Research for our opening sequence

Research for our opening sequence:

I researched how other films hanged characters and how they achieved it so that I could apply certain ideas to the opening sequence of our thriller. 

For example, in the British drama Kidulthood (directed by Menhaj Huda) a young girl kills herself. 

In this scene, they use an over the shoulder shot to show her writing the suicide note, which means the audience don't actually get to see what is written. This creates a mystery and a coldness over the scene. 

Also, they don't show a wide shot of the hanging, only a mid shot of her feet dangling and then a mid shot of her face. This works as it portrays how lifeless she is the horror of what she has done. Moreover, there is not a shot showing her actually hanging herself, only a cut from the parents breaking down the door to her dangling feet. This shows the brutality of the hanging, without being over the top. 

There is a mid shot of the fallen chair as well, which gives the audience information on how she had achieved this. We had not considered this for our opening sequence, so we need to work out what she will stand on before hand. 

The background music in this scene is highly ironic as it repeats the phrase "stay positive". The music here really captures how terrible the suicide is, so it would be good to consider using music in our hanging scene.

Another example, is the hanging in the American drama The Shawshank Redemption (directed by Frank Darabont).

Here, the beginning shots are solely focused on the feet and everything else is blurred out. The close up of him scratching in the wall, makes the audience wonder what he is writing, so adds a sense of mystery to the scene. The close up of his face also shows the sadness he is feeling. 

The mid shot of the stool rocking is the most poignant shot used. The suspense as it rocks back and forth really draws the audience in and makes them want to prevent the act from happening. This is an effect I think would work well in our piece and would really heighten the tension in the scene. Also, the depth of field of the shot allows the audience to see him with the rope around his neck in the reflection of the mirror behind him. This means that audience don't directly see the noose but only slightly see it, but still get the idea of him hanging himself.

The close up of "Brooks was here" and the panning out to the mid shot of him hanging shows the audience how terrible this suicide is. The fact that the audience do not get to see his face also adds to how horrific this scene is, as it detaches the audience from the character because they no longer get to see his reaction.

Again, the music here adds to the sorrow of the suicide and really heightens the drama in the piece.


After watching these two hangings, I believe that our group need to focus on the stool/chair the girl will jump off and how we can create suspense before she jumps. Also, by adding a certain soundtrack behind the hanging we could really create a sinister and twisted atmosphere. These hangings both show that less is more, and the less you see makes the act seem even more terrible.