Week One 2/2

Week One Postings 2/2

 Film opening 1:

A film opening is a way for movie companies to introduce the movie plot and its main characters. Although there are many different kinds of movie openings, most horror films use “establishing tone” as their main go-to. In this specific type of opening, the viewer can almost immediately identify what genre the movie is going to be. Therefore, I’m going to be looking at some sample horror movie openings in order to get a feeling of what they should look like and how they should be edited. 

Starting off with the frantic movie, The Nun (2018), which was directed by Corin Hardy. Released on September 7, 2018, with its 22 million dollar budget, it grossed a whopping 365.6 million dollars. The movie shows the story of how a nun completing here vowels is summoned by the Catholic Church to an abbey in Romania. She later founds out that she has have been summoned by the church in order to investigate the apparent suicide of one of the abbey’s nuns.

Click Here To Watch The Opening Scene for The Nun

While watching the opening scene, I managed to spot some key elements in the creation of a horror opening. For instance, the extremely dark lighting. The dark tone used in all the camera shots helps in building suspense and a creepy type of vibe. Along with the dark atmosphere, the overall paste of the editing is slow and long. The opening doesn’t include much if any, quick cuts there and back. This is because, in order to build suspense, the slow movements along with the sound effects are needed. However, in this case, the most important element is the music in the background. The specific choice of music is what gives the viewers that feeling of being there, the music is the thing that gives the audience anxiety about what will be happening next. The characters clothing is another clear way of identifying that this movie is a scary one. In particular, the nuns wear an all-black tunic which symbolizes death.  

Film opening 2:

Another perfect example of a horror movie is the film “Ready or Not” (2019) which was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The movie was released on August 21, 2019, and with its six million dollar budget, it grossed 57.4 million dollars. The film is about a woman named Grace who just married the man of her dreams but is forced to hide from her new in-laws in order to survive the night. 

Click Here To Watch The Opening Scene for Ready Or Not 

Compared to the opening for the Nun, this one didn’t have such a dark vibe. This opening involved colors and more of a normal type of story but of course, it had a dramatic change at the end. The opening starts with a female extremely out of breath, taking cover behind a wall. This immediately catches the attention of the viewer and makes the audience wonder why she is running and from who. Suddenly a man walks into the room and after a short conversation, she runs away. This sequence of events was shown by quick edits and fast paste music. This type of editing matched better with the type of movie because it keeps the viewer entertained and wanting to continue watching. Apart from the editing, this opening also used different types of costumes and props. For instance, the woman is wearing a white wedding dressed and the men is wearing a gray button-down shirt. The different clothing, compared to The Nun, gave the feeling that the movie was taking place in a more modern era. 

Overall, these two horror movie openings are really different but still come to the same final goal which is conveying the feeling horror to its viewers. This comparison helped me realize that there are different ways of approaching the creation of a horror opening scene. Personally, for my movie opening, I’m planning on going more with the modern style, like ready or Not, because I find the modern style more relatable with my target audience.