SCF Inc.

Student Examples- Mistaken Identity

Strengths- Effective use of camera shots such as the over the shoulder shot when he was driving the car which help to intergrate the credits smoothly. Also the clever close ups on the hand in the snow and the feet dangling down work very well as they give the audience enough of an insight to realise that there has been a potential murder(s) or suicide but still leaves many questions unanswered such as how did the bodies get there and what is the identity of the bodies. Editing also remains smooth and relatively consistent throughout, although it isnt necessarilly at the typical speed you would excpect to see in a Thriller but the slow speed works well in the opening. Another strength is the dialouge, the ongoing commentary from the main protagonist gives us an insight as to what his role is within the film without giving too much away. The montage scene for the opening credit also works well as it gives the audience a preview at potential key objects/ locations within the film.

Weaknesses- One of the main weaknesses I feel that there is within this opening is the soundtrack. Whilst the song in the opening was no doubt an attempt at a counter convention for a Thriller film, it does seem to lack any real power or meaning to the lyrics or tune that would make it effective, overall, whilst its purpose is to probably mislead the audience, I would consider it too harmonious and subtle for a thriller film, misleading or not. There is no doubt this is an element that we will try to avoid.

Elements that we may take into our film- We are going to use an opening montage scene with a similar structure to the one used in Mistaken Identity, except we will obviously be showing objects which play a key role within the plot of our film.