenes.
The use of weapons contributes the audience to
assimilate who the characters are, whether a
Protagonist or an Antagonist.
The Shining (1980)
Psycho (1960)
The Strangers (2008)

11. In my film opening my characters are Oscar, Costanza, a man of
Oscar’s vision and two masked killers. Oscar seems to be a normal
guy who lives with his girlfriend Costanza. After the death of his
partner, he starts to have nightmares about that day. The shock
drives him to see Costanza and a man who dresses like him in his
house. This reveals his disturbed mind. The masked killers are the
people who make Oscar have these visions and nightmares. Oscar
is like a puppet in the hands of puppeteers: the killers.
The conventional character of the thriller genre “Femme Fatale” is
also used by Costanza.

12. The characters in thriller films are not similar to ones that will be
portrayed in other genres. Thriller characters can be found to have
darker or sinister motives than others. To inspire my film opening, I
have looked to famous films such as David Fincher’s Panic Room and
Michael Haneke’s Funny Games. These films are talking about
violation of the home privacy.
Funny Games (2007, remake 1997)
Panic Room (2002)
For example, in Funny Games the laws of thriller films are broken because the killers are dressing white
and regular clothes. It’s not a common convention for the killers in a thriller film. This drive the
audience to be disorientated by the film. The viewer doesn’t expect that two young guys in white
clothes are the killers, therefore the audience feels uncomfortable because that situation happens in a
normal house to a normal family. The uncomfort is even more emphasised by the killers’ usual clothes.

13. I shot my film opening using different camera shots and
movement.
I filmed two scenes following the character (we can see one of
them in the frame next) therefore I used the hand held camera
over the shoulder shot.
In the scenes in the kitchen and in the living room I used the point
of view shot to identify the audience with the character and to
show what the character are looking. In the living room scene I
also used wide shots to emphasise the size of the room.

14. In real media products are often used shots such as close up shot,
hand held camera shot, wide shot and over the shoulder shot.
Close up shots are used to see the reactions of the characters’
faces.
Hand held camera shots are often used in thriller films to give a
sense of reality to the film.
Wide shots are used to reveal the setting and to reveal how
deserted or abandoned the location is.
Over the shoulder shots are used in real media products to build
tension in the film. It adds suspense because the audience can see
what’s happening as soon as the character does. The audience
feels part of the film.
The Shining (1980)
Silence of the Lambs (1991)

15. In this section I talk about editing. The editing is very
important in my film opening because I transmit tension
and suspense through it. At the beginning of the opening
the audience can understand that the first scene is a
Oscar’s nightmare through the editing. Then in the
scenes such as the kitchen and the living room, when
Oscar sees the man and Costanza, the editing is
fundamental to make the audience disorientated and to
build tension. I often used quick cuts and I changed
camera angles to make an uncomfortable sense during
the whole film.

16. In real media products the editing is extremely important
because it builds the tension and suspense. Using quick
cuts and changing camera angles the audience feels
disorientated and it creates an uncomfortable and
suspenseful atmosphere in the scene.
The Shining (1980)

17. Sound plays an important role in my film opening. It
helps to build the audience’s tension and to have a mood
of suspense during the whole film. I mixed diagetic and
non-diagetic sounds to give a sense of reality during the
film opening. When I used the hand held over the
shoulder camera technique, I used a suspenseful sound
to make the audience feel uncomfortable and to define
the audience into the character because it sees what is
happening at the same time of the character.

18. Sounds and soundtracks in thriller films are used to build
the audience understanding of what is happening in the
film. In some films the sound also symbolises the
characters’ movements. An example is the movement of
the shark in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975).
The director is able to create the right mood of tension
and suspense using carefully the sound and the mix of
the sounds in the scenes. The sound techniques are for
example: diagetic, non-diagetic, on screen sound, off
screen sound and parallel sound.

19. Apart from the nightmare scenes, the film is filmed in
the night. We can see a lot of shadows and low-lightning
and this helps to have the theme of the Dark Side during
the whole film. Low-lightning helps to build the
audience’s tension and suspense. The shadows on the
faces of the characters builds a sense of mystery around
them, such as the man in the kitchen.

20. Shadows and low-lightning are used in psychological
thrillers to give a sense of mystery and danger in the scene.
The shadows are used to let the spectators understand that
there is a mysterious man in the scene, the villain in most
of the cases. Something evil hides in the shadows.
Shutter Island (2010)
Leon (1994)