The Usual Suspects - Opening Scene

This is the opening for 'The Usual Suspects'. I've never seen or heard of this film before but from what I've seen I'm rather intrigued by it. We can tell that the opening seems to be the end of the film or just something which will be explained later on because it does not really give you any clues as to what is happening. It is set on a ship and we see three characters, one of which is dead. We then see a black figure come into the frame, shown from a low angle shot and this is someone who we do not see the face of throughout the whole opening scene. I feel that this aids the mystery and thriller of the whole opening. After the two remaining characters exchange some dialogue, the black figure pulls out a gun and the whole camera shot moves away from the scene. We then hear a couple of gun shots go off, which is shown while switching from one location to another. After the second gun shot goes off, non-diagetic sounds start to become louder. We can tell that the music builds to a crescendo and  the pace gets faster. This is because the mystery black figure has set parts of the boat alight, including the character he just killed. Again, this helps to make you wonder as to why this person has done this and what his reason is. 

5 Films With The Most Interesting Openings

1. A Hard Days Night (1964) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058182/

In 'A Hard Days Night', the opening scene is a tracking shot with the camera following the The Beatles as they run away from their screaming fans at London's Marylebone Station. Throughout the opening scene, the camera tracks The Beatles as they try and get as far away from their fans as possible. As they are running, George Harrison trips and falls, bringing Ringo Starr down with him. John Lennon then proceeds to turn around and laugh at the pair of them before continuing to run towards the camera. George and Ringo get straight back up and carry on with massive smiles on their faces, obviously finding that what had just happened extremely funny. This makes the particular scene very real and creates an amusing atmosphere to the beginning of the film.

Throughout the opening scene, there are a lot of close up shots of the group, enabling the viewer see the emotions on their faces. The camera follows the group closely, staying at a constant distance from them so that their surroundings can also come into view. There is one particular moment where the camera zooms in on Paul McCartney in disguise. The camera does this while all the screaming fans are running after the other three members of his group behind him, something which is also very amusing to watch. The director has decided to use these particular types of shots to create an atmosphere which the audience will enjoy. It is done so that each scene can flow easily into the next and this helps to create an intense but funny scene and show the madness that surrounded The Beatles at that time.

2. Citizen Kane (1941) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

This film opening of 'Citizen Kane' is made to seem very dark and mysterious from the black and white effect being used. They use non-continuity to switch from one frame to the next and this creates suspense as you have no idea what image will come up on your screen next. The music in the background also adds to the suspense. The scene shows close up shots throughout the first 40 seconds and then an establishing shot comes into view. To add to that, the majority of the scenes in the opening always have movement in them. For example, in the first few frames, the camera moves upwards before fading into the next frame.

The shots have been put into this order to create a sense that something bad is about to happen. The next scene then proves our thoughts correct as the mystery character laying in bed drops a snow globe after saying 'rosebud'. It falls to the ground and proceeds to break into tiny pieces and this also happens to be the same time at which he passes away. We know this as the nurse walks into the room just as this has happened and covers the mystery character with his bed sheet, almost as if she knew that it was going to happen.

The camera shots throughout the end frames of the opening scene change a lot. While the mystery character says 'rosebud' they use an extreme close up so that you can really see/hear what he says. However, it does not give anything away, making the viewer to become intrigued by what is going to happen. While the nurse walks into the room, they use a long shot before capturing her movement in the broken glass laying on the floor. She then walks over and adjusts the characters body and this was shown using a medium shot.


3. Resident Evil - Afterlife (2010) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1220634/?ref_=nv_sr_4

This is the film opening of 'Resident Evil - Afterlife'. It starts off with an establishing shot and then goes through the whole opening credits with one of the character standing still in the middle of a pedestrian crossing. She stands out from the rest of the crowd as she is the only one not moving. The opening stays in the same location and so the woman is in almost every frame. There are many different types of camera shots being used, going from ariel shots to long shots to medium shots and also to close up shots.

Throughout the opening scene, they use special effects alongside the music to build up tension. This all changes once a man, walking along the pedestrian crossing, picks his head up to look at her. Within the next second, the whole scene speeds up and she is on the floor taking out pieces of his flesh. While this is happening, it turns into an ariel shot, looking down onto the two characters as the whole scene pans out. It then zooms out even further, showing a whole map view of the city. The city and then the whole word slowly starts going black, meaning that what ever has just happened to that man, is now happening to everyone on earth. The whole opening scene is very tense and you are always unaware of what is about to happen, especially since slow motion is being used.


4. World War Z (2013) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/?ref_=nv_sr_1

This is the film opening for 'World War Z'. It starts of with an establishing shot, showing the audience where the action is going to take place. It starts off with close up shots and medium shots of the whole family. Something then unexpected happens and so it shows close up shots of their faces and the panic on them. It then cuts to a scene of everyone running down the street as a rubbish truck has been taken over by a mystery character. At this point we are unaware of what may be in the vehicle for it to be moving at such a fast speed.  Throughout the opening scene a lot of ariel shots are used to really focus in on what is happening. It also allows you to see more of the action taking place.

5. Shaun Of The Dead (2004) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/

This is the opening for 'Shaun Of The Dead'. The whole opening is non-continous as they go from one location to the next. The music in the background adds to the humour of the whole film. They use a lot of long shots so the viewer can see the whole body of the character but also the location at which the characters are. 

