homework ryan

In the film 'speed' the opening sequence is simply the camera slowly moving down an elevator shaft, whilst the titles roll this would have been done by tracking system. On the right there are floor numbers; this is really clever because it acts like a count down to when the film will start, building suspense. When the floor numbers reach P4 the camera pans down to a low angle shot of a door making the word ‘caution’ seem more dramatic than what it actual is. Then a man enters and there’s a point of view shot, which would have been made by using a dolly. This was used whilst the man was walking down towards another guy (villain). The camera follows the guy who came through the door to the villain already there without showing his face. This is good as it gives a sense of mystery and added suspense. Whilst they’re talking there’s a lot of over the shoulder shots of the villain to prevent you from seeing his face then the shot changes to a close of a bag where the villain is getting a document out. He then stabs the other guy after that shot we then see the villain’s face and it’s the end of the sequence.

This is a good opening sequence because it has good suspense building techniques because it uses over the shoulder and point of view shots, which are conventional to thriller films. It also uses a wide range of camera movements so that the camera is never static to make the audience uneasy.