Thriller Openings

The Interpreter

The sequence begins with long shots of the scenery, and pans to introduce the setting, with some extreme long shots of the arena. These shots emphasise the isolation of the area and give a sense of wariness to the viewer. There are some close-ups of the characters to show their emotions, for example fear. And in the shots of the dead bodies it is a high angle, as if from the point of view of the characters. In the shot of the children running away, the camera is on the floor to create a low angle shot, as if from the view of the dead men, and uses a focus pull to bring the football into the shot clearly.

The sequence follows the van and then its passengers, cutting between shots of them, to identify them as the subjects of the scene. There is a cut in to the notebook, which could show that it will have some significance later on. After the initial scene there is a dissolving transition to a city setting, and the title credits begin to appear.

The lighting is often dark and shadowy, a convention of most thrillers, and the cuts begin to be faster, to increase the speed of the film, as if it is building towards something happening. We cut between the female protagonist and scenes of some people removing a hard disk, which will obviously feature in the storyline.

The sound used is trying to evoke a sense of our surroundings, in the very first scene it uses lots of African instruments, which are spooky and create tension. During the scene in the city there is a greater use of violins and western instruments to accentuate a change in setting. Another piece of non-diegetic sound is the camera shutter when it goes off, which is remarkably loud and signals freeze frames, this is intended to capture attention so we look at the photographs.

The diegetic sound is that of conversation, of the speech, and of things such as gunfire and footsteps.

In the initial scene it is obvious we are in Africa, there are shots of Negro women carrying baskets on their heads, walking on very dusty roads. The run down arena is stereotypical of poor countries,  and the way the men in the car are dressed it is clear that it is hot. In the city everything is grey and officious, and all the business people are wearing suits.

The titles of the film fade in and out over black before the film begins, then come up again during the scene at the UN meeting. There are large gaps between the appearance of titles, to allow us to follow what is happening in the important opening scenes.

The use of two alternate situations being juxtaposed is interesting and raises questions about how they are related, and from the very beginning, with the death of the men in the jeep, we are aware it will be about corruption. The title sequence succeeds in drawing us in, and sets the mood of the film well.

Silence of the Lambs


Silence of the lambs is a psychological thriller, which follows FBI psychologist Clarice Starling in her attempt to find a serial killer, and her various encounters with Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

To introduce the scene we see a shot of the trees to indicate we are in a lonely wood, which then pans down into the scene. The camera work in the opening sequence uses hand held techniques to make it seem like we are watching from someone's point of view, following the woman running. It is as if we are tracking her, which is immediately disturbing as we don't know what is happening.

The camera zooms back and forth, getting further away then closer, which again instils a sense that we are following her. The woman is framed in the centre of the shot to make sure she is the focus.

When we catch up to her and see her from the side, she stays on the left as if running in to the shot. The camera pans around the obstacle, as if we are overtaking and then waiting for her, but obeys the 180 degree rule.

The editing is fast, there are lots of cuts, to create tension and a sense that we are moving towards an important event. It tells us we are near Quantico in a typewritten font, like this information is being logged. This fits in with the crime thriller genre. The camera cuts in to the woman's feet and then back to a close up of her face, we see she is in obvious discomfort, and forcing herself to run, but we don't know why.

Inside the building, the lift doors close and immediately open, this signifies the passing of time, as we don't need to see her go down in the lift.

The title sequence is extremely long and is used to begin the story and establish the main character.

The Diegetic sound outside is of a general woodland feel, and we also hear the heavy breathing of the woman. Inside we hear general office noises of people talking and phones, but also see men preparing guns, which illustrates further that it is a police institute.

The Non-diegetic sound is classic thriller violins, they are high pitched and add further tension.

The Mise-en-scene of the piece is quite important, the obstacle course and the man's FBI hat introduce us to the setting, and the sign which reads 'Behavioural Science' indicates where this film is going to go.

The character of the woman is very feminist, she is strong and independent, the obstacle course could connote that she overcomes difficulties. although obviously comes across problems being in a building full of men. She smiles at the female post worker which indicates solidarity between the women there.

The credits appear in a usual order, with the star actors first, then others involved in making the film, and finally the director.

The film's opening is quite effective because the woods immediately make us think of danger, and this tension continues, but is rapidly dispersed. However, the idea of this danger does linger on after we have been introduced to it. It includes clues to the rest of the movie, in the behavioural sciences sign and the newspaper clippings on the board.

