Premonition: Opening Scene Analysis

Premonition – Opening Sequence Analysis:

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.