Edward's Film Blog

The fifth and last film that my team and I decided to research was "The Usual Suspects" by Bryan Singer. We decided to investigate this film because of the sense of mystery created throughout the film. This film reveals the most information in the opening compared to the other four movies that my tea and I have investigated as it tells the very ending of the film and then flashes back to prior events. The film uses a lot of close ups and shot reverse shot's in order to convey the dialogue that the film opens with.  The opening credits featured actors, directors, music production and the producer. The film cost six million to make and made a total of thirty four million dollars. The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

The next film that my team and I chose to research was the film "You're Next" by Adam Wingard. We Chose to research this film's opening because of its use of long takes in order to build suspense, and through the use of disposable characters to introduce the plot and the villain. Very little of the story is shown in the first two minutes of the film, the only plot introduced is the main villain. The film employs a lot of long takes and camera pans in order to create suspense. The film chooses to leave out the opening credits in order to not distract from the suspense of the scene. The Film cost approximately a million dollars to make and ended up making 28 million dollars. To my knowledge, the film was not nominated for any awards.

The Third Movie opening that I investigated was the beginning of Ridley Scott's Alien. I chose this film because like the previous films Alien uses suspense perfectly. The opening scene shows next to none of the story. The opening scene is a long panning shot that establishes that the movie takes place in space. During this long shot the opening credits of the movie are shown, with job titles such as actor, director, producer, composer, and editor. There is a total absence of dialogue during the opening scene, allowing the score to build a feeling of awe and suspense. The film had a budget of 11 million dollars, and has made between 104 million and 203 million dollars worldwide. Alien has won the academy award for best visual effects in 1979 and won the Saturn Awards for best science fiction film, best director and best supporting actress. Alien has spawned a host of sequels and its monster, the Xenomorph, has become an icon in popular culture.

The second film that my team and I decided to investigate was John Carpenter's The Thing. This is personally one of my favorite films in the horror and thriller genres for its masterful use of suspense and its psychological horror. Like The Dark Knight, the opening scene of The Thing conveys a very limited part of the story. It Introduces two characters who are killed off within the same scene as well as the horror of the film, yet the audience is not made aware of this till later. This successfully creates a mystery and an unsettling atmosphere. The opening scene uses a lot of wide shots and long takes to establish the setting. The film also uses an over the shoulder shot to help convey action. The opening credits show the main actor, the musician, costume design and special effects, as well as the producer and director. The films budget was 15 million dollars, making only 19.6 million at the box office. It received nominations from the  Academy of Science Fiction. While receiving...

The first film that our team researched in the genera of thriller was Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight. We chose to research this film dude to its iconic and engaging opening scene. A very limited amount of the story is conveyed in the first two minutes of the film. What is done in the first two minutes is the introduction of an important character while creating both suspense and intrigue. The opening scene used parallel editing to simultaneously show the roles of two different armed robbery teams  as well as using a good number of short takes in order to convey action. The film did not have any opening credits, as to not take away from the suspense of the scene. The films budget was 180 million dollars, it made 1.005 billion dollars internationally and has been nominated for eight academy awards.