Analyzing horror/suspense film openings.

I analyzed 3 horror film openings from artofthetitle.com; these film openings were used to inspire and show me different methods of setting up the opening for a horror/suspense film. 

Get Out 

The film opening for Get Out is not my favorite. I think that for a horror or suspense opening, it should hint that something bad is going to happen throughout the film; this opening does not do that. This could have been a technique that the creators used so when the climax was happening in the film, it would be more shocking. Since, as a group, we are only to make the film opening, it would not be the best inspiration. My group is going to focus on hinting at the problem early on in the opening, and this film opening does not portray that. 

Most of the shots just consist of the woods from the point of view of a moving vehicle. The scene cuts to black and white photographs that we can infer is the man who was holding a camera, earlier in the opening. One of the shots is of a living room, which hints that the man and woman are involved with one another. The shots following that support that idea are shots of the woman going up the elevator with food, knocking on his door, and then kissing the man. 

The Black Phone

To effectively hint at the problem in the opening, I am going to take a route more similar to The Black Phone. The opening begins with a tracking shot of a boy riding a bike, and then it reveals a black van turning the corner. When the van comes into the frame, the background music decreases, and the screen turns black. All of this works together to hint that something went wrong with the boy and the van. One can assume that he got kidnapped by whoever was in the van. 

To support the idea that many viewers were gonna have, various posters, objects, and places were shown in a fast-paced movement to foreshadow the accident. One of the props that best supported the idea that the child was kidnapped was the constant appearance of the "missing child" posters. One of the posters even includes a picture of the child who was shown in the beginning. 

Terrifier 2

I consider the opening for Terrifier 2 to be an odd opening to the film. The opening scene establishes who Art the Clown is while mopping the floor, and then he proceeds to walk out carrying a trash bag. 

The camera then pans to a man on the floor who has been brutally murdered. The shot of the man bleeding on the floor allows the audience to know that something bad has happened and more is to come. The rest of the opening are shots of a girl creating a costume in a very decorated, crafty room. What made the opening scene very odd to me is that in between showing the young woman create the costume, a black screen would appear to show the credits. I wonder why the creators chose this method instead of having the credits appear during the shots. The black screen would not be on for long at most 19 seconds, but typically around 12. The random cuts to the black screen give a sign of inconsistency.