Analysis of Opening sequences in Thrillers

Opening sequences are used to set up a degree of curiosity and to make the audience ask questions that will be answered later on in the film. They also cut between the title (credits) and action. The opening sequence gives a sense of mystery and it usually contradicts realism.

When looking at the opening sequence of Se7en I liked the following;

• The background music created tension and anticipation. This was because it had sound effects of scratching and screaming, this is also good as it fits the typical conventions of thriller.
• I also liked how it had scenes of a man holding blades, cutting up photos and crossing out writing on newspapers etc. this created a sense of murder and makes us question what the man is doing. It also gave us an insight to what the film may be about.
• The way that the credits and film title is very well represented. The writing is very childlike and it 'etches' in and flashes. This makes you feel on the edge of your seat almost, gives you a sense of fear.
• The mise on scene is very dark and has many shadows and this again causes fear and tension. It is very good as it also gives us a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen next.

On the other hand when looking at the opening sequence I noticed that it did not have the typical convention of a heroine or hero in the situation of threat or struggle. However overall the opening sequence is very good as it creates lots of anticipation and gives a very tense atmosphere . It has nearly all of the conventions of a thriller.

When looking at the opening sequence of the film Hostage I liked the following;

• The background music was again very good, this is because it was very 'creepy' and odd. This is good as it made me very tense and gave me a sense of fear.
• There were images of guns and other weapons and this signified that the film was obviously going to involve some sort of murder, or action with weapons.
• I also liked the use of black and red, and I presume that the red signified blood. Which again is good as it is letting us know that people are going to be hurt.
• I liked the use of shadows and darkness as it gave me the sense of fear and not knowing what is going to come next.
• The credits of the film were on buildings and posters and this gives us a sense of a realistic setting, whilst making giving the setting an unusual setting.
• The title of the film was 'spun' into the screen and was 3D like the credits and this makes us feel that something unusual and out of the ordinary is going to happen, as you don't always see words in 3D.

Although the opening sequence had many good points about it, it did have some floors. These were that it was quite slow paced and this sort of steered away from the idea of a thriller as it did not give us a sense of urgency for example. Also because the credits came on slowly and kept coming on through out the opening sequence we kind of got bored watching them. We did not see a lot of action or previews on what is going to happen. Therefore I was not that interested in watching the rest of the film.

The Usual Suspects is another film that I looked at, what I liked in its opening sequence was;

• The use of diegetic sounds and non-diegetic sounds. The diegetic sounds made the setting realistic in a scary way. The non-diegetic sounds contributed to making the opening sequence give you a sense of fear.
• I liked the amount of action that has been put into the opening sequence, it gives you a sense of you know whats going on, but really you don't know who is who and what the storyline is yet.
• The use of camera angles was very good, going from a high angle shot on the suspect to a low angle shot on the villain. It was good as it gave me a sense of fear and made you feel as if the villain is important. Also the use of close up shots on the suspect create tension.
• I like the sense of confusion that you get, as you don't know where they are or why they are there.
• the use of dark colours and shadows are good as again you don't know what is coming around the corner.

I personally thought that this opening sequence was very good as it fit nearly all of the conventions of a thriller and made me want to watch the rest of the film.