My final project idea!

Hi there!! Today I will be explaining a little bit more about my final project idea and some of the inspirations that I had to create it. I hope you enjoy it!

So, for my final project, I will be creating a 2 minute suspense film opening called  “The Hidden Match.”  The opening focuses on a scientist working alone in a lab while running a DNA test of an  unknown person. At the beginning of the opening, a folder with the FBI logo is shown, as well as a crime report file with a case number, the suspect's name and a flyer with the woman’s face saying "WANTED". This makes the audience realize that the story has to do with something about a crime suspect. While hinting at what the story is about, we still don't know who the suspect is, why she has done that and why are DNA tests being done by the scientist, which works perfect to create a suspenseful and mysterious opening. 

To give a little bit more of context, the woman that is shown in the crime report is actually the missing daughter of my main character, the scientist, who was mistakenly swapped by the hospital when she was born. She murdered the last director of the FBI forensic science department, which is written in the case report that will be shown really quickly at the beginning of the opening with a close-up shot. However, I can’t include all of these informations right away in the opening because it would end up with the suspense and I want to leave the audience wondering who is the woman, if she has any connection with a character shown, and why did she do that, maintaining the suspense of the story.

At the end of the opening, the scientist evaluates the result of the DNA test, which is positive, and makes a phone call where he says, “I found her”  to an unknown person, leaving the audience with unanswered questions and building up the tension to keep them engaged and interested in keep watching the movie to get answers.     

My main inspiration for this project comes from suspense and crime films that use mystery to keep the audience engaged. These films withhold information at the beginning and slowly reveal details over time. I was especially inspired by stories that involve science and investigation, where the audience needs to connect clues together rather than being told everything directly.

While I was researching for some suspense film openings to inspire myself, here are some of the ones that I liked the most: 

   Se7en (1995

  Gone girl (2014)

  Zodiac (2007)

I really like these three openings and they inspired me because they are suspense and crime films that create mystery by not revealing everything at the beginning . In  Gone Girl , the opening leaves questions without clear answers, which helps to engage the audience right away. I also really liked  Se7en  and  Zodiac because of how they  use darker and colder tones, investigation and how they build tension slowly, and that's exactly what I want my project to feel like. They inspired me to focus on mystery and suspense rather than explaining everything in my opening. I also watched the video below to help me get more ideas of more elements I could add into my opening to make it better: 

I hope you enjoyed reading my project idea and I can't wait to begin filming it and turning it into a real story!