Premonition influenced my own thriller opening sequence since it is tells the story of a housewife who has a premonition of her husband being killed in a car accident as a large truck collides into his own car, causing a huge, disastrous explosion killing them. Fortunately, this is similar to my plot for our opening sequence for the reason that in our film a teenage girl has a dream/premonition of her boyfriend attempting to murder her by the use of suffocation.
The film begins with a series of numerous shots whereby the distributor, production company, a ... film, the actors and the title of the movie fade in onto a darkened backdrop in an intense white typeface. As each scene flows onto the next, the letters fade away from the frame steadily before re-emerging in the following shot. The film opens with a ‘birds eye view shot’ of a woman sitting inside a car with her face buried into her hands. The camera moves steadily through its surrounding before focusing on the main character. Slowly, the camera angle begins to zoom down onto the woman and we notice her partner come into view as he stands alongside the car. The angle increasingly changes to a ‘close up’ of the couple. This has been purposely done for the reason that as the audience we tend to take in and observe the setting and the characters present in the scene. It is an excellent way to set the atmosphere as well as positioning the audience to see clearly, what is taking place outside of the scene as well. It is sometimes followed by getting closer to the subject at hand.
The camera angle suddenly changes to a ‘tracking shot’ as it tracks the two main characters as they begin to walk in front of one another. Gradually, the camera stops moving and focuses on the characters as the camera angle changes to a ‘medium shot’ which is filmed at the side of their bodies. This demonstrates their body language so that the audience begins to understand their thoughts and feelings. During the cameras fast paced movements, it frequently captures an ‘over the shoulder’ and a ‘medium shot’ demonstrating the couple looking astonishingly at their new home. As a result of using these specific camera shots, this illustrates to the viewing audience a sense of romanticism and idealism.
As the scene continues, the camera gradually begins to do a ‘two frame shot’ whereby the camera angle changes from a close up showcasing the top third of their body from the front and then changing to a ‘medium shot’ where their bodies are shown from the side. A variety of fast paced shots are used as they occasionally cross dissolve into one another to illustrate the two main characters talking to each other and glancing back towards the house on various occasions which may provide narrative information about the main concept in the film. The camera angle swiftly changes to an ‘extreme long shot’ so that the audience gets an insight into what other scenarios are taking place around the couple and their home. Rapidly, the camera shot changes to a ‘close up’ and a ‘reaction shot’ to express the characters emotion and facial features to the audience. The camera eventually changes to an ‘extreme long shot’ as it steadily moves away from the character and the house before fading out into a plain white backdrop.
Throughout the entire opening sequence, especially the opening credit, a non-diegetic sound is heard throughout; this is a sound that comes from a source outside the world of the story. A high pitched, electronic musical sound is heard overpowering the text and images on screen. Compared to the shots on screen, the melody is evidently different unusual. This implies to the audience that not everything is portrayed as it should be. Additionally, the tune builds up trepidation and anxiety as you feel as though something unexpected is about to take place in the subsequent shot.
Whilst browsing through another student AS media blog, it was clear to me that she has spent a lot of time and effort linking videos and pictures from other media sites and explaining in detail how they are necessary to her own media blog. Evidently, she has updated her blog every few days explaining what tasks she had to complete in order to create her opening sequence for her film. Additionally, she has broken down her blog and categorised sections of her work to make it easier for other members to view her blog. Some of these categories include: text/font, soundtrack, lighting, audience response and much more. What is more, is that she has recorded videos discussing the reasons why her group chose to film in a particular location and what clothing each character is going to wear.
One of the main things which I believe to be exceedingly good is that the student has also filmed a behind the scenes and blooper real to add to her blog. I believe this that this is exceptionally different as she has done extra work and done something different to show the examiner. She has obviously decided to do something dissimilar with her blog, which is that she does not need to keep on writing pages of text discussing what she has done to create her film and why she decided to do things in a particular way, instead she has done something creatively which is to film her group talking about the different things that they have taken into account when filming their opening sequence.
I have chosen the film ‘Nightmare on Elm Street,’ as a thriller of my choice to illustrate both Todorov’s five stage model and Propp’s theory based upon character roles, also known as spheres of action. I picked this particular film, as it relates to my own group pitch which we are hoping to create and film as our own thriller opening sequence.
Nightmare on Elm Street is a horror, mystery and thriller movie which highlights how death stalks the dreams of many teenagers to claim its revenge on the killing of a man known as ‘Freddie Kruger.’ They are chased and tortured by this finger – bladed devil, as they begin to experience old memories and the denials of a past of revenge which brings this hellish vision of a nightmare by allowing death to become a part of their reality.
Applying Propp’s Theory to ‘Nightmare on Elm Street:
‘The hero’ is usually the main protagonist who is at the centre of the story, or sometimes on a quest, a search or a mission= in the film there are two main characters Nancy and Quentin who in my opinion are the hero’s in the film since they are able to survive the dreams and find out what events are really taking place in ‘Elm Street.’
‘The Villain’ competes with and tries to destroy the hero = ‘Freddie Kruger’ is the villain in the film as he stalks the teenagers in their dreams and attempts to murder them with his finger bladed hands.
