Past student work - Outspoken

I liked this opening as it was effective in creating mystery and intriguing the audience. However I feel it was not as successful as other past student work i have seen. This is down to the very long title sequence which led to the actual opening being very short. There were also some continuity errors. On the other hand it did follow many thriller conventions such as crime, power and mystery.

Narrative

      You see a flash forward of a woman killing a man, we can tell this is a flash forward because the scene then rewinds back to two people in a bed. We see close ups of needles then heard the phone ring, the man answers it and has to go to 'warehouse 12' at '1900'

Camera shots

  Over the shoulder of the woman in fur coat and the man, it shows he is intimidated by her and therefore shows who has the power

 Close up of the drugs/needles - indicates danger and that the woman may not really be asleep, but instead dead. This is also crime and therefore a common convention of thriller films

Close up of the location/address - shows it will be important later on and seems very suspicious as little information is given about it

 Mid shot of her holding the gun - makes it clear she is an antagonist and is killing someone. This is another convention of thriller films

Sound
Exaggerated gun shot (added post filming) - This makes the audience jump even though they expect it to come, and therefore this adds tension and keeps the audience engaged

Sonically exaggerated phone ringing - makes it seem like its from the perspective of the two people as it is very loud, and that's how sounds feel if you are woken up by them; the phone ringing therefore makes it more realistic. Also shows that it is very important

Diegetic speech - Gives the audience information about whats going on, but not enough so the audience will still be confused.

Editing

The effect where the woman is a sepia effect but her lips are orange - this attracts attention to her lips

The rewind from the killing to the bed scene makes it obvious that the scene was a prologue. This then indicates to the audience that they during the film will find out how and why that situation occurred.

Cross cutting between the phone conversation creates a clear link, but also does not tell us much about the man who initially rings.This creates mystery as the neither the man or the audience know who he is or what he wants. This therefore keeps the audience engaged as they wish to find out what he wants.

Mise en scene
The woman is wearing a fur coat - this is a sign of wealth and therefore power. Females are not usually power rules within thrillers so this is an example of variation used to attract a female audience. However she turns out to be an antagonist so may not actually appeal to women.

Drugs have been used in this opening to indicate that the two characters are not good, however we sympathize with the man when he is killed and therefore we become unsure if they are good or bad. This is common of thriller films as it creates a complex plot.

A gun has been used as a murder weapon, this is also another common feature in thriller films and indicates crime.