As the man closes the back door, a straight cut is used to transition to a black screen. Immediately by this initial bit we are informed the genre of the sequence is a thriller. The opening credits introducing the production company and director are placed in the middle of the shot in small white letters. The title 'Alibi' is put in slightly bigger letters and in a matching font. During the opening credits, the sound of the train can still be heard. A fade is used to transition to a high angled shot of a simple room with a table and two chairs. In the room a man is sitting down on his phone while another takes a seat in front of him and places a file down. A black and white filter is used to perhaps represent a security camera.
An extreme closeup shot of the man's phone is used. We see him check a location on google maps. The extreme closeup shot is used to focus and increase attention on what he is doing. As this shot is used the lighting goes back to normal.
Dialogue is introduced and the audience is now aware that this is an investigation on a missing girl and the character who was previously on his phone is being interrogated by a detective. The audience also makes a connection as the missing girl is the one from the initial scene of the car. Throughout the conversation shot, reverse shot is used along with some closeup on the man in order to focus on his facial expressions.
A cross cut is used as we see another action take place. It shows a series of short paced shots of the man driving the woman somewhere. The lighting used is similar to the one in the initial scene to represent this took place in the past, when the event took place. The set is very dark but flashes of orange/red lights passing by show the two characters. The reason for the lights passing by is to convey the car is moving. A voice over is used during the action where the man denies having seen her that night despite the fact the audience is seeing a flashback that proves the opposite.
Another cross cut is used, taking us to a different set. Again the place is dark but neon lights placed around the corner of tables makes us able to see the occurring action taking place. By the set up the audience can tell the action takes places in a bar. A diegetic sound is used, in the background a calm music plays which creates a pleasant mood. There is a short scene of two characters, the missing girl and a bartender talking briefly. By the character's facial expressions and body language, it suggests that they may fancy each other in some way.
Cross cut back to the present, a closeup shot is used to show a new suspect being interrogated, the bartender. Like the previous man, he lies about having seen her before she went missing. Sound is used effectively in this scene as whenever the action would cross cut back to the bar, the faint music would be added in a way that makes it realistic and well done. A closeup on the detective's face is shot asking a question. As the camera turns back another character is introduced. This is to show the detective asks all the possible suspects the same series of questions as they would in a real investigation. The new character is said to be the missing girl's husband which gives leaves the audience confused to why did she seem so interested in the bartender in the previous scene. It also leaves them clueless on who to believe due to the many lies told throughout the sequence. A series of short clips are played of extremes closeups of his face and shots of the girl in the bar. The sequence finally ends with a mid-shot of the husband reading a book with his child, followed by an extreme closeup shot of the husband's face as he looks over to see who opened the door, leaving the sequence end on a cliffhanger.
The camera slowly zooms out to a wide shot as the man prepares to take a first shot. As he hits the ball, an extreme closeup is used to shows the balls moving around before moving back to a wide shot. The conversation and action taking place seems to be fairly normal however still quite strange as we can't predict what's about to happen. The man then walks to the other side of the table, as he is halfway he jumps for some reason the audience can't understand. He continues to speak normally and the camera uses a crab movement to subtly follow him around as he plays.
Once again, the man walks to the other side and jumps. As he jumps the scene cross cuts to a closeup shot filmed underneath the pool table. Underneath lays a dead woman's body, finally informing the audience the reason why he kept jumping. The sequence seems to take a dark turn and the peaceful silence becomes eerie and dangerous.
The man carries on with his monologue and a variation of mid-shots to closeup shots are used throughout it. Another cross cut is used to take us to a new place. A mid-shot shows the man sitting down in a wheel chair with a blanket on his lap. The change of costume suggests the following action takes place in another day. The usage of the wheel chair leaves the audience suspicious as it is quite unusual since the man was seen walking perfectly fine in the previous clips. Still using a mid-shot, the man pulls out of the blanket a gun. As he begins talking an extreme closeup shot is used to show him placing bullets inside the gun. Diegetic sounds of the bullets entering the gun can be heard.
A closeup shot on the man's face is then used and in the background we see a blurred image of a young woman walking up the stairs, towards the man. The use of selective focus is so the audience's attention remains on the man and what he is speaking but still to see the lady getting closer to build up tension. As she gets closer we can foreshadow what's about to happen. Once the lady passes by, the man's facial expression changes to a softer one and innocent. The sequence then ends on a low angle shot showing the man pointing the gun at the woman's face and another straight cut is used to a black screen as the sound of the gun being shoot can be heard.
The sequences were both really good and enjoyable, they both had me really tense as the scenes escalated. I personally think shooting an opening sequence in a studio indoors is far easier than shooting outdoors because you have more control and don't have to worry about time. In terms of lighting, despite shooting outdoors gives the film more credibility, you have a lack of control in, the sun could suddenly be covered in clouds during the shooting or it could start raining. Shooting indoors, you get to create exactly the lighting you want using professional equipment.
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