RESEARCH - Analysis of previous student film opening

'CATECHIZE'

Catechize is a brilliant film opening that I enjoyed watching. This thriller opening is very similar to the film 'Se7en' and these students have done an excellent job at re-making the actual film opening. 

EDITING

The opening starts off with the Candi ident and later follows a stylized editing structure with superimposed titles and quick cuts.

Superimposed titles

The quick cuts are combined with fast motion also which is effective in creating suspense as the audience are surprised with each shot and aren't given any time to comprehend exactly what's going on. 

This thriller film opening also uses an interesting technique when it comes to the credits. The characters names are introduced either with an 'uncomfortable' picture of themselves, passport details, name on paper or another odd way.

Credits with character's picture

This works well as the constant change of layout grabs the audience's attention and doesn't make it predictable which then makes them intrigued in what's going to happen in the film.

SOUND

Instead of using a soundtrack, this opening uses loud SFX such as a heartbeat that is quite racy, drips of water, a clock ticking and etc. The use of these simple, ordinary sounds are very effective because they're accompanied by silence which not only emphasizes the sounds even more but also creates quite an unsettling atmosphere.

CAMERA 

Along with the fast cuts and edits, there are various shots and angles. Here the students demonstrate good camera skills as they use a variety of shots to set a mysterious and slightly psychotic opening.

ECU of eye

This ECU adds to the unsettling atmosphere greatly as it seems as though 'someone is watching you' and may freak the audience out. 

Another shot that works well is a blurred/double vision CU of somebody's legs which are left scattered on the ground.

CU of idle legs

This shot helps provoke thoughts and questions from the audience such as 'what is going on' and the fact that it is blurry could make the audience believe that the film contains someone who is not in the right frame of mind and is dangerous.

MISE - EN - SCENE

This last shot is one of the most effective shots in the opening as it arouses many questions and reactions. The shot here is at a slight high angle looking at a girl on the floor and her body language captures the audience's attention immediately. 

Body language of girl and scissors as prop

The girl appears to be in some sort of distress and it seems as though she is reaching her hand out for help. There are also a pair of scissors beside her which act as a prop and could indicate that that's the weapon being used against her. By now the tension in this opening has reached the maximum and all in all, the various shots, edits, SFX and body language all contribute to setting a strange, mysterious tone and fill the audience with anticipation for the rest of the film.

You can watch 'Catechize' here: