The Main genre for our opening sequence is Thriller, this consists off Suspense, and a high amount of anxiety, also along with this genre It is a hybrid Genre as it is partnered with Action which consists off fights, special effects, and stunt work, all these conventions come up within our opening sequence.
A film that strongly relates to ours with the set design and the lighting of the scene is 'Nerve' which was released in 2016 with Emma Roberts, and Dave Franco directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. The film is about a app you download to play truth dare for money until it gets crazy where people die from the game, but once you start playing you can't stop, I Have attached the scene of what relates to our opening sequence.
The genre and theme of Nerve is similar to ours as there is always a suspense throughout the film, off not knowing what dare will be next, and what risks it may involve you also have the sense of anxiety of watching the people do these dares. With our opening, we may not have the aspect of dares which the audience don't know ;), but The there is a similar aspect of people in the modern day worlds greed for money which is discovered in the opening, and you as an audience member also doesn't know what is going to happen throughout, constantly on the edge of their seats.
The Narrative isn't fully the same as ours but there is the same aspect with both. In the film there characters are all tempted by the money and are greedy, and in ours we see the victim find the money and then take it away from the villian showing an idea off greed from the victim, this idea inspired me because, in the modern day it's so usual for people to be tempted by money.
The setting and location of the container scene in Nerve massively helped me and inspired me to use it as our location. with using a container to set an opening to a film as the audience you automatically have no idea where you are, it creates a sense of suspense and anxiety, for the characters in the film are trying to escape from where they are trapped. I thought using this idea was different than using a stereotypical basement or attic for a kidnapping.
Again I think I took a lot of inspiration with the lighting from this scene I Thought using neon lights makes the film become instantly more iconic and atmospheric and immersive. It can create a sense of a dark scene with a pop of colour in the dark sense. I also thought using green lighting like the film is contrapuntal from what has been used with colour in the past. There is a few props that are the same as the film mainly the money that the victim finds and takes. The costume hasn't really been inspired by the film as our characters are wearing scraps and dirty torn up clothes.
I have taken some inspiration with using the camera techniques that the director used in the container scene in Nerve, for example they used a zolly shot at the start which i want to use at the start of the scene to establish the location where we are like it has done here. The director also used multiple handheld shots which creates the sense of the messy and worrying situation that the characters are in which i also want to show within our sequence. Using high and low angle shots to show whos in more authority and who is driving the scene, like in the scene from nerve also having the camera on a bit of a tilt creates an uncertain feel about it. Having extreme and close ups like in the scene help us to focus on important props and set design within the opening.
Another film that strongly links towards the opening of our sequence is the saw franchise it is a thriller film like ours, even though saw is mainly focused and has thriller as a sub genre. The first saw film was released in 2004 on the first of October, directed by James Wan. The films are about a psychopath who locks people away and in order to escape they have to do insanely gruesome tasks or games as they are called in the film in order to survive. While these tasks are going on with a time limit it adds a huge element of suspense and anxiety along with it. I have attached of a certain scene.
The genre and theme of Saw is similar to ours as there is always a suspense throughout the film as there is with our opening, as you feel the discomfort with the victim not being tied up by simple rope but barbed wire, with a threatening presence with him you have the sense of anxiety of not knowing anything about what situation these 2 people are in, we don't have the aspect of the games which are played, but The there is a similar aspect of having very worrying scenarios to have the victim in and can't escape as it is too painful, and as the audience you feel worried.
The narrative does in a way kind of relate to our film, by the fact of having a pyshcopath kidnapper trapping people and tests his victims kind of what are villian looks to be doing within our film in order for the victim to survive, and tests the victim to their limits to see what they would do to survive.
The setting and location of our opening sequence was inspired to me from saw because Jigsaw (the villain) mostly tends to lock his prisoners away with no contact with the outside world which creates an unsettling atmosphere to the audience as you have no idea where you are. with using a container we are automatically able to show the character has no idea where he is, it creates a sense of suspense and anxiety.
Along with the saw films they gave me a lot of inspiration props and design wise for the set for example having a camera watching the victim, also having torture weapons within a place where you are trapped and have a slight dim lighting effect to it to make the atmosphere look dark around the characters. I guess you could say there is some inspiration of the use of costume from the saw films of having the victim look dirty, bloody, and cold etc. with the villain quite clean but also with a sense of blood on him.
Again like Nerve i have taken the same sort of inspiration of camera work from saw with using the different levels of filming and using quite a bit of handheld shots just to add to the feel of uncertainty, and to give it an older film kind of theme. Also using over exposure so it looks like for the victim they aren't used to seeing a certain light which can tie into the theme that the victim has been kidnapped for a while.
