RESEARCH - Conventions of film openings

Our project is to create our own thriller opening but to be able to do this successfully, we had to research various thriller films and note down the conventions. We found that the main conventions of thriller openings usually include:

• A title sequence
• The production company logo
• The distribution company logo
• Various camera angles and shots
• Music - often eerie/spooky
• Narrative may be set up
• Mysterious objects that could build up the scene. 

The advertising of this poster for Splice works well here because it combines explicitness with fantasy in a graphical format which makes it quite pleasing to the eye. The wings on the woman's arm portray a mythical aspect to the film and the fact that she is undressed works in favour of the production company because people will instantly be drawn to it and surrender their attention to the poster as 'sex sells.' In the main title, the 'i' is replaced with what appears to be a double helix (DNA) which gives us a hint that the film may also include a scientifical aspect focusing on gene mutation etc, and could be the reason to why and how this woman has developed wings.  The tag-line states "she is not supposed to exist" which makes the poster as well as the film appear mysterious thus causing the audience to be intrigued.