Art of the title Activity

The name of our film is 'Under the Influence' and it is a Romantic thriller. The film opening consists of what seems like a normal teenage couple in which the boyfriend is walking his girlfriend home from school. Once the girl arrives at her home, she waves goodbye to her boyfriend and enters her room and starts reading her book in her bedroom while her boyfriend stands outside her house watching her through her                                                                                                                        window. 

The information revealed in the opening sequence is: 

• The two main characters (the couple)
• The fact that there seems to be something wrong in the relationship because the boyfriend seems very stalkerish with the way he watches his girlfriend from outside her house. This is especially highlighted through the CU of his face as he's watching her, which seems focused, and the slight shadows cast across his face even though it's broad daylight imply that he may have something to hide
• Through the iconography of the CU shot of the couple holding hands, demonstrate the genre of romance but then the subtle creepiness exuded from the boyfriend in through his action imply a thriller element to the narrative.
• Who is involved with the film (either through it's production or actors) through the credits and titles, which also show institutional info of the film as well.

We planned for the opening to be very subtle in hinting the themes of the film. By shooting a couple walking home together, holding hands, exhibits a very stereotypical romantic theme because it's something a normal everyday couple would do. However the shot where the camera is inside the girls bedroom and you can see the boyfriend from outside her window if you were to look very closely, is very significant. Firstly, because the audience has been invited inside the girls bedroom and not the boyfriend, it gives the audience an inside and personal view into the girls life. Secondly, the fact that the boyfriend is standing watching her from outside without her knowledge demonstrates something is wrong with this supposedly "stereotypical" couple we saw in the beginning of the film. Thus creating an enigma and persuading the audience to carry on watching so they can find out exactly what is wrong with their relationship.