Monday, 9 November 2015

Bedlam Opening Credits Deconstruction

Deconstructing the opening credits will help us to get some inspiration. So that when create our own opening scene we can see what to include.


One of the first shots shown is of a room with a bed and a hanging lightbulb. In the centre of the room there is a man who is tied to a chair. At this moment the audience is unsure why he is there. The names of some of the main characters appear in sans serif. Showing the names of these actors may entice people to watch this if they have enjoyed other films or programmes these actors have been in. The words have a glitch effect which is a common convention of the horror genre. There is low key lighting which sets a tone of mystery and darkness, the only light used is a bulb hanging in the centre of the room.


I really liked the use of a time lapse which shows the clouds moving past a building. The building may be where Bedlam is set. The clouds are dark making the shot look gloomy and also set a tone of pessimism.


A shot of what seems like an abandoned hospital or asylum is used. There are lots of props in the scene such as partitions, beds and litter on the floor.


The next shot is of a girl who seems to be inside a room in the abandoned building wearing hospital clothing. She is sitting on what looks like the frame of a bed. This shot is very eerie as she is looking out of the window and away from the camera. Once again this creates enigmas and places lots of questions into the viewers head. The setting is also very realistic as there are lots of abandoned buildings such as hospitals therefore building more tension in the viewers. The camera slowly zooms in towards the girl.


A man sitting in the centre of a room with paper on fire falling down around him creates even more enigmas and it is unclear who he is or why he is there. 


I thought the use of reverse editing was really good and that even though we are not using the horror genre it could be used in our film opening as it looked effective. It also made it even more eerie as it was sudden and people don’t normally move that quickly. In addition to this she is also looking directly towards the camera. The lighting is low key which could suggest that something bad is about to happen.


Different themes are shown throughout the opening credits. The themes from darkness and mystery to a tone of intimacy which are polar opposites. However, the bed sheets are red which could also show darkness as red symbolises blood and danger. The lighting also changes to a brightly lit room.



I also liked how they showed that this woman’s reflection in the mirror did not copy her. The woman’s reflection looks evil whilst the woman looks scared. I liked how they showed the two contrasting emotions in one shot and I thought that maybe we could try this in our project.



Next I thought that the use of props was very clever as the doll is an everyday object that would normally be used by children. But by removing the eyes it gave the doll a creepy look and conformed to the common conventions of the horror genre using dolls. If we were using the horror genre this would be an easy prop to make which also looked effective.


Finally, the title of the programme appears, ‘Bedlam’, shown on fast changing backdrops. The same font is used throughout the opening credits.


Evaluation
  •          There was a good use of special effects such as time lapse, reverse editing and the woman’s reflection.
  •          The glitch effect on each of the titles conformed well to the horror genre.
  •          The use of enigmas and different shots which of different scenes to add to these enigmas


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