Storyboard

Storyboard for Opening

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START

Costumes

How characters are introduced

Ruby is the first character to be introduced. She is presented as a stereotypical 17 year old girl. She appears to be quite, passive and innocent. The first shot is Ruby as she puts on her makeup. 

Larry is disturbing from the beginning. He dresses normally, and appears to have a normal house. However once his "Den" setting is introduced, he is obviously the protagonist. The den is dirty and cluttered, with pictures of girls scattered across his table, including one of Ruby. 

Camerawork, Editing and Special Effects

The camerawork is going to be very simplistic. A variation between Close ups and Mid shots will be used to introduce characters. 

The camera will also be very voyeuristic , creating an intimate and quite disturbing atmosphere. It will also reflect the voyeurism of the male protagonist, on his female "victims".

The editing used will also be simplistic.  The shots will be non linear, with serious of cross cuts between settings and location. The editing will be quite slow to begin with and then gradually build pace, until a final montage at the end. The final show will black out to run the credits.

There will be limited special effects used, to create the realism that we need for the scene to look natural.

Props and Locations

Genre and how the opening sets it up

The genre is evidently Thriller.
The use of quick succession shots, or montage, sets up the thriller genre as it, along with the music, will create a heartbeat-like suspense amongst audiences.
The dark and isolated area's in which we will film will prove mysterious, disturbing and almost scary.
We have deliberatly chosen to have no diologue in the opening sequence as we beleive this to be the most effective way of beginning, both from experience and from our audience questionnaire results.

Story and how the opening sets it up

The overall plot of the Thriller is very simple, and involved only two characters. A young girl, Ruby, and an older man named Len.
Typically, Len is an older man posing as a young boy in order to "groom" young girls, Ruby being the latest victim.
The shots are set up in mainly 2 locations. Ruby's bedroom and Len's garage/office.
Len entices Ruby enough to make her meet him in a park. It is here that he lures her to his home. As she enters the home, Len begins his perversion. Ruby enters his "office" filled with various tools, pictures of young girls and women and his laptop. As Ruby begins to feel Len's perverted wrath, she tries to exit...

We have shot the openings sequence as an almost flashback. The opening ends as the pair finally meet, though the camera views them separately and not together. The rest of the film would be what happens after the pair have met. Len's perversion and Ruby's struggle to escape.

Analysis of 'Panic Room' Opening Sequence

Camera Shot/ Angle/ Movement

The shot is a bird’s eye view onto the credits, it also pans over the vast cityscape, with cars moving down below and people getting on with their lives. The two women at the end of the opening show that people are very hasty by their erratic walking, also the camera drops on them so we know that one of them is the protagonist or somehow shows relation towards them.

Editing

The first camera shot is zooming in from a long shot showing New York, and presents the studio of the film, the camera quickly cuts to the different views of various buildings all of the cuts have a quick change onto the next camera shot. The majority of camera shots are panning or from a high angle long shot, the names also stand out because their seem to be floating in mid air.

Sound

Sound is obviously a big contribution to this thriller’s opening scene, the sound starts off ominous and as if it is waiting for a climax, while the music plays it the camera shots are above the cityscape showing the tops of buildings. This shows that the one of these buildings is going to play a major part in the story the non-diegetic sound creates a very slow and dreary scene as if the city is just awaking. As the scene moves on the tempo of the music raises and the camera looks down to the roads and views cars, traffic and pedestrians this is another indication that the people below are quite frantic and self centered, the cars beeping down below is a diegetic sound, which again show people are quite irrational and the camera cuts quicker to the different views quicker. When the scene enters its final third the two non-digetic sounds infuse, as this happens the camera once again views large buildings that are quite grand the Empire State Buildings reinforces that the city is actually in fact New York.

Mis-En-Scene

The cityscape shows buildings, cars, traffic,natural scenery,artificial scenery and many pedestrians. The buildings are massive and the sun is usually shining off the buildings which show that it is daytime. The cars are in traffic which shows that they are all in a hurry to get somewhere, this is probably the morning traffic rush. The trees are mostly browning which shows that it is autumn also billboards and motion adverts show that the city is quite modern, this is reinforced when the Empire State Building is seen in the background. The pedestrians like the cars are also rushing to get to work.

Characters

There are only two characters which appear at the end of the scene,they are both women, while they are walking quite fast one asks the other a question, the second women answers with definite answer this shows that she is decisive and the other character is her subordinate.

Location

The Location is New York, a international city and quite large.

Narrative

We are only aware that it involves the setting New York, the two characters at the end and also a Panic Room because of the title and the credits.

Themes

• Thriller
• Independence
• Suspense

Visual Style

The visual style is abstract as it uses long shots and panning shots. The color seem dreary as the season is autumn but the sun’s color shines over the cityscape.

Genre

The genre is a thriller because of the quick camera cuts and the non-diegetic ominous sound. The camera coincides with the suspenseful view of the cityscape as it may hold many secrets.

