Film Opening Assignment

 Hereditary

• The title of the film is never shown in the opening clip. Only the names of the studios are shown.
• The majority of the opening focuses on domestic scenes. What makes this so interesting is that these images of furniture and rooms don't feature any people until relatively late in the clip. It caught my eye how upon a zoom-in to a dollhouse, the audience realizes that this is actually a real room. The imagery of this clip is focused on a sort of uncomfortable "unreal"-ness.
• The connotation of these strange images are that there is something wrong in this family. The clutter of junk yet absence of life makes me feel like there's a secret that they're hiding. The junk seems to symbolize a diversion away from their flaws.
• The genre is symbolized via technical codes because of how slowly the camera is moving and how it moves in time with the sound. The sound is eerie and random, creating the unease that horror movies play on. The camera movements work with this by using slow pans that built suspense as to what we are about to see. There were several times I expected a jumpscare because of how these elements suggested "something is going to happen". That expectation wasn't fulfilled, but it did leave me in the continuous anxiety of "something is going to happen".
• This clip established so many questions in my mind and I think that's what truly makes a good opening scene. For example, the little girl exhibits many strange behaviors such as clicking her tongue and drawing her mother like a monster. The parents are overprotective of her and are always looking over their shoulders at her. Along with this, the mom gives an unconventional eulogy at the funeral. It doesn't sound like she actually loved the woman who died or wanted to saying anything complementary about her. It was forced and uncomfortable. This establishes a very weird family dynamic with no explanation.
• The target audience of this film would young people who enjoy psychological thrillers. I think it definitely fulfilled it's job of appealing to that group because of all the subtleties that were in it. This is for the type of movie-goer who tries to figure things out in their heads. Every bit of dialogue, every strange camera shot, every strange facial expression. This film, at least from my limited perspective, hits its target of being a puzzle to be solved.
• Technology was effectively used in the first half of the clip by emphasizing certain images via zooms in and out. We begin with about 60 seconds out zooming out from a shot of a treehouse, suggesting that it will be important later in the plot. Shortly thereafter, we are zooming in to the dollhouse which tells that this is important to the plot right now. As I said earlier, the editing technique of suddenly having the dollhouse be a real house, before our eyes can even register it, is very compelling to the mystery at hand. The movement of the camera around the mom as she gives the eulogy is very unsteady. We are circling her and that simple action gives the feeling of being surrounded.

Get Out

• The title is only shown once during the opening scene.
• The opening sequence is actually fairly non-threatening for a horror movie. You could almost be lead to believe that this is a romantic comedy. What did stand out to me though was the three setting changes. We go from a dark street, to driving past a forest, to a modern apartment. I haven't seen this movie but I think that these three places will play a symbolic role in the plot. At the very end we are introduced to a woman carrying coffee and pastries. She seems strangely happy and has knocks on the apartment door with her head.
• Knocking on the door with her head has the clearest connotation out of any visual in this clip. At least to me, it's signifying an insanity that the audience doesn't know about yet. What is truly interesting here is not the visuals, but the choice of sound which I will talk about in the next question.
• Genre is being reinforced here with unconventional music choices. For most horror movies, you would expect some kind of groaning or wind howling. But here, you have to listen to the lyrics to know what this audio choice is trying to say and how it relates to the scene. While looking at the dark, foggy forest, there is a mournful song in Swahili. I didn't know what the lyrics were until I checked the comments. The song is chanting "Listen, run far away brother". In the next scene, there is no longer such a dark atmosphere, but the music has the same message: run. While we see a black man getting ready, it cuts to his white girlfriend picking out pastries with an intense, wide eyed look (which could also be a symbolic code about her mental state). The lyric of the song that aligns with this is "too late...my peanut butter chocolate cake with kool-aid". I think that this is a clear indication of a some kind of fetishization. When black people are fetishized they're often described with food words like "chocolate". There's also a distinct creepiness to "too late". When it cuts back to the man, the lyrics that align with him are "stay woke" repeated over and over. The music is telling him to stay vigilant because something bad is going to happen. This unique use of technical codes adds so much information in a short amount of time.
• The biggest enigma established by this opening scene is what's going on behind the scenes of this relationship. Right now, they seem to be shrouded in this coat of normality but there's obviously something underneath. There are also smaller mysteries surrounding the dark street we are first introduced to and the forest we were driving through. It hasn't yet been explained what those symbolize.
• This clip does a great job in appealing to its target audience, which would most likely be young horror fans. Rather than relying on suspense, it relies on the unknown and the multiple layers that the viewer is meant to wonder about. The man and woman are also both very attractive and the song in the third clip is "Redbone" by Childish Gambino; a popular artist who most young people know.
• The use of technology in this clip was very compelling. The third scene starts off with cuts between photographs of black culture (we later find out that the man is a photographer) and this editing technique helps to establish that we're in the modern world and it gives a metropolitan feeling rather than a spooky feeling. It's like a false sense of security. The camera movements are successful in establishing the setting of his apartment and and follows the woman as she carries away the pastries. When they finally meet at the door, it is via an over-the-shoulder shot which signifies familiarity and trust between them (though from the other info, we know this is misplaced).

The Silence of the Lambs

• There is only one title shown in this clip.
• The images emphasized in the opening sequence are Clarice running through these grey, foggy woods, and then her travelling through the grey FBI building. She's drenched in sweat with messy hair, and boxy, masculine clothes. The imagery invoked a much more "classic-horror" feeling.
• Right off the bat, Clarice's running has the connotation that she is being chased by something. It's a universal fear that nearly all people have, and even though the audience knows she's just training, her darting eyes suggest that something worse is going on. The woods seem to envelop her as she runs and we have no clue where she's going due to the heavy fog. Secluded areas like that are the perfect location for murder. This imagery plays with several universal fears all at once: being alone, being chased, and the unknown. Her appearance could be interpreted in two ways: as someone working out, or as someone who's terrified. These two things look very similar. The grey-ness of the FBI building doesn't offer any solace either. There are constant symbols of danger like chemicals, guns, and of course, the "behavioral health department" sign.
• Both the symbolic and technical codes used here represent the horror genre at its most pure. Everything that one would expect is featured. Dark colors, fast, erratic movements, and wilderness bring the audience into a world of high anxiety. That, in conjunction with technical elements like a shaky camera, a stereotypical haunting soundtrack, and a fast-paced cuts all come together to form one cohesive idea that this is 100% a horror film.
• Though this first scene seems to be fairly transparent, there is the enigma of what Clarice was called into the FBI office for. What could be so urgent that she has to be immediately called in even when she's training. The "behavioral health department" sign is the most telling clue but the circumstances on which she was brought in are a bit strange. 
• This film is from the early 90's and was meant for people of that time who wanted to see a good thriller on Friday night. I think it fulfilled its job of reaching the target audience. Jodie Foster was a very popular actress at the time and the premise of the story is something that would be widely liked. It's something that can both be casually watched with friends and studied intently.
• Technology was used very well in this clip, especially in how the camera tracks Clarice running. It successfully gives the impression that we're running along side her. Long shots emphasize how small she is compared to the woods surrounding her, and even how small she is compared to the FBI building. This can be interpreted as a power imbalance. For much of the clip, Clarice is constantly moving and we are constantly following her via tracking and fast cuts. She is only completely still once she gets to the office and the camera seems to circle around her, almost in a stalking manner.