Past Student Work

The Witness From Lew Parker

Narrative

This has been the best opening that i have seen out of all them as its very effective and draws the audience in.     We see a lot happening in the opening in a short space of time. We witness firstly a guy driving past some people in his car. We then can tell its about a guy telling the story of him witnessing the man getting beaten up by these people in a mask. Using this male teenage character will draw in a big target audience as people will be able to identify themselves and connect with him. However we don't witness any female characters in this opening.

Sound

During this opening we hear many different background sounds that build up suspense and a lot of tension for the audience. We firstly hear this high pitched squealing sound that makes us very uncomfortable throughout. However we only seem to hear this sound during the scenes while the beating is going on.

 We then witness a non-digetic heart beat which comes in which we are at the high point of tension because the guy is running away. This gets the audience painted as we are connected to this character and don't want him getting hurt as we feel he is a protagonist.

Camerawork

We see a vary of camerawork taking place in this opening. The first, I spotted was the POV which is a key convention in a thriller because it shows us what the character is seeing and we feel apart of him. We see this when the boy is running and the heart beat is playing. 

We also see Close ups being used and this is to show us the facial expression of the characters. However during the conversation between the guy and his friend we see him struggling to get it out therefore we get to see his expression which helps us figure out whats going on.

We then see a mid shot being used of the gang beating the guy and kicking him to the floor. This shows us the relationship between the characters, however we see this isn't a nice relationship between the characters therefore we are on edge all the time.

Mise En Scene

During the opening we see that the mask is a key part of the costume for the gang, and we see this by never seeing their faces which creates mystery. Also from them wearing black also helps us tell that they are the Antagonists.

On the other hand we see this other guy in normal teenage everyday clothing which helps us figure out he is the protagonist. Also because he is wearing teenage clothing, the teens can relate to him more and therefore feel like it could happen to anyone which makes it more realistic.

    

Editing

Editing plays a huge part in this opening as we see a blurry effect over the top. This helps the audience figure out that it has happened in the past and its a memory, that he is telling someone else. Therefore the audience don't feel that confusion as much. We also feel tension because it is in the past however we still see that he could be targeted. This is also in slow pace as its a memory that he is telling however when he is running the pace picks up and this is where we feel the highest tension.