2. Opening credits: The production company’s name appears a very dark
shade of red, almost brown which is different to the vibrant red I have
seen used in other thrillers to mimic the appearance of blood.
The ‘p’ runs down the frame like blood but the other letters stay fixed. This
subtly implies murder and danger without letting go of the mystery and
suspense the frame holds. ‘Presents’ takes up little space in comparison to
‘Screen Gems’ and attracts audience to a point they may have overlooked
and not suspected any action/movement from. – Foreshadows elements of
the film that make the audience look twice.
3. Name of the film rotates quickly, hits the centre of the frame and slowly gets
smaller/further away from audience. It also becomes chipped/fragmented/broken.
Pinnacle moment in soundtrack, all instruments are audible as opposed to pulsating
string instruments.
Visually engaging as the movement of the title is slightly like dropping blood in the
same way it splatters on a surface, the title hit centre frame. However, no letters are
running the title seems to gain a ‘worn over time’ appearance with scratch type lines
across it.
This gives a mysterious element to the opening as the title does not completely act
like blood but did initially.
4. Letters appear to form some type of order the audience are not familiar with but feel
a sense of conclusion.
The red colour starts to fade into white as the letters form bigger letters and
numbers which create a number plate. This creates a sense of change/morphing or
things not being what they appear to be right from the title sequence.
This short but impactful transition subtly hints some themes/ideas for characters and
storylines in the film that all end up with dangerous/thrilling and unnerving
consequences. I particularly like this opening because I think there are a lot of red
herrings and movements that already build up intrigue without boring the audience with
names/credits.
5. A shot of the back of the car allows audience to feel familiarity and sets the scene, but
maintains an unnerving feeling as the shot reveals very little.
A road, two red tail lights and a license plate are the only visible things the
audience have to focus on, the sides of the road also look baron and dusty
which add to the eerie location.
6. Slowly a setting is being built, as a secluded and quite dangerous road is
revealed to be the one the car is driving down. We can see the headlights
making the car look smaller and appear easy to manipulate.
Again, we do not know who is driving or what dangers lie ahead. However,
the slow build up of the setting allows the audience to piece information
together and work out possible threats, therefore mystery and attention is
maintained.
7. Slowly a setting is being built, as a secluded and quite dangerous road is
revealed to be the one the car is driving down. We can see the headlights
making the car look smaller and appear easy to manipulate.
Again, we do not know who is driving or what dangers lie ahead. However,
the slow build up of the setting allows the audience to piece information
together and work out possible threats, therefore mystery and attention is
maintained.