previous students' work: THE LIST

In this blog I am going to analyse four different film openings that were made by previous college students. I am going to assess the MISE-EN-SCENE, CAMERA, SOUND and EDITING of the following films - 

ANGELDUST

VIOLET

VICTORIA

THE LIST

I have already analysed three different film openings (ANGELDUST, VIOLET, VICTORIA) and now I am on to my last of this blog sequence - THE LIST. Doing these blogs will/has really compounded my understanding of the ways in which films use mise-en-scene, camera-work, sound and editing effectively and how they help the audience to identify the genre of that film. It also will show me how thriller films make their openings grabbing and thrilling.

THE LIST
I think THE LIST achieved its aim in the first few seconds of my watching it. It was disturbing and creepy right from the moment I pressed 'play'. I think there's something very disturbing about watching somebody cut up food with bloody hands, and although this concept may not sound like it would work when thought about, the film opening actually worked very well.

THE LIST is my favourite clip out of all four that I have analysed, and it gained this title because of its artistic beauty. The group obviously didn't focus so much on plot, like others that I have assessed, but really captured the beauty behind the blood and gore. It was so simple and yet so, so effective.

The sound of THE LIST was one aspect of the film opening which was successful. Throughout the whole sequence, a freaky/creepy music track played in the background, but several sounds could be heard on top of this - such as the sharpening of two knives, shown in the picture above. This gave the opening a very precise and sharp feel about it, and made it feel professional and to the point.

 The still image above represents the beauty that was captured within the clip. The colours used in the opening - an aspect of mise-en-scene - were very simple, mostly being red against black or white. The simplicity of this made it easy to watch - I didn't feel bombarded with flying images or disorientated. I felt like I knew where the film was going, like I was on the same chapter, and that was a good feeling.

The camera was another aspect of the clip which added to its effectiveness; it often zoomed in on close up shots of disturbing/unsettling images, such as raw meat being sliced with a knife. Again, such a simple idea but such a thrilling outcome.

The editing of THE LIST also creates suspense and tension. The camera goes from focusing on the girl chewing raw meat to switching to the above image, which is not immediately clear to the audience. The added theme of mystery gives the opening a clearer sense of its genre also. After going back to the girl eating, smearing blood over her mouth, we are taken back to the above image, however we are more in focus this time (shown below). This is a simple but really effective way of introducing an idea to the audience without spelling it out completely.