The American - Daniel Wright

The American

 

 

As the opening scene starts the cuts between shots begin very slow with no background music. It is silent which give the impression of peace as the camera slowly zooms into the surrounding areas. The background music then starts as quite tranquil and sets the mood as the camera moves into the cabin with the two characters sitting by the fire.

 

 

 

 

 

When the time turns to day (the next morning) they get shot at by some person that the audience do not know and why. This instantly creates an enigma as the audience would then question why are they being shot at? The cuts between shots increase in frequency which matches the action that is unfolding during the scene.

 

 

 

After the Male main character shoots the unknown assassin another question is raised, The male character uses the following dialogue "Go to the house, call the police." He then shoots the female character which raises the question why did he shoot her? What was the purpose?

 

 

This will more than likely come to the audience as a massive shock, as it seemed with the first minute of the film that these two characters were in love as set in the cabin with the fireplace and the woman naked on the bed. This is a very clear attempt to shock the audience and it works very well. 



Zodiac - Tom Peacock

Zodiac 

Tom Peacock

The opening scene from Zodiac is very cinematic and creates the impression of a grand entrance. The director here has used extreme long shot and also a tracking shot.

We also see some fireworks in the background which are bright colors. These bright colors make us think its something worth celebration going on so therefore we're naturally drawn to it and want to know more.

Above we can see a close up show of a character approaching the car, which we see driving along the road. The director has used a well positioned camera here to show the character in full view. We can also see some good lighting used here too. The right side of his face is lit up by the key light and the other side is in shadows. 

This immediately raises questions, as his character is half in the shadows. This could suggest to the viewer that he has an evil side or that he isn't to be trusted or even that part of his character is being kept away in the dark. We can also assume this from the clothes he wearing, very dark and simple clothes which again suggest mystery.

Furthermore we see a complete contrast in this scene. This shot is establishing the scene using a medium shot. We immediately see bright lights which we associate with being safe or something going on. The music here is upbeat and very typical of the time it is set in .We could assume from the previous shot that there is something going to happen at the restaurant because of the contrast.

We see a dark character in the previous shot with a girl in the car then skip to a happy scene at a restaurant. 

Collateral - Tom Peacock

Collateral

Tom Peacock

Straight away here we get involved in some action. We see here a restricted shot, with us only seeing his upper body and face. It's also a closeup with the main focus intending to be on his face. The director here has also used a focus pull to allow us to focus on the main character instead of all the other people. This has been done intentionally and would suggest that the character has a significance in the story line.

Here we see the use of parallel cutting to create effect. At first we are hinted that they might be in the same place, however it's not certain. The editor then uses quick cuts to increase the speed, increasingly making us think that they could be in the same place. Close ups here are also used to convey that the convosation is also important, making us think that they could be main characters in the plot. The collision of these two characters could have a metaphorical meaning. For example they both appear to be main characters and when they collide in this scene it suggests that it could represent the collision of them again but in bigger terms later on in the film.

Sound is also widely used here. After they switch briefcases, a short montage of clips comes on the screen with some background music. The music is non diegetic and helps to make the transition go faster. The transition between the clips is fades, which gives the impression that the sequence is quite slow and sleepy, meaning time is passing slowly too outside the clips. The sounds added to this are also slow paced, not very upbeat and give the same impression and idea's to the viewer.

Jack Reacher - Daniel Wright

Jack Reacher

Straight away during the first and third scene the director has chosen to use restricted views of both the bullets and the lever. Hey has made them restricted by using close up shots to hide anything from the viewers eyes apart from what is in front of them. This creates an enigma straight away as the viewer wants to know... "Why are there bullets in that sorting machine?" and "who is pulling that lever and why?"

Enigma No.1

Enigma No.2

We then see a character driving in a van on a highway. His face is never shown whilst driving the vehicle by the use of Restricted viewing once again. After the character is revealed to us we see him with a close up shot, this is probably to make it so we remember his face . He starts to shoot at people from a high building. This is another Enigma but this time it is done without using a restricted view. The use of the Close up on the face will more than likely stay in our minds for when we next see the character, that is more than likely the intended purpose.

While the character is driving the vehicle and the opening credits are being shown there is very dramatic music which gets louder and louder and gradually calms down again, prompting for when the man is ready to do his dirty work.

Drive - Tom Peacock

Drive 

Tom Peacock

The opening scene to Drive is very interesting because normally in thrillers you'd expect there to be an opening filled to with action or at-least something to get the viewers interested. 