Examples of Editing Techniques

Special Effects

Parallel Editing

Split Screen 

Slow Motion/Special Effects




Shot/Reverse Shot

Camera Shots

This scene shows a close up shot. They have focused on the characters face and blurred out the background so that the viewers are able to focus solely on his face. This also helps the viewer see his facial features, something which you would not see clearly if he was standing further away from the camera. 

This scene shows an over the shoulder shot of two characters. It allows the audience to see only one of the characters faces and this makes the viewer to become curious as to how the other characters facial features may look. To add to that, the over the shoulder shot allows the viewer to see the venerability in the character who's face we can see. 

This scene shows an extreme close up of a character. This shot only allows you to see a certain part of a characters face and in this scene it is their eye. This creates suspense as the viewers cannot tell what the character is looking at. It also allows the viewer to see all the emotions in their eyes. 

This scene shows an over the shoulder/long shot. It enables the viewer to see more than just the characters face/body. This shot also shows the viewer the surrounding environment of where the character is, creating an interesting scene to see. It allows the comparison of the two characters, especially in this scene as you can see the size difference between the dragon and Merlin.  

This scene shows an establishing shot. It is the shot which shows where the next scene will be and it also means that this is where the action will be taking place. It usually shows a wide shot or an extremely wide shot. An establishing shot often shows the outside of a building which then cuts to the next scene of the characters inside the building. 

Filmmaking Techniques

We were asked to put this onto our blogs as it addressees all the different types of camera shots and camera movements. This will come in very useful when having to explain what camera shots we have used throughout the year. 

Group 1 First Vlog

 Group 1 consists of Amy, Olivia, Semra and me. In our first vlog we touched upon the idea of what genre we wanted to do for our 2 minute opening, however, we have yet to decide on a definite idea.

My Media Background So Far

Favourite Film

From a very young age, my favourite film has been 'Labyrinth'. It was directed by Jim Henson, the Muppet man, and features David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly.

Growing up my dad forced me to listen to a lot of David Bowie songs on long car journeys and so when I found out that there was a film with him featured in it, I had to see it straight away. Once I'd watched it, I couldn't help but watch it over and over again, and this makes it my most watched and favourite film ever.

Favourite Actor

My favourite actor currently is Johnny Depp. He is a in a lot of movies which I am very fond of and this is purely down to the fact that he is so good at adapting to the role of his character.

It is almost as if while he is acting he completely loses himself within the character which makes it very interesting to watch. The characters which Johnny Depp plays are never the same and it is as if a different person is playing the character each time.

Most Memorable Childhood Film

My most memorable childhood film is 'Chicken Run'. It was when I was about two or three years old and I must have just learnt how to use a VHS player, and the first tape that my sister and I picked out to try was 'Chicken Run'.

Although we found parts of the movie scary, we were absolutely obsessed with the film so much that we watched it almost every day. Since then, my sister and I have not watched 'Chicken Run' as shortly after having learnt to use the VHS player, it was replaced with a DVD player. We had the movie converted into a DVD but as we had not watched it in such a long time, we lost interest in it and so decided to start watching other films instead.

Favourite Comic 

As a child I was often driven to school with one of my friends who had a younger brother. He was mad about comics, especially the 'Beano'. As he was so obsessed with reading them, I then became fairly obsessed with reading them myself, and whenever I got driven to school by them, I would spend my half an hour reading the comics and I would be extremely entertained by it.

Towards the end of primary school and beginning of secondary school, they came out with a television programme called 'Dennis The Menace and Gnasher', which was a live version of a character in the comic book 'Beano' and although I hadn't read the comics in a very long time, watching it on TV brought back a lot of memories.

Most Memorable Line From A Film

"We each need to find our own inspiration. Sometimes it's not easy." is a quote from the Studio Ghibli film "Kiki's Delivery Service." This has been one of my favourite and most memorable lines from a film that I've watched. Growing up and especially recently I have been having trouble with finding inspiration because particular things don't interest me as much as they used to anymore.

Whenever I'm having difficulty in something, I think back to this quote and it makes me feel better. It makes me realise that eventually I will find something which will guide me to my goal.

Most Frequented Website

My most frequented website is Tumblr. On Tumblr you can find anything and everything, which is especially useful when it comes to finding inspiration for creative projects. Another reason why I am so fond of Tumblr is that you can meet and interact with so many people who share the same interests as you. It is also great when you have important questions to ask because you can get a response almost instantly.

Film Location I'd Most Like To Live

I would most like to live in the film locations of 'The Secret Garden', as everything filmed there was so breathtaking. Although a lot of the scenes are set in different places, they match perfectly with each other, making it an extremely beautiful movie to watch.

Favourite Film Intro

My favourite opening to a film has to be the opening for 'Up'. Through the short amount of time it had, it was able to present numerous amounts of feelings. It went through friendship, love, sadness and then sorrow, all through the first 3 minutes.

Gadget I'd Most Like To Own

I would most like to own a GoPro as I feel I would be about to film some great experiences that I have with it. It is a great gadget to use, especially when underwater and the fact that you can strap it to yourself so you don't have to go through the hassle of holding it is also very useful.