R+P Post 5: Our opening sequence idea

The story of our opening sequence takes place in the interrogation room of a police department. We chose the scenario of an interrogation because it is an immediately identifiable feature of crime dramas and one that would immediately invest the audience into the genre. The Usual Suspects is a traditional neo-noir crime film that has an interrogation scene.

Five teenagers are questioned by a detective about a schoolboy, Peter Smith, who disappeared two nights ago after leaving a house party where the teenagers where. They are asked by the detective about what their relationship with Peter was like; most of the teenagers, besides his girlfriend, are not too worried about Peter's whereabouts and express their dislike for him. An officer interrupts one of the questioning's to whisper something to the detective. The detective reveals that Peter's body has been found and the teenagers are all there for further questioning.

It will begin with close ups of all the teenagers and the detective, showing them tapping the table and blinking nervously. Close ups are used to great effect to establish a character's mood in one episode of the TV series Black Mirror called Hated in the Nation.

The close up accentuates Karin's pained expression as she faces the inquest

The main body of the opening sequence shows the questioning of the five teenagers. This is done by inter-cutting the police interviews so that the multiple conversations are edited in such a way that they seem like one flowing conversation. This technique is used in one episode of the TV musical show Glee. 

The conversations will include editing techniques such as shot/reverse shot, to make the conversations between the detective and the teenagers flow naturally. We will also use sound bridges and blend shots together using fades to make the inter-cuts appear as if they were one conversation.

Here is a page of our script for the opening sequence:

We will use the age difference between the detective and the children to create binary opposites, as well as the formally dressed detective conflicting with the informally dressed teenagers including long shots taken from the side of the table to show both characters in profile and therefore creating a visual comparison between the two.