The title of the film, like many of the films in it's genre, is somewhat enigmatic, without being completely confusing as if it were confusing, the audience may not understand the message which the film is trying to portray. The simple black on white colour scheme doesn't distract the viewers from the message.
Setting and location
The film is set in the futuristic year of 2022, with the opening of the film being set on Friday, the 18th of a month, 2022. We know this through the radio broadcast which is being interfered with. The style of broadcast is that of a totalitarian state, with phrases such as "The only station you will EVER need" and "Our role illuminates your future; a future of freedom, prosperity... and peace." This suggests that the place in which it is set is that of dictatorship. The mention of a terrorist indicates that there is civil unrest and that the dictatorship is causing oppresion.
Costumes, Props and iconography
The costumes were very simple. We wanted black clothes as this is the typical colour of henchmen. Black is associated with stealth, power, death, formality, evil and mystery. These are the emotions which we wanted to portray to the audience, and thus, black clothing seemed to be ideal. For props, we used a gun because we wanted to make it more authentic and the gun is a symbol of power and authority. We also used a ripped banner with the word "EVACUATE" on it. This stirs interest in the turmoil of past events and entices the viewr to keep watching.
Camera Work and Editing
There were a lot of interesting camera shots which I have explained in a previous post. We did this because films of this genre use interesting shots to portray the mood. For the first section we wanted a slow edited sequence, which coincides with the peaceful scenery and the moment of temporary 'calm before the storm'. We then wanted the escape of the captive and the traitor to be fast paced with lots of faster cuts.
How typical is your opening sequence?
It is quite typical, as it stick to a lot of conventions, such as gender, lighting and music. It is slightly melodramatic.
Font Style
The font which we used is Tahoma. It is a simple, sans-serif font which is easy to read, therefore there is no confusion as to what has been put on screen.
Story and how the opening sets it up
The story is that of a suspected terrorist, who has just been captured by the henchmen of the ruling dictator. She is about to be interrogated for her actions. However there is a twist as one of the interrogators betrays the other and rescues the captive. The back-story is given in parts of the radio broadcast. Not the whole story, but enough to inform the viewer of thew current situation.
Genre and how the opening suggests it
The genre of the film is a sci-fi film with a hint of espionage. The opening suggests it with the hints of a totalitarian state in the radio broadcast, and the unusual interrogation which is not like a police interrogation. The twist in the opening indicates that this is a film of double agents and traitors.
How the characters are introduced
The two main characters, the male with the gun and the female, are both first seen in the interrogation room. However the female character is mentioned in the scene before by the radio broadcast host. We see the female character in full light so we understand who she is fairly quickly. However the male character is first seen in shadow, meaning we do not discover what he is like until much later when we see his face.
Special Effects
We used 2 special effects on our opening sequence. The first is the colour alteration of the figure running away from the explosion. The second is the lens flare on the gun as it fires. These two effects are basic however we felt they were necessary to portray the film's realism.
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