‘The donor’ provides a magic ingredient to move the story on = Nancy’s mum is the donor in the film as she provides information such as old photographs from when her daughter was in pre school. Through Nancy seeing the photographs she realises that everyone she thought she only met when she started high school, she now realises she was with them in her old pre school and that clearly there’s a link between them and the dream which they are all having.
‘The Princess’ is often the hero’s reward or prize at the end of the story =
Nancy is the princess in the film as she is largely considered as being the
main character in the film and the one who tries to solve the story and destroy
the villain.
‘The princess father/authority figure’ is usually someone who rewards the hero
= In my opinion, Quentin’s father is portrayed as the ‘authority figure’ in the
film as he was the character who found out that “Freddie Kruger” was a
paedophile and he was hurting the children at the pre-school, including his
own. He attempted to take action alongside the other parents but
unfortunately the plan backfired on them.
‘The helper’ is someone who provides guidance and support to the hero = I
believe that whilst Quentin is also a main character in the film, the movie
focuses on Nancy that little bit more compared to him. Therefore, Quentin is
portrayed as being the helper in the film as he tries to comfort Nancy and help
her to find out who “Freddie Kruger” is and why he is torturing them in their
dreams.
‘The dispatcher’ sends the hero off on his/her task or quest = In the film there
is not a significant character that plays the role of a ‘dispatcher.’ However, the
photograph of the teenagers when they were at pre-school motivates Nancy
and Quentin to find out what really happened years before. It encourages
those to go and visit the old pre-school and find any important evidence which
may be the answer to finding out why “Freddie Kruger” is torturing them in
their nightmares.
Todorov’s theory:
Todorov argues that “narrative involves a transformation. The characters or
situations are transformed through the progress of the disruption.”
Equilibrium: The equilibrium in the film was when the children attended a pre-school in ‘Elm Street' where they were happy and enjoyed sharing new learning experiences with their friends. It also highlighted that they came from happy families
Disruption: The disruption in the film was when a gardener who goes by the name of “Freddie Kruger” got a job at the pre-school. He slowly began to play games with the children and attempt to get closer to them.
Recognition of disruption: The realisation that there was a disruption in the
film was when the children began to tell their parents that whilst they were at
school the gardener always took them to his secret place, known as the
“magic cave.” Once there he would sometimes touch them and scratch their
clothes.
Attempt to repair disruption: The attempt to repair the disruption became clear
to us when the children who are now teenagers slowly began to have
recurring dreams of the gardener “Freddie Kruger” who they once knew when
they were younger. The dreams end up as nightmares as they are chased
and tortured by this finger – bladed devil, as they begin to experience old
memories from their past. The two main characters, Nancy and Quentin
realise that one of them must stay awake whilst the other must fall asleep in
an attempt to end this nightmare once and for all, by killing “Freddie Kruger”
and beating him at his own games.
A return of new equilibrium: The ending of the film takes a peculiar twist as
“Freddie Kruger” decides that instead of killing the students by becoming a
visage in their dreams and murdering them in hellish situations. He now
comes to a decision that he will target the relatives closest to the students and
kill them violently and brutally one by one.
Todorov and Propp’s Theory for my own thriller opening sequence – Premonition.
Applying Propp’s Theory to Premonition:
‘The hero’ is usually the main protagonist who is at the centre of the story, or sometimes on a quest, a search or a mission= in the film Premonition there are two main characters Yasmin and Nimesh. However only one of which is the hero, this is the Yasmin as she attempts to survive her premonition and find out why it is that her boyfriend is trying to murder her.
‘The Villain’ competes with and tries to destroy the hero = Nimesh is the villain in the film as he attempts to murder his own girlfriend.
‘The Princess’ is often the hero’s reward or prize at the end of the story = Yasmin is the princess in the film as she is largely considered as being the main character of the film and the one who tries to solve the story, prevent herself from being killed and destroys the villain.
‘The dispatcher’ sends the hero off on his/her task or quest = In the opening sequence there is not a significant character that plays the role of a ‘dispatcher.’ However, the text that the female character receives from her boyfriend could have been the point in the story which motivated Yasmin to notice her boyfriend’s strange behaviour and weirdness towards her when she saw him in her Premonition.
Applying Todorov’s Theory to Premonition:
Equilibrium: The equilibrium in the film was when Yasmin was sleeping and received a lovely text from her boyfriend explaining how he enjoyed spending time with her. This was a happy moment in the film.
Disruption: The disruption in the film was when Nimesh appeared in Yasmin’s premonition acting differently around her and awkward. He slowly began to play mind games with her by not acting himself.
Recognition of Disruption: The realisation that there was a disruption in the film was when Yasmin began to notice that her boyfriend wasn’t acting himself and he was acting cold towards her. She realised that something was on his mind but she wasn’t sure what that was.
Attempt to repair the disruption: The attempt to repair the disruption became clear when Yasmin woke up from her Premonition where she saw herself being suffocated and murdered by her boyfriend, Nimesh. Yasmin realises that the premonition that she is currently having will become a part of her reality soon if she doesn’t try to prevent this from happening. Yasmin realises that she needs to find a way to work out why it is that her boyfriend wants to murder her once and for all so that she can beat him at his own games.
A return of new equilibrium: We haven’t decided upon a new equilibrium yet but what could happen in the ending of our film is that instead of Nimesh attempting to murder Yasmin in her premonition. He could appear in different ways to her such as when she is day dreaming or when she looks into mirrors.
