Analysing a Student Film Opening

Bathory from 283goswell on Vimeo.
Nasima Akthar, Lisa Greenleaf, Layla Sudi


This was a previous student film opening which was made last year. They were a successful film opening because they had used the four technical elements of sound, mise-en-scene, camerawork and editing well.

The sound used in the film was done well as the group used it to build suspense throughout the clip. As the action was building so was the music, it got louder and more fast paced as the clip went on.

Another technical element that was used to help make this opening successful was the mise-en-scene. The props used in the clip helped to build up a sense of tension. For example, the location used of the graveyard relates to the red dye as it makes the audience think that death is involved within the clip.

The camerawork used in this clip had a fair amount of extreme close ups. This had allowed the audience to become familiar and recognisable with the props that were shown. Also the tracking used in the clip had also helped the audience identifiable with props such as the voodoo doll and the red ink, similarly the tracking used helped the audience to be familiar with the location where the group had filmed their opening, in this case it was the graveyard.  

As this film opening was a supernatural thriller, the editing used had helped portray this. The special effects used help create this image of the supernatural.

Overall, the group were able to make their opening to a thriller a success as they used all four technical elements to work with each other. Also, they had used the conventions of an opening, such as the titles shown at the beginning, the non-diegetic soundtrack and the action used at the beginning to hold the attention of the audience. As the group had done this they had succeeded in their filming to their supernatural thriller.