Psycho


Psycho's opening sequence shows the difference between modern and older films. It is entirely in words and images, which look very outdated to us now, as they could be easily made on a powerpoint presentation. The absence of any filmed sequence behind the titles serves to make them stand out more dramatically however. The background is black and the text comes up in white, with lines, bars and slashes in the text. The jagged cuts connote the slashing of a knife, so despite its irrelevance to the plot, it still ties in with the movie and has obviously been thought about.

The music we hear is non-diegetic, and uses very fast and high pitched violins to create tension, again they have a jagged, cutting tone, and work themselves up into a frenzy as we see Hitchcock's name. Having reached a climax the note is held and ends with a cello note, which signifies an end, and recaptures a feeling of calm for the opening scene.

The first shot pans around from above a city, which is identified as Phoenix, Arizona. The shots dissolve between each other and provide an overview of the setting. The camera then zooms in to a window where we will see the first scene. It cuts from the initial shot to another of the same window re-created in a studio, We can tell this because of the shadows and lighting. The studio set then allows the camera to move through the window into the hotel room scene. 

There is nothing immediate to suggest a thriller plot, no violence or clues to later events which are common nowadays in nearly all thrillers, this provides it's own interest because it doesn't give the film away, so we want to watch on to see how the plot will unfold.

I think the slideshow title sequence is too old fashioned to work in a modern day thriller, but fits with this film as we are aware of its antiquity. It probably worked at the time because that would have been quite a modern method in 1960.


A Clockwork Orange



The titles of A Clockwork Orange come up on blank red background after nearly 30 seconds, which turns to blue when it says the directors's name, and back to red for the film's title. We only see the directors name, which is unusual in any film. This sequence is very simplistic, but the colour red seems to have an importance to the mood of the film.

It then cuts to a close up of Alex's face, he wears a strange smile as he looks through the screen, and has a very intimidating presence. The camera slowly zooms out to reveal him sitting with his 'droogs' in a bar full of naked women acting as tables. This surrealist setting makes us wonder what the film is about.

All sound is Non-diegetic, the music at the very beginning is slow and ominous, and build up tension. It then cuts out as we hear Alex's voice dubbed over the scene, telling us in his strange russo-english language about what is happening, not a lot, it turns out. However, the sense of the viewer's disconnection with this dystopian society is apparent: the disconnected voice, the silent scene, the strange words and strange bars; it makes us feel wary of entering his world, and creates tension.

This initial scene cuts to a shot of a drunken old man singing, then Alex continues to narrate. We see them beat the man up with chains and bats, but he explains that the world is not as we know it, if we didn't work that out til now. The instant appearance of such 'ultraviolence' sets the tone of the film.

The Usual Suspects

The title sequence for this film is incredibly simple. We see the reflection of light in water, and very little else apart from the odd ripple, for two minutes while the credits come up in white and disappear.

After the final credit it cuts to the image of a man on a burning boat, presumably the source of the aforementioned reflection. The man tries to set fire to the boat by dropping his lighter to a line of oil, but another man urinates on it, which foils his plan of death by fire. We then see the unidentified criminal shoot the seated man, and drop his own cigarette to the oil. The scene is set at night, and the glow of the fire throws long and eery shadows across everything. The fact that we do not see the face of the killer, but the dead man (Keaton) obviously knows him, promptly sets up a mystery which must be answered by the end of the film. Thus we expect to see an action filled crime based thriller, with perhaps a twist of lime at the end.

The music is quite low key and uses moaning violins to strike a sense of fear and sadness into the audience.

The Wicker Man

The opening sequence of The Wicker Man sees a police seaplane taking off for somewhere. We see a close up of the star piloting the craft, coinciding with the appearance of his name in the titles. Throughout the sequence the credits appear in white in the bottom left, so we can still watch what is going on. Between shots of the plane it cuts to image of a landscape, which we then see the plane approaching. It is clear he is heading towards an island.

This journey to an island connotes an abandonment of the safety and security of the mainland, he is leaving normality behind.

The music is a Scottish folk song, which sets the scene as an island (the fictional Summerisle) near Scotland. The minimalist voice is quite sad and foreboding, like a lament. Then we hear another song with just guitar and voice. Diegetic sound is a minimum, just the engine noise of the plane.

As the credits finish he arrives at the island where the story will take place.

It is a very simple sequence, but suits the minimalist tone of the movie, and sets up the beginning of the story, so at least it is relevant, as it is important to know he is on an island.