opening sequence research of limitless and flight plan

Both being Thriller films, Flight Plan and Limitless have a few similarities along with a few differences.

Mise-en-scene

Some examples how the differences between these two opening sequences are: in the opening sequence of Limitless, the mise-en-scene elements mainly conist of death as shown in the use of dead people and blood, also danger props are used such as guns and other weapons. However, the mise-en-scene elements Flight Plan are suits to show wealth and footprints.

The similarities within the mise-en-scene for the opening sequence in both films are darkness, this is used to put a mysterious feeling on the audience and make them wonder what is about to happen. Another similarity between the two are that vehicles are used, this can indicate to the audience that a chase scene could happen during the movie, this is a well known convention within thriller movies

Sound

The differences between the two films for sound that is used are: In the opening sequence of Limitless, a voice over is used in order to build the tension within the audience and tell them some part of the story at the beginning, a voice over however is not used in the opening sequence of Flight Plan. Also changes of music is used in Flight Plan to build suspense within the audience, this sound technique however is not used in Limitless.

Some examples of sound similarities within both opening sequences are in both films, hyper real sound are used and this is used in order to create tension by making small, quiet sounds sound much louder than they actually are... An example of how this technique is used within both clips is nervous breathing is made to sound much louder so that the audience can hear it. Another similar sound technique used is that at the start, the music gets much loader as the picture on the screen changes, this is used in order to make the audience wonder what is going on 

Editing

One difference within the editing that is used in both Limitless and Flight plan is that Flight plan uses the panning technique whereas in comparison, Limitless does not, panning is where the camera follows a subject such as person or car in order for the audience to see more than they can see on just one shot.

The similarities of editing within both opening sequences is that zooming is used and this helps create a closer picture for the audience and shows more detail. Also, cutting is used in both because this shows many different scenes in a short amount of time

Cinematography

The final convention of media is cinematography, the difference between both clips that uses this are: an over the shoulder shot is included in Flight Plan whereas in comparison, this technique is not used in Limitless.

Two similarities within both opening sequences are that a close up is used many times in both clips, the reason why this technique is used a lot is because it wants to show to the audience, the worried facial expressions that the characters have during the clip, this helps create suspense and tension for the audience. The final cinematography similarity that is used is a high angle shot, this is used in both opening sequences because the director wants to create a sense of being high up in both.