Final Task Research : Sherlock Holmes opening Sequence

The sherlock Holmes film which came out in 2009 and was directed by Guy Ritchie started on a budget of $90 million and ended up with a gross revenue of  $523,029,864 . This was evidently a highly successful Detective/Crime film. This film ws distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
This movie begins by showing a series of titles embedded in a cobble floor this immediatly sets the scene for the audience as cobbles represent old villages. In the background some non diegetic music is heard it is quiet. The camera is rapidly turned upwards so that the setting is seen more clearly. There is some diegetic sounds like horses neighing along with increasingly dramatic music. The horses neiging gives a sense of distress. the camera follows a carriage and quickly zooms into inside the carriage where a man is holding a  gun this shows that something is about to happen already.
This is an element that could be incorporated in our opening sequence as this would keep the audience in suspense. We want our opening sequence to be very dramatic and to instantly grab the audiences attention.

Research : The da vinci code opening sequence

The Da Vinci code is a popular detective movie which brought in a total gross of  $217,536,138 and in the first weekend it came out it brought in a total of  $77,073,388. AS the production budget was 125 million dollars some features of the opening sequence may help us to produce ideas for our own opening sequence that are appealing to the target audience.

The da vinci code opens with the titles which are placed on an all black backround. some eerie and mysterious music starts to play in the background this creates a very tense and suspicious amosphere which prepares the audience movie which is full of disturbing  events. After the titles have finished an ambient sound of footsteps is heard before the source of the sound is seen. this gives a sense of urgency. It also keeps the audience watching as they want to see where the sound is coming from and also what is happening and what is going to happen. The footsteps echo this makes it sound more haunting to the audience. While this is happening the non diegetic music in the background is significantly louder which makes the man in the scene seem more nervous and it makes it seem more chaotic. Within the first few minutes there is a man seen holding a gun. This scene is shot in a dark room which adds to the sense of mystery and secrecy. This immediatly sets the tone for the rest of the film.

Final Project

For this project i am working in a group with Nat and Manny. At the end of this project we need to have produced a opening sequence to a film taking into consideration the codes and conventions of the chosen genre. The target audience also has to be thought of when planning the sequence.
We have decided to do an opening sequence to a crime/detective movie. We are now researching the codes and conventions of this dramas and also looking at examples of detective movies to get ideas of how to make it appealing to the target audience. Also we are finding out which film distributor would be suitable to distribute or film. Nat, Manny and me are researching 2 films each. This should give us lots of ideas for how to structure our opening sequences.