Comparison of 'Se7en' and 'Panic Room'

The openings to Seven and Panic Room give the audience very different expectations. Panic Room uses a more conventional way of presenting graphics and titles to the audience, whereas Seven uses a very original and unique way.

The use of camera in each sequence is very different. Seven uses close ups and extreme close ups throughout the entire scene, this could be used to create a sense of mystery. The less an audience know about their surrounding the more intense and unnerving the images become. Seven also uses high angle shots to show us a whole page of writing, placing us above the object means were forced to look down on it as thought we are superior. In contrast Panic Room uses one continual establishing shot of New York. It’s a recognizable city and therefore gives us an indication to the location of the film. The opening structure to Panic Room is far more linear than that of Seven.

Seven uses non diegetic sound throughout the scene. The music used is fast paced and intense, perhaps giving us an indication of the character and the movie as a whole. Diegetic sound is also used such as the turning of pages and thread going through a machine. In comparison their is hardly any diegetic sound in Panic Rooms opening sequence. The music used slow paced, it creates suspense and i sense of eeriness.

Editing plays a big part in Seven’s opening. The fast edits used to link each image could perhaps reflect the fast pace of the film and also helps add to the disorientation of the scene. Moreover the quick cutaways and use of abstract objects gives the scene a sense of mystery, the audience doesn’t know the relevance of the objects, it’s unsettling. There isn’t much use of editing in Panic Room. The editing is very slow, and there are no cutaways until the very end when we are introduced to the characters and there’s a voiceover.

The mise en scene of both openings contrast greatly. Seven uses colour as an indication to it’s genre. Seven uses a unique visual style and was very original in it’s time. It uses the typical conventions of a thriller film. The scene as a whole is very dark, creating a sense of mystery, and sincerity. It also uses the typical colours of red and black linking to darkness, violence and passion. All of these hint to an audience the type of film their watching. The mise en scene as a whole is abnormal, contrasting with Panic Room. Panic Rooms opening creates a sense of reality. It’s an obvious landscape and there seems to be nothing to give away the plot of the film.

The characters are presented to us in different ways. Though in Seven we only ever see the characters hands, we know he is male and we can get an indication of their state of mind. The images are filled with violence, horror and so we can assume that the character himself is rather disturbed. We also gather or can assume from this that the character is the antagonist, he is the villian. On the other hand Panic Room presents us with a woman. Due to the genre of the film we assume she is the victim, the vulnerable woman.

Panic Room tells us explicitly where the film is set in the continual establishing shot, New York. Seven on the other hand is much harder to work out. It appears to be in a dark room, perhaps an office or work space like a garage. There are no long shots or establishing shots, only close ups and so it’s hard to get any idea of location.

David Fincher directed both Seven and Panic Room. This is particularly interesting because although both films are in the same genre, the openings are presented and played in very different ways. Seven is much more abstract and unique whereas Panic Room is much more organized. Fincher also directed the film Zodiac, which shared a similar visual style to Seven.

Analysis of 'Se7en' Opening Sequence

Camera shot/ Angle/ Movement

• Close ups/ Extreme close ups. These could perhaps be used to create a sense of mystery. The less an audience know about the surroundings the more intense and unnerving the images become.
• High angle shot. Used to show us the whole page of writing, placing us above means were forced to look down on it.

Sound

• Non- diegetic, Music - Fast paced, creates suspense.
• Diegetic - Turning pages, thread, writing.

Editing

• Fast edits. This perhaps reflects the fast pace of the film, and also helps to add to the disorientation of the scene.
• Quick cutaways of random symbols associated with the film. Abstract. Again adding to the sense of mystery.
• Abstract images. Unsettling. An audience doesn’t know the relevance of these images.
• Transitions. Helping to link each image to the next.
• Blurred vision, disorientation.

Mise en Scene

• Dark. Convention of a horror movie. Mystery, darkness, sincerity.
• Mainly red and black - conventions of horror genre. Links to darkness, violence, passion.
• Images of violence, and gore.
• Abstract equipments and books. Mystery

Characters

We don’t actually see any identifiable character. The only human contact we see are a man’s hand. His hands are dirty as he sheds off the skin of the tip off his fingers. We presume these are the hands of the antagonist and as the film develops we will find out why he is shedding his finger prints.

Locations

A dark room?

Perhaps an office or a work space such as a garage.

There is no establishing shot or any long shots, only close ups and so it is hard to get any idea of location, adding to the sense of mystery and suspense.

Narrative/ Plot

The opening sequence is a series of abstract shots and so there is no explicit narrative. However, there are clues as to the theme. For example, a man shaving off his fingerprints is a clear indication of violence and crime. There are also quick cutaways to images of violence.

Themes

Violence

Crime

Mystery

Visual style

At the time the film was made, it had a very unique visual style. It was very original, however since then many films have copied this style.

Genre

Horror

Thriller

Action