This is the first step towards the completion of my portfolio.
To start off, the kind of movie that I'm interested in creating would be an mystery movie. The basic genre convention of my movie would be dark, suspenseful and murder. It's a genre of film that revolves around the solution of the problem or a crime. Other opening sequences of my genre include background knowledge, showing the setting, the characters and what happened all the way up until current. An opening sequence reveals meaning and tone without giving too much away by giving little pieces of what's to come throughout the story, which makes the viewer interested in the storyline. Depending on the genre, not too much action goes on in the opening scene. There might be some action, showing what happened before, leading up until the start of the movie. The settings or locations of other films in my genre are, but are not limited to, forests, homes, buildings, theme parks, etc.. Almost any place that you can go to. Sometimes the mystery may take place in a magical or unusual place. Most mysteries use realistic or familiar places to make the viewer feel more connected to the story. The setting of the opening may also leave clues to help solve the case and offer opportunities to plant clues to what is going on. The intended audience for my film is between the ages of 15-40. People who love action, or they like to problem solve, or sometimes it appeals to their sense of curiosity. They also must enjoy the aspect of fear, which normally appeals to these age groups. To get audience to see your movie, you must have a plot that will keep the viewer interested, and having a unique storyline. The titles of mystery movies normally looks like, a dark ambiance, with small lettering, the title is normally on the bottom, the titles don't usually show a lot of action; it has barley anything on the title. In the title, I think that you have to include a dark background with small, white, lettering. As well as the producers and editors names and actors. In mysteries, different social groups are normally represented or portrayed by the characters social class. Based on my research, more men watch mysteries than women. There isn't a huge difference between the two. A great mystery should invite the viewer to try and solve the crime. To be able to do that, a great opening with Easter eggs scattered through will make the viewer interested. In mystery movies, the plot must be believable. For the viewer to feel connected and engaged. 
Before I continue and analyze different mystery movies opening films... I would like to tell you a few my ideas for my opening scene. When it comes to what type of movie we were going for, our group has came to a conclusion on a mystery. The plot is about a person who was found murdered after taking part of a tense argument online. The plot focuses on a girl who vents about her problems at school to her online friends of whom she doesn't know personally. Although they've been friends for a while. Suddenly, the girl gets murdered. By one of her online friends after a heated argument. The twist is no one knows who killed her in the group. I feel as though this film can be part of a phycological horror, reason being is that its covers cyberbullying and its effects of it.
As for the theme of our film, I would say that it is about being cautious of who you trust online and what you share about yourself. For the style, I think it could be really cool to screen record conversations between the online friend group. This is honestly brilliant. My group and I could still work on our project out of school. Because the plot mainly focuses on social media, this will work in our favor. I think it would be really cool to make different profiles of ourselves online because we won't show our faces as much, it would still be crucial for the viewer to understand each character as a whole. The different profiles can match each character's personality. The girl that ends up getting murdered "Sasha" is an innocent and angelic person. I thought it would be really cool, if she wears white when she is murdered. Hear me out. You will still be able to "see" the blood on her shirt because of the color. But you can also kind of tell what type of person she is. "White" represents innocents, I think that this will match her personality. As for the killer, I think black would be a perfect option. "Black" symbolizes mystery and evil. In the opening scene, we plan on using a ton of close up shots. Close up shots are used to show facial expressions, what the character is thinking, and what the director thinks people need to focus on in the moment. The reason we plan on using a ton of close ups is to show the viewer what happened in detail. For instance, we plan on doing a close up for the blood stains, and her phone. As these are a very important component to the storyline. We will also be using low angle shots to show that the girl murdered on the ground was overpowered by someone else. We also plan on doing a high angle shot for the stalker, showing that he is a villain and that he is powerful. With camera movements, we plan on a low to high angle with a tilt in between, this will allow the viewer to clearly see what has happened to the girl. For lighting, we plan on using low key, and backlighting to show darkness and to insinuate shadows and figures. Which will be very useful in our flash back in the opening scene. Now for sound, as a group we've decided on using a light and earie sound, as well as police sirens to imitate police officers at the scene. Now because that wouldn't be as "suspenseful" as we would like, we are also willing to add in heavy breathing sounds. This will defiantly add another layer of suspense that we will need.
These are the five movies, that I have decided to go with. I am going to analyze and complete a shot-by-shot analysis of each films opening scene.
1. Enola Holmes
2. Shutter Island
3. Lost Girls
4. Unknown
5. We Have Always Lived in the Castle
I will complete a chart of each film. Including a shot-by-shot analysis, the duration of each film, and the meaning the producer is trying to convey in the opening scene.
Chart:
Sources:
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