Thriller Film Openings

Se7en
I chose to study the opening of the film Se7en because of the different conventions and effects used. From watching this opening you can tell straight away that it is a Thriller film. It was filled with Enigma’s, false paths and on the beat editing. The music used in this opening fits well into the Thriller genre because it was quite mysterious and eerie creating a scary and mysterious effect. The colours used within the opening were dark and miserable reflecting the fear and unknown element that you find in a Thriller film making you feel quite scared or anxious whereas a romantic film might have bright and feel good colours used.

There were also several different camera angles throughout which made it seem more exciting and as if there is more than one story line for example there was a close up of a newspaper article with some words being crossed out and a long shot of photographs being stuck into a book. The part that stood out most to me were the effects used in the film as this kept me interested and made me want to continue watching the rest of the film, the fact that some parts were shown only for a few seconds kept me intrigued as well as some clips being shown in a negative effect like some credits.

I liked that different parts of the opening were edited in quite a choppy way meaning that only a few seconds were shown for example when the photographs displaying torture were shown as this creates tension and makes the audience feel inclined to find out what happens in the rest of the film this also adds to the scary element of the Thriller as you don’t know why they are shown with no explanation.

I like this opening as not too much is given away about the storyline but it gives you an insight to what genre the film is. You can see from the way different pictures were shown of people being tortured and crossed out that it isn’t a comedy or family type film as these images make you feel slightly uncomfortable or frightened. Parts of the opening were very original like when the skin was scraped off using the metal tool giving the effect of inflicting or feeling pain or when the book was being sewn together with a needle and thread which represents extraordinary events happening through ordinary situations.

I think that the way the opening of this film was set out was really clever through using the book pages being turned. This is because at different parts of the opening the pages were shown being turned over showing photographs being stuck onto it and being written onto giving the impression that the protagonist was writing or using this book giving you a little insight to his actions that we don’t yet know of being written down.

An opening of a film is very important as it gets the audience into the mood to watch the rest of it and keeps the audience interested and lets the audience know the actors that will be in it without this the first scene can’t be set properly as there would be no introduction. I think that the opening to se7en was created really well as it made me want to watch the rest of the film because of the effects and editing used



 Mimic

I’ve chosen to analyse mimic because the opening really captivated me. It made me feel nervous because of the on the beat editing that took place. The music made my heart become fast paced and the constant flashing images of dead butterflies and pictures of young children gave me the illusion that the film has something to do with crime or murder. I thought that the voice message that was heard in the opening was particularly captivating as I heard the words “Pandemic” which made me feel anxious as if the police force was out of control.


This really fitted the thriller genre well as the lighting was dark and mysterious and the negative effect used on the computer made the butterflies really stand out. I thought that the use of dead butterflies was clever as it showed what is considered a “pretty” and “happy” creature to be scary and dead. The fact that this opening kept me guessing at what the storyline was about really made me intrigued to watch the rest of the film.

The music used was quite slow at first but it became fast paced and there were parts where the music became really loud and sharp to hear.  Also the use of diegetic sound through the telephone or walkie talkie helped get the audience to feel as if they are now a part of the film.

I thought the way the titles entered the scene helped continue the fact it was a thriller film. The names often appeared when the music became suddenly loud or when a flashing image happened with the use of on the beat editing so that the names really stand out to the audience.

Dexter


I have chosen to analyse the opening of the film Dexter as it is very different from most thriller film openings. The use of everyday objects representing different methods of torture is a very unique idea that works. The music was not faced paced or scary but almost comical. This was used to represent every day life for example the orange being squished and squeezed dennotes a person being squeezed to death. Also the t-shirt being put on and for a second looking as if it had suffocated the character shows another method of torture. In fact throughout the whole opening of the film you get the sense that someone is being tortured but not in a scary or shocking way.

Without the editing the effect that it has on the audience wouldn't work.This is because it needed to have different parts shown quickly for you to understand that everyday objects were shown as a representative of torture. I also found that the titles/credits didnt appear throughout the whole opening which posits that the opening was a very important part for the rest of the film. This could be because this comical morning routine relates to the characters personality and that maybe the main character enjoys torture. By not showing credits at the beginning of the film also makes the audience intrigued to watch the rest of the film to find out about what happens.

A lot of close ups were used within the scene to really make you question why this was done. I think that the director wanted the audience to wonder what the significance of the close up of the objects were. There wasn't much diegetic sound in this opening, however some objects you heard as the character would hear it for example when the character is shaving at the beginnign of the opening you can hear the blades scrape accross the skin.

The main part of the opening which creates interest for the audience is the fact that you can tell it is a thriller film from ordinary situations and day to day routines. This ineterests the audience and makes people question to why the film has started this way. You can tell straight away that the main character is the one in the opening as he is the only person in each clip shown you can also tell this from the way that he walks out with a smirk on his face.

This film opening made me want to watch the rest of the film more so than Se7en or Mimic because of the fact that it was set out so differently from all other thriller films that I've seen. I also felt inclined to watch it because of the way so many enigmas were created.