Rise
This movie opening begins with a boy getting out of his car and opening the trunk door, letting viewers see that there is soccer gear. The boy proceeds to walk to the soccer field while a Blues song playing in the background. A sequence of the boy tying his shoe laces and gearing up to play is shown and then as the music speeds up and a rap starts, he begins to play with the ball and make goals. Then, a different boy is shown getting out of a car and walking down the sidewalk, until reaching a fence where he begins to watch the player play soccer. Music gets louder once again and the boy is shown in another soccer playing sequence. Eventually, the music starts to fade as the boy stops to play, change out of his soccer uniform, gather his items, and walk towards his cars. The movie opening ends with the soccer player realizing the other boy is standing by his car, and an extreme close up of both boys.
Offline
This film opening begins with a title sequence displaying the studios and companies involved in the making of the movie. This then cuts to a hooded figure in the dark stalking a girl on Instagram, with ominous music playing. This cuts to a girl laying unconscious in a cage with a rag covering her mouth. This cuts to several back and forth scenes, showing the girl in the cage and different scenes of a girl on social media throughout the day. The scene ends with the girl in the cage waking up and realizing her situation. She begins to shake the cage and scream. Finally, the title, Offline", is displayed.
Dear Lover
This opening starts with several different shots of nature as the credits are shown at the bottom of the screen. This sequence ends with a shot of a girl sitting by a creek and the title, "Dear Lover", being shown. The opening continues with a close up shot of the girl wiping away her tears, as she begins to narrate what has happened to her in a voiceover. This is followed by an interview style scene where the girl is asked if she ever thinks about her. This reveals that this is an LGBT movie. As the girl continues to explain why she couldn't stay with her girlfriend, happy scenes of said girlfriend laughing and smiling are shown, which contrasts with the sad shot of the girl by the creek. The girl by the creek is then approached by her girlfriend who has the letter she sent to her. They sit by the creek and start talking, holding hands, and laying against each other. This cuts to scenes of the girl writing letters with the greeting, "Dear lover", and sending them back and forth with her girlfriend to communicate. The opening ends with the girl saying, "And one day...no I'm getting ahead of myself...lets start from the beginning". This creates suspense and serves as an attention grabber for people to continue watching.
Dare to Thrill
With this film opening, a group of friends are shown walking excitedly while looking at their phone.Words in "video game" font are shown on the screen to reveal a little more about the plot. A very upbeat song begins to play as the friends climb the stairway to go to the parking garage roof. Credits are rolling at the bottom of the screen as this occurs. On the roof, they see a black car with its headlights on. They excitedly run to it and jump, driving fast around the roof. After a sequence of shots showing their dangerous driving, the scene cuts to them turning sharply out of the garage. The following scenes include the car driving down the highway at night, showing the friends' thrill ride. Finally, the friends pull into a parking spot and turn down the volume of the car, and the music in the opening stops. This cuts to a black screen, until the friends suddenly open the trunk, the camera pointing at them from inside the trunk. They shriek, looking shocked, implying that there is something insane in the trunk, like a dead body. The opening ends with post-credit scenes, including the tittle of the film.
Always Watching
This movie opening begins the opening credits against a black background, showcasing the title of the film and the production company. This changes to a scene where a boy, Kane, is talking to a therapist, with the cast credits shown at the bottom of the screen. The boy appears angered by the therapist's questions about his friend. The scene changes to a flashback of the boy and his friend walking together. An extreme close-up of the boy making creepy faces is shown. The scene goes back to then therapy session as the boy reveals more about his obsession. The next scene shows the boy walking in the dark as an eery sound gets louder and louder. The boy is shown creepily looking through a window as well. After another quick cut back to the therapy session, the boy's friend is shown in his house being followed by Kane, and then having his mouth covered up by duct tape, which Kane put on him. Another therapy session shot is shown. These parts of the opening features dialogue, which reveals more about Kane's intentions to steal his friend's life. Different shots of both boys looking into a mirror, flashing rapidly back and forth between both shots, are shown to show how Kane is taking his friend's identity. The opening scene ends with a close up shot of the therapist telling Kane to breathe and to tell her the story from the beginning.
