Modern thriller openings
We looked at 4 thriller openings, and one thing which they all have in common is the theme of death. the first opening we saw was of the film 'brick'. The film opens with, who the audience may interpret, the main character next to a dead body. along with the silence this gives a sense of mystery to the film and leaves the audience wanting to know why this person is dead and what relation the main character had to her. There is also the prominent colour of blue in the tunnel next to the character, this may also represent death.
Unlike brick 'zodiac' has a much longer opening which gives the reader more backstory, this might, however, take away from the mystery of the film, if too much information is revealed to the audience.However suspense is built up in the opening, in the opening we see a car get pulled over by who the audience expects is the police, however the couple in the car get shot by the man who pulled them over. The audience is given a false sense of safety so it comes as a shock to them when the man who pulls them over ends up not being the police.
The third film opening we saw was of 'no country for old men'. Unlike the other two this does not open in a dark setting, instead we see the sun rising. However there is a 'death theme' in this as soon after we see the sun rising, we see someone getting arrested, then it cuts to the man getting arrested killing the man who arrested him. unlike the other 2 it is clearly shown who the killer is, however the audience does not know the motivation of the killer, which gives the audience the mystery of why this man was killed.
The last film opening we saw was of 'a history of violence' the film opening begins like no country for old men, it starts slow and nothing seems to be out of place, this puts the reader in a relaxed state. However the audience is then shocked when the man enters the house and the audience see the dead girl. The audience then see that these two people are likely the 'villains' of the story.
Unlike brick 'zodiac' has a much longer opening which gives the reader more backstory, this might, however, take away from the mystery of the film, if too much information is revealed to the audience.However suspense is built up in the opening, in the opening we see a car get pulled over by who the audience expects is the police, however the couple in the car get shot by the man who pulled them over. The audience is given a false sense of safety so it comes as a shock to them when the man who pulls them over ends up not being the police.
The third film opening we saw was of 'no country for old men'. Unlike the other two this does not open in a dark setting, instead we see the sun rising. However there is a 'death theme' in this as soon after we see the sun rising, we see someone getting arrested, then it cuts to the man getting arrested killing the man who arrested him. unlike the other 2 it is clearly shown who the killer is, however the audience does not know the motivation of the killer, which gives the audience the mystery of why this man was killed.
The last film opening we saw was of 'a history of violence' the film opening begins like no country for old men, it starts slow and nothing seems to be out of place, this puts the reader in a relaxed state. However the audience is then shocked when the man enters the house and the audience see the dead girl. The audience then see that these two people are likely the 'villains' of the story.
Try to analyse in detail. Deconstruct the openings.Use screen grabs or excerpts from the films to illustrate the points you are making.
ReplyDeleteMr Williamson