Out of all the films that have helped me create this idea, I think saw has given me the most to think about when it comes to editing techniques, like using quick cut away shots and to use sound to create a unsettling feel to the scene, and using music to create a contrapuntal mood to the scene, and lots of flashing images to distoriant the victim to get the audience into his head.
A TV show that strongly has aspect towards our sequence is the The netflix show "Squid Game" it is a thriller, with a subgenre of action. The show was released in 2021 on the 17th of October, directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk. The show are about a secret organisation who kidnap people who are close to broke to make thm complete in a sort of game show for a money prize at the end the catch is if you mess up you die. While these tasks are going on with a time limit Like saw it adds a huge element of suspense and anxiety along with it. I have attached a clip from the show.
The shows characters again like in nerve very slightly relate to ours, for one there is a secret organisation behind this kidnapping of people in the show and in our sequence there is probably someone behind this kidnapping. Also again there is a link to the money with both products showing the people's greed for money in the modern day. In the show they place the money where the players can all see it but are unable to reach it, Like ours we have the victim tied up but close to the money which he can't reach until he breaks lose later on in the sequence.
Again the overall theme of the money lingering over the characters relates to ours, with the greed for the bag full of money, also the theme of these people in the show being trapped and can't leave until they win. This is the same with our opening, with the victim seeing the only way he can escape is if he can overpower the villain in the film, and win the money over, and escape.
The narrative isn't completely the same to our film, but the narrative of Squid Game was to win this game show and survive, and escape with the cash prize. Even though our film doesn't have the game show part of the narrative it still has the part of "winning" and escaping with the money.
The setting of our opening was inspired from where the contestants stay in Squid Game for example the contestants stay in a windowless room where they have no contact with the outside world, and are being watched by guards in front of the door. Which in our sequence we have a gaurd like figure standing in the way of the only way out of this closed off container.
The only inspiration we took for costume with our opening sequence for the villain, wearing all dark and mysterious clothes. The use of lighting, is in some ways similar with the use of fluorescent flickering lighting. as in the show the contestants have pretty much no props they don't really have any link to ours.
We have taken a huge part of inspiration with the sound to add into the editing with our sequence. for example when the contestants are in the room where they sleep there is the sound of lighthearted music music creating a contrapuntal mood to the scene. So with our opening sequence we have decided to use Jazz music to contrat from the dark scene.
Another film that strongly has links towards our sequence is the film is "Nobody" this is a thriller, with a hybrid genre of action. The show was released in 2021 on the 26th of march, directed by Ilya Naishuller. The film is about a man and his family who get burgled and he kills them which results with the man getting into a high conflict with a Russian crime boss. What you see at the start of the film, Is actually the end of the film, which is the same that we have done with our film. The opening is actually the end. This film has a lot of fighting, which ours do too. I have attached 2 scenes below, The start of the film and the home invasion.
I took the most inspiration for our characters from this film, with having a strong and overpowering victim who waits for his moments to overpower the villain. and the Villain when you get through and find their weak spots end up to be quite weak, and easy to overpower. I also feel like i have made their personalities quite similar to one another our victim is quite calm in this situation like its normal, and the villain is trying to get stuff out of the victim and trying to antagonize him. Its also nice seeing the victim take control of the scene when you think it would be the opposite way round.
The main theme that the film "Nobody" focuses on is addiction which again links towards ours with the Money and always wanting more because of the greed, the Film itself does not show that the man is addicted to money but he is addicted to violence which sort of does play into our character.
The narrative of nobody subtly links to ours but not completely, for example the film is about a married man who gets burgled and then get into conflict with a russian crime boss who is hunting him. In our sequence these sort of link with having a boss like figure beating up a victim, making him pay for something he has done, like in the film.
The setting and location doesn't really link with our ideas for our opening sequence, but there is a slight aspect. for example, When at the start of the film when He is being interrogated we as the audience can't see the outside world. Which is the same as ours where the audience don't know where the victim is as we have no closure from the outside world.
The costume choices that the Man wears in "nobody" i would say inspired the costume of our victim, putting the victim in dirty ragged clothes that look like he has been through the ringer, and gives of the effect that he has been there for a while and with his makeup to make him look like he has beaten up like our character. The props also have given me some inspiration for our film, with using weapons like crowbars, hammers, the character drinking alcohol, and other random weapons other than the guns, as we thought as a group it was so cliche.
There is the same use with this film like in the show squid game, using contrapuntal music to take away from the dark sense around the scene like we are doing, especially during the fight scenes, and it is able to add a little lighthearted feature to the dark opening of the film.
The camera choices with nobody have also give me some inspiration with using olly shots and close ups of the victims face and the damage that has been caused to him and see how brutally he has been hurt in the process, and showing off important props that might be used later on in the scene, like the vodka on the table, the bucket of water etc.
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