Creative and Inspirational sequences

Creative and Inspirational sequences

The Dark Knight

The film begins with the Warner Bros. opening introduction but is in a dark blue colour instead of its usual orange and yellow colour. The same goes for the Legendary Pictures opening sequence and the DC comics introduction afterwards as they are all in a dark blue colour unlike their normal colours. The camera then cuts to blue flames erupting on screen leaving a pattern of the Batman logo where there are no flames. The camera then zooms in on the logo until the screen goes pitch black signaling that the movie has begun. The film opens on an establishing shot of a city with many office blocks and skyscrapers in view. The camera tracks forward and eventually zoom in on an office block. One of the windows on the office block shatters to pieces and the camera turns to a medium shot of a man in a clown mask holding a weapon that may or may not have broken the window.

The camera then cuts to another medium shot that shows another man in a clown mask in the room handing a zip wire hook to the other. The henchman holding the gun then places the hook into his weapon and fires it onto the roof of the opposite building. The camera then cuts to a wide/ medium shot that shows a henchman with his back faced to the camera holding his mask in one hand and a large bag in the other. The camera zooms in on said clown mask very slowly and then zooms out quickly when a car arrives and the henchmen puts the mask on.

Drive

The opening scene starts with a wide shot of the city that the film is based in. The city is a night and the camera tracks to the left as this shot goes on. During this scene the actor’s name ‘Ryan Gosling’ appears on he screen in a pink flamboyant font. The camera shot will fade and transition to a man on a low angle, medium shot who is staring at what is presumably traffic in the city. At this point, the Title ‘Drive’ appears on screen in the same font and style of the previous text. The man will then turn his head to the windscreen. The next shot is an over the shoulder shot of the man driving down the street as the opening credits are listed on the side. The shot after is a first person perspective shot of the man who is still driving down the street. This is followed by a close up medium shot of the man in the exact same situation. The next shot is a wide/establishing shot of he car the man is in. This is done on a high angle with the camera spiraling slightly before zooming out slowly showing the many motorways within the city. The shot will then fade into the medium close up shot of the man from before. You will then see him drive his car into a parking lot in an establishing shot that tracks to the right. We then get another over the shoulder shot of the man walking towards an elevator followed by a first person shot of the elevator doors closing with the man inside the elevator. You then see a wide shot of the man coming out of the elevator. You then get a medium tracking shot of the man walking in a room. The camera then goes to a low angle shot of the man putting an item on the bed and walking out of the room. The shot is then another establishing shot of the man driving in the city with the camera zooming out while tracking the car. The final shot of the opening scene is another first person perspective shot of the man driving his car.

Sinister

The opening sequence starts with a black screen for an extended period of time to add suspense to the story. There some brief scenes of a camera film being placed onto a monitor. This is then revealed to be a super 8 film being shown.  The establishing shot shows a family of for with bags over each of their heads and nooses around each of their necks. You hear eerie music in the background to unnerve the audience. You see a wood cutting object balanced from a rope bouncing up and down on a branch attached to the wooden branch linked to where the family is tied. The branch eventually breaks causing the family to rise up from the ground and choke on the noose around each of their necks. The family eventually chokes to death and the camera jumps quickly. When the camera reverts back to it’s original shot there is a tear in the footage and it says ‘Sinister’ underneath it.

Here, I look at Creative and Inspirational sequences to help inspire me for what my opening sequence should be for my film.