Sleepy Hollow.

• In the first couple of minutes of the film, the name of the institution is shown first; next the name of the production then followed by the name of director. All titles were shown on black background which creates the intense atmosphere. The reason why the titles are shown first is to build up tension and as it’s a Tim Burton film, the audience will have automatic high expectation; due to his previous films. 

• The first image was what seemed like a drop of blood, (when it fact it was wax) which creates the idea that the genre is horror. It also misleads the audience, which creates a foreshadowing of what the rest of the narrative will be. This is something that I will take on board when producing my opening film, as draws the audience in by misleading them. 

• The use of thunder creates pathetic fallacy to create an intense atmosphere, which keeps the audience intense. This is something to take on board when producing my film as it makes the final product look more professional. 

• The music is very fast pacing and high pitched at the end, which emphasised what was happening in the scene. The build of music intensifies the narrative, making the atmosphere eerie. The digestive sound of the horse’s hoofs as they started running faster, also gave the idea to the audience that something, was about to happen because the tension was building up. This a convention of a horror/ thriller which inspires me to embed that element to my film, to heighten the fear.

• The narrative of the opening scene, gave lots of questions to the audience, which made the audience more interested in the film. For example Who’s that old man? Why was he targeted? Why did two people shake hands? Etc. This is an element that I will use in my opening film as it helps draw in the audience and makes them want to keep watching. 

• The camera angles were mostly close up, to get the audience attention, close-ups also intensify the fear as the audience cannot get away from the image. One of the camera angles was from a person’s view to help the audience understand his fear. Point of view shots and close ups, are essential to making the perfect thriller film. Therefore I will use these to create the same amplified effect.