Media: Thriller titles timelineJORDAN CROOKELL

Storyboard

This is a timeline showing the opening sequence of the film ‘Terminator Genisys’. It includes details of the production cast such as the director, production team and the cast list. The timeline is extremely useful when producing and creating a film.

It can be used to show the exact timings of what should be coming on screen and when each title should come onto screen. For example, it shows us at 2:26 minutes in, the director of the film is shown on screen and at 2:37, the name of the title ‘Terminator Genisys’. Opening titles timelines give us a very detailed idea of what the opening titles will include and is very useful for making sure everything is put in the right order.

The opening titles/sequence include all the main aspects of the film including examples such as; producers, directors, cast, the actual title of the film and many more. These are all included in the storyboard.

Shots from the opening titles

This is a shot of the main actor in the film. The key actors in a film are always shown in the opening titles of films. This is because viewers will see the actor’s name and be drawn to the film if it is an actor they especially like. As well as this all the actors and main crew are credited both before and after the film itself. This is the same with the production company as well. Viewers will probably enjoy the film more if they see a production company that they like and trust.

For the titles of ‘Terminator Genisys’ we see that the setting is in space and then cuts to a shot from on earth. Setting the opening in space reflects the genre of the film. It shows that it will be futuristic and set ahead of today. This sense of futurism gives the viewer hints as to what may be in the film later on. The fact that we see explosions in the opening tells the audience that there will be violence and destruction in the film.

Another reason that the viewer can tell the genre of the film from the opening is the image of the terminator’s mask that is shown during the titles. The mask is obviously very robotic and tell the audience that there is clearly a technology advance in the film compared to real time.

To fully appreciate the opening to ‘Terminator Genisys’ you have to watch the sequence a number of times. This is because you may miss things that the director or the producer has added for effect. An example of this is that in the opening sequence, we see moving images of attacks and explosions from rickets fired from space. After watching the titles many times, I noticed that the film in the background is actually going backwards and is a hint as to what actually happens later in the film. This is used very effectively by the producers as it is very subtle but extremely effective if you pick up on it.

The images on the top are ones that occur just before the ones on the bottom meaning that the opening actually goes back in time and subtly shows us what happens in the film later on.

As well as this, another cleaver thing that the production company has added is the white letters on the right side of the actor’s names and the credits. At first I did not spot the fact that the individual letters spell out the title of the film. It was only after watching the opening many times and wondering what they were for that I understood why they had been placed there.

The opening title sequence reflects the thriller genre of the film in a very effective way. This is because it gives us hints about what could happen later in the film. As well as this, the tense soundtrack in the background helps add to the tension and atmosphere of the film fr the audience. This is a very typical thriller convention and is commonly used when creating a thriller film.