The above shot is taken from just after the introduction. We straight away see that there has been the use of restricted narration to introduce the character we see here. Our first impressions are straight away ones of mystery and confusion. We don't see or learn anything about the character in these first scenes, we don't know if it's female or male, what they're doing, why they're there. This is great way to start the opening because it doesn't give anything away and keeps up the theme of suspense. The use of Low angle shots as well as close ups helps to solidify this.

The great thing about the opening of this thriller is the fact that they use a voice over and non diegetic sound as well as lighting together to furthermore increase the viewers sense of mystery. We see the director here using the 3 set up for lighting, using the key light to light up only one side of the character, the rest of him is in shadows. This is clever technique to show the side of the subject which you want the audience to see. Below is a diagram showing how this was achieved using the key light.

Sound is also used here to good effect. We firstly hear the voice over talking over while the first few shots introduce the character. We then hear the background music fade in, which helps pick up the pace of the opening. That transition helps to represent the change in rythem and also that the main story line is picking up.

Costume also helps convey mystery in the opening scene, with the character here wearing dark colors. The room is dark lit as well and only a few things like the bed here and the TV in earlier shots show us any sort of color. This could've been done to make the appearance of the character here stand out a bit more to the viewer, presenting questions such as "Why is he dressed in black". Black is also a color, which could represent death and this could be a possible use of  Iconography. 

Hurt Locker - Tom Peacock

Evaluation of thriller openings. 

Tom Peacock

Hurt Locker

Sound is also very important in thrillers and here we can see some great examples.The director here has used great examples of non diegetic sounds to create mood and atmosphere.

For example in the clip above we hear the sudden introduction of some drum beats gently getting faster and faster. The sudden increase in the beats would suggest that they've been added to create a mood of suspense. It makes the viewer feel as though this scene is the quiet before the storm and that a big event in the story line is about to happen, which it does. 

An example of how the beat increases can be found below: 

As the action in the scene reaches the tipping point, the beats and music is at the top right of the diagram below - Creating suspense and atmosphere as mentioned above.

The above scene is the opening to Hurt locker, a thriller film which is set in Baghdad. In the opening scene we see the director use very Disorientating camera shots. We see shots such as the low angle shot and we also are the viewing what we later see as the robot, in first person. Using first person here furthermore expands on the point that the scene is very chaotic it doesn't really give much away to the viewer in the first few scenes, which creates a sense of mystery.

The director has also used Iconography here. After this scene we see the bomb disposal robot driving itself to where its going. This is a good example of Iconography because it symbolizes danger because most people will associate a bomb disposal robot with bombs, which are dangerous and threatening. This furthermore will entice the viewer to pay more attention to what's happening as there is an element of danger there.

The theme of distortion carries onto the following scenes, the camera angle here is a medium shot however the camera is not on a tripod while filming, it's freehand which makes it very shaky. This was most likely done on purpose to create the theme of confusion, which is used cleverly because the scenes show people running around, soldiers, which makes the viewer think about what's going on.

Mise en Scene also is used here to good effect. The costumes, which the characters are wearing give us yet more feel of confusion. There's two distinctive sorts of people here, the soldiers and then people who live there, both wearing very stereotypical clothes. Yet again the viewer will question why there are soldiers and civilians running around frantically and also because of the costumes they are wearing, why there are soldiers in Baghdad.

Gravity Opening - Daniel Wright

Gravity Opening

Daniel Wright

The film Gravity is set at a space station up in space, the end of the opening scene is where the main action unfolds. During this 1 minute and 10 seconds there is not one single cut, the whole duration it one continuous take where the camera fixates around the main character as she try's to break free from her harness.

During the time she is attached to the "arm" in the frame she is Put to the left hand side of the frame, by doing this the audience can see all the chaos which is unfolding in the background. The music which is accompanied with the Scene is parallel to what is happening within it. 

The music is very fast paced and dramatic. Still on the subject of sound, no sound is heard from the destruction behind the main character. This is to simulate what you would really hear up in space. The only things diegetic sound can be heard for the character are the voices of all radio transmissions. This is to put the viewer into thinking this is more of a real life situation than just a film.

In terms of Iconography, there is not really anything that would represent this to being a thriller film before the chaos happens. The characters are all suited up in astronaut suits this does not denote to us on what the film will be about and can't make judgments on what it will be on if you had never heard of the film before.