Moodboard - opening sequence

This is a moodboard of visual ideas for my opening sequence, including settings like suburban streets and woods as these are the locations I want to film in. Ideas for costumes and props include tatty dolls or teddies to show the length of time the girl has been missing for, and suggest her age. I thought I could use makeup to make her look like she has been treated badly, and this would create more intrigue for the audience. I want to construct my own missing poster with photos of the actress on them to create realism.

BBFC age ratings research

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) is an independent guide to media content, which aims to:

• protect the public, and especially children, from content which might raise harm risks

• empower the public, especially parents, to make informed viewing choices

• recognise and respect adult freedom of choice within the law

• respond to and reflect changing social attitudes towards media content through proactive public consultation and research

• provide a cost-effective, efficient classification service within our statutory remit

• work in partnership with the industry to develop innovative service models to provide content advice which support emerging media delivery systems

• provide an effective service to enforcement agencies

When thinking about the target audience for the film I am making, age ratings are important as they shape who will be able to access my content if it hit cinemas or eventually DVD. People who typically watch psychological thrillers are older teenagers to adults, both male and female, so this is my target audience. Whether to rate the film a 12 or a 15 comes from research on the BBFC website:

"Examiners look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, language, imitable behaviour, nudity, sex, sexual violence, theme and violence when making decisions. They also consider context, the tone and impact of a work (eg how it makes the audience feel) and even the release format (for example, as DVDs are watched in the home, there is a higher risk of underage viewing)."

As the themes of my film involve abduction and some violence, the themes would potentially influence the age rating. I personally think a 15 rating will be more suitable due to the violent themes and potential for strong language in the film, and this rating also helps shape the target audience. 

British Film Institute trip

On Friday 11th November, our media group went to London for the BFI Southbank's lectures by Tom Woodcock and director/actor Dexter Fletcher. I recorded the trip and a small section of Fletcher's lecture, where he talked about three films he'd directed (Wild Bill, Sunshine on Leith and Eddie the Eagle) and answered questions about their opening sequences to help with our coursework. Tom Woodcock did more of a teaching-lecture where we picked out micro and macro elements of opening sequences, and listened to tips for production and other students' ideas for their own coursework. We watched a few examples of student work and graded them, and overall the day generated some ideas for our own coursework and also gave us advice for the production side of the project. Fletcher gave more of an insight to careers in media and acting, and what being a director is really like.

Analysis of 'Edward Scissorhands' opening scenes

'Edward Scissorhands', a 1990 Tim Burton film, fits into the thriller genre but also features comedy, horror and romance. The opening titles are paired with an eerie soundtrack with an almost choir-like, lullaby mood, and this music alone informs audiences of the light horror aspects of the film. 

In the very first frame, we see the 20th Century Fox iconic logo, except for this film it has been adapted from it's usual gold, shiny colour to a grey stone in the dark snow. As a first impression for the audience, this unorthodox change in the Fox logo has darkened the mood and possibly suggested genre.



A fade to black transition reveals a new unknown setting, with a similar lighting and colour set up. Dark blues and greys dominate the whole sequence, again suggesting genre and leaving narrative clues: the themes of this film will be as dark as the lighting. 

 As the camera pans up and around this dark setting, an old wooden door is introduced in the background at the same time as the creator, Tim Burton, is named in the credits in the foreground. By 1990, Burton had worked on both Beetlejuice and Batman, so placing his name as first in the credits allows the audience to further agree that they are watching a dark thriller, thus they know what to expect from the film as the director has a reputation for the thriller/horror/action genres. The old-style wooden door is reminiscent of castles in fairytales, which the audience further see in the opening scene of 'Edward Scissorhands' as a grandmother tells a child a bedtime story.


Johnny Depp, playing title character, is next to be introduced in the credits after the title of the film is revealed to be behind the door shown, the words 'Edward Scissorhands' moving as if they were actually scissors. By 1990 Depp was known as a teen idol after featuring on 21 Jump Street, but he had only starred in one horror film in his career (Nightmare on Elm Street) and was more well-known for the comedy/action genres. As the audience realise Depp is starring in the film, their assumption of genre changes and begins to involve the comedy subgenre as well as thriller/horror. Just 50 seconds into the film, the audience has already made assumptions about genre and also seen narrative clues in the setting behind the credits: iconography associated with fairytales begins to reveal itself, and the low-key lighting represents a dark plot.



Further actors are credited, as the tracking camera continues to show the interior of an old, creepy castle. Winona Ryder, also having starred in Beetlejuice under Burton, was known primarily for teen movies of the 1980s, and was dating Depp at the time. The background begins to show machinery under the dark hues of the lighting: a large narrative clue as to how Edward Scissorhands came to be (again, this is reinforced in the opening scene with the grandma's tale).



To me, the opening sequence of the film echoes some of the scenes in Disney's 1951 Alice in Wonderland, particularly when the camera 'falls' downwards into solid darkness or when the shapes below are individually lit up, like the Cheshire Cat's face does in Alice. This may have been done to appeal to a younger audience, as the 'creepy' sequence conveys more of the horror/thriller genre and this childlike element will reassure audiences that it will not be a full horror film, but will also appeal to them. In terms of narrative, the character of Edward himself is shown in the first few minutes to be quite innocent and childlike, so these cut-out shapes could also represent his personality.

History of Thriller

As many genres do, thriller originated from literature; ancient poems such as Homer's Odyssey use similar narrative techniques as the thrillers audience watch today. The Three Apples from Arabian Nights is believed to be the first murder mystery story, and features plot twists and elements of detective fiction. 

With the development of film, the thriller genre began to take shape. Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger (1926) was a silent film thought to be the first ever thriller film, based on solving the mystery of a 'Jack-the-Ripper' style killer. Hitchcock was one of the first and most well-known British filmmakers, but also one of the most famous influences for the thriller genre. Throughout the 1930s-60s Hitchcock dominated the thriller film scene, with other directors also releasing material such as Michael Powell's Peeping Tom and Terence Young's Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn. 

By the 1970s, violence began to feature in thriller films, creating the thriller-horror subgenre. Films such as Ted Kotcheff's Wake in Fright (1971) and Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972) introduced violent aspects to the genre. Stephen King's horror/thriller books began to be adapted into films by 1990, and Misery gave the thriller genre the conventions of obsession and trapped protagonists. In the present day, thriller films are often crossed-over with subgenres, particularly action, horror and crime.

(info. from Wikipedia)