My favorite film opening inspiration

 Me and my group have decided to do a Horror film, as we came up with a storyline that we really liked and felt we could play into to make a good opening, which will successfully leave viewers yearning for more. As a group, we felt that a Horror film was the most accessible kind of film for us to produce, as we were having trouble figuring out the overall logistics behind a romance film, and felt that typical romance film openings lacked any kind of progression in a story or development, whereas we could have more creative freedom with a horror film overall and advance much more of the plot, without the fluff which is necessary in romance.

In order to further my understanding of  Horror film openings, I decided to study 3 of the openings which I believe are done best: 

Firstly, the movie Midsommar, directed by Ari Aster. Before even getting into the cult-horror part of the film, the opening shows a horrifying murder- suicide by way of car fumes. It depicts 2 long tubes, connected from the garage, containing the fumes, one of the tubes goes into what is presumably the parents bedroom, and one is connected to a mask strapped to what we later learn is Florence Pughs character, Dani, sister, as well as parents. The film follows Florence Pughs battle with depression as well as how she grieves her family's passing. The impact of this scene, without the use of unnecessary gore largely gave me inspiration for our film opening, as we did not want to include much gore due to the overall complications of coordinating a scene like that, with the limited resources we have access to. Overall the feeling of horror which is given off by that film, as well as the relatability to the main character, as she struggles with many issues that people struggle with in their everyday lives is something I want to convey through my opening as well.

Another film for which I appreciate the opening scene, is the film Final Destination, more specifically, the first one, which was released in 2000. Although the opening of this film is just a sequence of seemingly random clips, it is actually giving the viewer hints as to what is to come in the film, a pattern which carries on throughout the entire franchise. For example, the opening shows a passport, as well as a plane ticket, which signal to viewers that the character is going to get on a plane at some point in the movie. This use of the title sequence as a premonition is another element that I want to incorporate into my own opening, as i feel it keeps viewers on edge and alert about what is to come within the film, and is something that can feasibly be done within my project with the resources that I am given.

Lastly, The new rendition of the movie The Stepfather, depicts a man's normal morning routine, and then includes (shockingly) a dead child, and woman within the house. This element of shock, but in such a normal environment, with no real impact on the mans routine adds an element of normalcy to the film, something which i would like to include in my film, as I don't want the horror element to feel unnatural, or out of place but rather as if its something normal.

Overall, I realized that i don't want the beginning o my film to give too much away, or feel unnatural in the story's development. I was the issues to be normal, and relatable, and  I plan to do all of this within the realm of the resources I have, and my knowledge on media.