Blue Boar
This film scene starts with a medium close up shot of a girl walking in a forest approaching a hedge, a shot her feet walking through the grass, an over-the-shoulder shot of the same girl, and different shots of the nature around her. All of this includes a voiceover in the back explaining the story and the opening credits at the bottom of the screen. An extreme close-up of a lady's lips are shown as she accuses the girl of something, followed by another extreme close-up of the girl looking up in surprise. Dialogue is shown between the girl and her mother, with different shots of each as the lady reprimands her daughter. This cuts back to the shot of the girl by the hedge, as she makes the decision to walk through the hedge, ignoring her mother's orders. A close-up of the girl's feet is shown again as she balances barefoot across the tree roots. During this, a lively instrumental track plays in the background. An extreme close up of the girl opening her eyes to the marvelous nature around her is shown, and she she begins to sing in the background track. A close up of the girl taking off her headwear and letting down her hair is shown. Multiple shots of the girl frolicking in the nature and singing are displayed. Close ups of different natural items the girl picks up are shown, like twigs and leaves. The scene ends with the girl arranging the materials into the figure of a boar, which is outlined by a white line, which stands out as the scene fades to a black background. The title along with the figure of the boar ends the scene.
White Coat
During this film opening, the start features multiple credit scenes with dark shots in the background. A medium close up of a boy waking up while tied up in a chair are shown, followed by multiple different shots showing his shoes, the rope, his face, etc. The boy is shown eventually being able to break himself free. Ominous music is playing. A close-up of a boy with a mask, glasses, and white coat is shown, as he pours water into a beaker. More scenes of the boy escaping and the scientist doing experiments are creepily shown, followed by a shot of a paper revealing the boy that was tied up is a subject in an experiment. The scientist is shown turning on a stove, boiling water, and putting chemicals into solutions. The boy is seen finding a box, slowly opening it to reveal a green light and smoke exiting the box. An extreme close-up shot of the boy looking up from the box to face into the camera is shown, which cuts to a black screen with the title over it.
Stalker
This movie opening commences with a medium close-up shot of a girl waking up in her bed as an alarm rings. The credits are rolling at the bottom of the screen. Shots of the girl getting out of bed, looking out her window, and brushing her hair are shown. Suddenly, as the girl is brushing her hair in the mirror, the sound of cameras flashing is hard. An extreme close-up of the girl turning around is shown as an eery sound plays. A shot looking out the window is seen, and another of the girl turning back around, ignoring what she heard. This cuts to a black screen with the title over, which gets bigger and bigger, and fades out. This cuts to a shot of the same girl sitting on the floor with her backpack. The girl opens up her pencil bag to find a note, to which the girl reacts to very surprised, getting off the floor and walking away with wide eyes. As this occurs, a very sudden, shocking sound plays. Shots of the girl running out of the school and into her are shown. She is unable to start her car. The sound of a heartbeat plays during all of this. The opening ends with a medium-close up shot of the girl looking out her car window, turning around, and screaming at the sight of what is outside her car. The same sudden, shocking, sound plays.
Nostalgia
This film opening starts with the production company's logo, followed by a slow tilt shot of a tree. Once the camera is fully showing the blue sky, the title of the film appears. This cuts to close-up shots of artwork, with instrumental, piano music playing in the background. Scattered throughout the shots of the artwork, are medium close-up shots and extreme close-up shots of an elderly woman. Close ups of her hand grabbing plants, touching her shirt, and different memorabilia (religious pieces, photographs, souvenirs) are shown back to back. Followed by a shot of flowers and an old photograph, the a medium close up of the lady smiling is shown. This scene cuts to the same shot but of a much younger girl wearing the same red blouse, implying that the old woman and the young girl are the same person. The scene ends by panning from the girl to the sky.
Conclusion:
By watching all these film openings, I have gotten a very good idea of what this part of a movie should contain. For one, I need to make sure to include the credits of the film at one point during my opening. I also learned that the power of sound is everything. In a lot of these openings, the music and sound effects told the entire story. In almost every single one of these openings, I got a general idea of the genre, theme, and plot of the entire film. My project must carry this out as well, since the opening is what first grabs the viewer's attention. These scenes also taught me how long my opening should be, and how little time that really is. I have up to around two minutes to execute my beginning scene, making sure I keep the plot concise and understandable for viewers. Like many of the videos, I also plan to take several shots of at the same scene, showing the character's face, body, and surrounding items. All in all, getting the opportunity to watch these openings has helped me to better understand how to carry out my project.
