The Opening sequence of Piranha 3D (directed by Alexandre
Aje), starts of by showing what production company made the film. The way that
they have created their logo makes it look as if it is underwater, which works
well and reflects the film as it is about being in the sea and piranha’s attacking.
During the opening they have used Non-diegetic sounds of the
Piranhas making noises. This unnerves the audience because normally we can’t
hear them above the water and it makes them feel uncomfortably close to the
dangerous creature. The audience will also begin to ask questions as to why the
Piranhas are making those noises and what is going to happen.
There is an extreme long shot; this is used to show the audience
the location of which the action is going to take place. The use of this
extreme long shot also shows the audience how much of an open and rural environment
that it is, with all the rocks. The camera begins to pan around the location to
give the audience more of an insight into the surroundings. Showing the
Location in this way gives the feel of solidarity and that people may be quite
alone, this worries the audience because they begin to link this to the piranhas
activity and wonder what will happen to the alone people if something goes
wrong. To add even more to this part of the opening, they added an ambient
soundtrack which emphasizes the wilderness that the characters are in, this
makes the audience empathize with their welfare and become more engaged in the
film.
The mise-en-scene also helps to create an atmosphere for the
film. There is a sign saying “STOP restricted access” that is hanging of the
fence. Just the sign alone makes the audience feel as if they are intruding,
but it also makes them ask even more questions as to why they are there even
when they shouldn't be. A spooky atmosphere is created, making the audience
feel haunted as non-diegetic sounds have been added to give the effect that the
sign is banging on the fence. The audience become curious as to what is behind
the fence, so they want to keep watching the film in order to find out.
As this shot begins to pan to one side we can hear the sound
of metal scraping together. This is typically used in thriller movies as it is
a simple yet effective way of unnerving the audience through spooking them and
making them ask questions. In this shot particularly there is a scrap of cloth
hanging from part of the fence, this makes the film become more real to the
audience as we now know that there must be a human character, whether they are
alive or dead we don’t know. This part of the opening creates a sense of
confusion and the audience begin to wonder who was trying to enter and why, or
what was trying to escape, and why?
The opening then cuts to a lizard moving a long, the camera
slowly starts to zoom in on it as the soundtrack of a violin begins, which
builds up tension in this situation. A lot of people have phobia’s of creatures
like lizards and snakes, if not then they aren't considered to be particularly pleasant
and positive animals like a cat or a dog, so this connotes that the place that
the audience are entering is not particularly positive either. The lighting
that is used in this particular part of the opening is quite low key, which is
used a lot in thriller films as it creates shadows which makes the film (in
this case opening) more mysterious.
In the opening, they also use the sounds of an eagle to
create more of a wilderness type atmosphere, it makes the location seem more
deserted and spacious, and as if there could possibly be some kind of death
either that has already happened or is going to happen. But reflecting on the
extreme long shots of the beautiful location the audience really just get a
picture of where they really are going to be in the film, the opening in
Piranha is very vague and is just there really to start the audiences minds off
and get them thinking of what is going to happen.
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