Clare: We decided that our opening sequence will be a horror/thriller after previously watching clips which inspired and influenced us into this particular genre. The main film was Orphan, a 2009 horror film which centres a couple who, after the death of their unborn child, adopt a mysterious nine-year old girl. The story is chilling and dramatic, and we aim to create something similar in our opening sequence. This film also gave influences for whom to focus our work on, which is a young girl who wears Victorian style clothes, and who appears innocent but is far from it.
Amanda: The Ring is a great influence to our opening sequence. The Ring (2002) is based on a young journalist who investigates a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone in a week of viewing it. A young girl shows the trauma of her life to others right before killing them. She drowned in a well in the middle of a forest, by her mother and kills others in traumatic ways as revenge. The stroy is thrilling and disturbing. We want to create this feeling through our opening sequence. The film gave us influences such as having a innocent girl becoming evil, basing the film in the woods at night.
Opening structure
Amanda: The two images above are from 'The Ring (2002)'. They are both wide shots of the country land that Samara Morgan (the main character) lived in. The lonely tree shot creates an eery sense of isolation. Where as the landscape of the woods show an element of entrapment. Both shots show the vast emptiness of the surroundings and are quite chilling. In the film, the non-diegetic sounds of murmurs and high pitched screams also create a spine-chilling atmosphere for the audience. We aim to create this same effect in our opening sequence. Both shots immediately show the viewer the dramatic, thrilling genre of the film.
Clare: Another opening sequence that influenced us was from 'Twilight.' This opening sequence consists of establishing shots, similar to 'The Shining', but also uses POV, close ups and panning shots at an upbeat pace to create suspense and mystery as we witness a deer being chased through the woods. From this opening sequence I liked the panning shots of the surroundings including the low angles looking up at the 
trees to create a threatening and dangerous feel. Also, I felt that the POV shots of the deer and through the 'runners' eyes showed immediate action, as the non-diegetic music increased with the pace of the running. The colours are dark and represent the deer being in a lonely position as it is being chased on its own with no help and the surroundings appear dangerous and unfriendly opposed to the lighting being bright which would suggest a much safer place. This opening sequence influenced us to firstly focus on the location and surroundings of our opening scene before then focusing on the main character, to show that they are in a lonely setting where nobody can help them if something were to happen.
trees to create a threatening and dangerous feel. Also, I felt that the POV shots of the deer and through the 'runners' eyes showed immediate action, as the non-diegetic music increased with the pace of the running. The colours are dark and represent the deer being in a lonely position as it is being chased on its own with no help and the surroundings appear dangerous and unfriendly opposed to the lighting being bright which would suggest a much safer place. This opening sequence influenced us to firstly focus on the location and surroundings of our opening scene before then focusing on the main character, to show that they are in a lonely setting where nobody can help them if something were to happen. Shots
The boy goes through the doorway in the distance and turns, riding out of sight. The boy turns the corner and comes to an abrupt halt when he sees the two girls standing at the end of the hallway. There is a reverse angle reaction shot of the boy in close-up that focuses the viewer’s attention on his wide eyes and the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Clearly, he sees the girls and is extremely terrified. The key feature to this scene (as shown in the bottom image on the left) is that as we see the girls standing in the hallway there are random jump cuts to a disturbing image of the girls dead on the floor and covered in blood. This shot is short, but it quickly demonstrates what may have happened to the girls and why they have come back to haunt the young boy. After this, we view the girls cutting from different distances away from the camera, in an attempt to scare and jump the viewer, which the creepy music played throughout the scene. 
Amanda: 'The Ring' has a brilliant scene which is very influential for our opening sequence. The girl, Samara comes out of the television and kills her victim who watched the tape 7 days earlier. The fact she comes out the well at the beginning of the scene shows she died there, therefore not needing the backing story. She flickers, just like the tape, showing that she is not really there. However, seeing the victims face after, shows that she is actually real and must be feared. These two shots are excellent for showing the dramatic, jumpy effect we want to create. The clip cuts from Samara, to her dead victim. The quick jump creates a shocking and spine-chilling feeling for the viewer. The non-deigetic music is dramatic, and has a strong beat, getting quicker and quicker as she moves towards Noah (the victim)
Opening Credits and Title
Clare: At the beginning of the film 'The Descent', we see the opening credits appear straight away alongside the scene with three women water rafting, and we thought that this fitted in nicely instead of having all the credits shown after the title. We may introduce this idea into our work because we think it would
be better suited for our genre. Also at the end of the opening sequence we see the title of
the film slowly fade across the screen over a black background in a very mysterious and intriguing manner. This is another aspect we think is effective and fits the genre specifically.
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