Film opening from chosen genre

 Sci Fi... my chosen genre is Sci Fi. It's not what my group and I initially planned, but for our film, it's what genre it falls under. Now I'm researching film openings. This will help me and my group decide basically the whole film opening. This includes props, costuming, lighting, and character.

A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

    In the opening minutes of A Quiet Place: Day One, made in 2024, The movie opens inside a hospital and in an instant creates a claustrophobic environment in the normally quiet, busy medical setting. The lead character is shown undergoing some treatment or visiting someone. This tone of the hospital, a place of security, is oddly toned down as small and nagging features start to appear. Distant siren wails, rushed doctors, and flickering power are all ominous signs that something is not quite right, but there is no explanation given just yet. With a general idea of the franchise, dread builds within the audience as it waits for normalcy to break. With minutes passing, the feeling of anxiety builds up until the first signs of the invasion appear. Before long, patients and staff start reacting to distant noises. Confused murmurs give way to full-blown panic as something is happening outside these walls. Perhaps a loud crash, unnatural silence stops the movements, signaling that whatever was coming is now inevitable. That is when the chaos erupts, and the main character, along with people around her, is thrown into immediate survival mode. This setting of the hospital works effectively in building fear since it makes the audience watch a confined space turn from a place of healing into a battleground. By the time the creatures attack or make their presence known, the tension will have already peaked to ensure that the audience is fully immersed in the terrifying reality unfolding before them.

Avatar (2009)

    Avatar, made in 2009, opens right into the world of Pandora, with its alien landscape coming before the main character. At the very opening of the movie, there is a dream-like sequence with partial shots of the forests of Pandora, the floating mountains, and bioluminescent plants, while Jake Sully narrates. This introduction not only presents the breathtaking visuals but also sets the tone for the exploration of an unfamiliar world. The audience is given a brief moment to take in the beauty and mystery of Pandora before being abruptly pulled into reality-Jake waking up from cryosleep aboard a spaceship. This immediate transition from the dreamlike scene of Pandora to the cold, sterile inside of the spacecraft shows the contrast between both the worlds and immediately establishes Pandora as a place of wonder and adventure yet to come for Jake. Immediately upon releasing from his cryopod, the film establishes Jake's character through visual means. The close-up of his legs and his struggle to move immediately inform the audience of his paralysis, making his perspective unique from the other soldiers and scientists onboard. The chaotic, cramped environment of the spaceship contrasts with the open, natural beauty of Pandora, reinforcing the idea that Jake does not belong in this rigid mechanical world. Through his narration, one gets the impression that he is a former Marine who took his twin brother's place in the Avatar Program. The first minutes manage to deliver some of the main idea of the film, such as exploration, displacement, and transformation, while establishing Jake's trip, both physically and emotionally, before exploring Pandora.

  Level 16 (2018)

    Level 16, made in 2018, is cold and sterile with unexcitable color tones and inflexible environments. The film starts in a boarding school where young girls live under very tight surveillance and are obliged to follow a strict routine. Their lifestyles are reflected in the often gloomy and somewhat lifeless surroundings, which are primarily gray or blue in color. It is overly illuminated with harsh lighting that cast uneasy warm glows toward the uniformed females. In order to avoid displaying even distinctiveness in clothing, the lighting and color scheme reinforce the setting as one that is not loving but rather one that functions more like a jail, where people are stripped off into obedience. The movie introduces the audience, within the first minutes, to the main character, Vivien, a little girl living in Level 10, hesitating to assist another girl when an item of hers has been dropped. Her act of charity gets her severe punishment, proving how strict their world is. The scene jumps forward as when Vivien and the others have reached Level 16, the final stage of their education. In this stage of their life, it would seem that the girls have been doctored into absolute obedience, as they move in a patterned unison where commands are carried out. The absence of warm colors and natural light is harsh in the setting-a similar psychological oppression which the school has over them. This overwhelming opening introduces the main mystery of the film and points out an unfavorable reality that may well be revealed later.