Okay, so that's the basic overview of the genre out of the way. This next post, now that I have some understanding of what the genre's outline is, is finally going to take a look at some real thrillers, or more precisely, their openings. During my time studying this topic I've been shown six different Thriller films, each different from the next:
- Children of Men
- Taking Lives
- Cockneys vs Zombies
- Psycho
- No Country for Old Men
- Inception
Some of these films you've probably heard of, others less likely. I'll only be covering four of these films in this post, because Children of Men is somewhat hard to analyse, and the intro to Cockneys vs Zombies is not one that I wish to see again, because of how graphic it is. (Gore and mutilation have always been traumatising for me, and I really don't react well when I see it). I'll be analysing the various elements found in the openings, i.e. Sound, Characters, Feelings/Vibe, Editing and Camera use, and Mise-en-Scene (a media term used to group together five different things, lighting, costume, setting, dialogue, and performance). I'll also put film posters on so that you can better understand what I'm writing about, and of course the links to the where I found them can be found at the bottom of the post.
Taking Lives:
Genre: Crime/Psychological Thriller
Main Actors: Angelina Jolie & Ethan Hawke
Release Date: March 19 2004
Profit: £10,470,529
Description:
Based on a Thriller novel by Michael Pye, it follows an investigation by FBI detective Illeana Scott into tracking down and apprehending a dangerous serial killer who has remained concealed from police for 20 years. But as she becomes more involved with the case and starts developing feelings for one of the witnesses, she starts to realise that not everyone is as they seem to be.
Opening Analysis:
Considering that the film is a Thriller, it actually starts off in a somewhat cheerful manner. The film starts off at a bus station, with a young man, possibly still in his teens, buying a bus ticket. A caption in the first shot identifies the time and place - St. Jovite, Canada 1983. The non-diegetic soundtrack playing in the opening is uplifting, and melodious, creating a cheerful vibe.
The boy is not shown to be particularly unique, sporting long hair, wearing glasses, and having a certain shyness about his personality. No immediate implications of abnormality are shown in his character, although there is a faint trace of him not being completely ordinary.
The early shots in the opening are at odd angles, and have natural distortion to them, although the bright weather and sun make it near unnoticeable in some of the shots. Throughout the first scene the boy is shown to be distracted by what is going on and seems to have an interest in a boy about his own age, already sitting in the station and carrying a guitar.
The next scene is shown on the bus itself, and the boy is approached by the same young guy that he took notice of in the station, asking to sit with him. In this scene both of their names are revealed - The young man with the guitar is named Matt, whilst the boy shown at the start is called Martin. During the brief conversation that they have Matt is shown to be charismatic and good looking, and more talkative and confident than Martin does. Martin just seems to stare at Matt with a degree of interest in his facial features for the majority of the conversation.
When the bus breaks down the two of them leave and rent a car instead. Martin is shown to pay, using cash from a paper envelope, and has to drive since Matt doesn't have a license. He doesn't appear to have a wallet himself. The background music then changes to a guitar track, and cuts to the two of them driving on the road, drinking beers and cheering out of the window, with the sun still shining, further hinting of the upbeat and cheery atmosphere.
It's at this point that Matt starts talking about his past, whilst Martin listens, only half paying attention to the driving - he was sent to military school by his stepfather after he got into a fight with him, but ran off a few days ago to head to seattle to play music. He also shows martin the gap in his mouth where he lost a tooth. The background music then changes to diegetic music, coming from matt's guitar as he plays a tune. Martin's distraction causes him to run over something in the road, flattening one of the tires, causing them to stop in the road.
The next scene shows Martin apologising and Matt getting equipment to fix the tire. In the background the sun is gone and the sky is clouded over, darkening the atmosphere, and for the first time there is no non-diegetic background music. During this scene, whilst matt is preoccupied with the tire, Martin seems distracted again, looking behind them at the road and a car coming towards them. He doesn't warn Matt of the incoming car, but instead just stares at it, with an odd look in his eyes, not speaking and not really paying attention to Matt. His next piece of dialogue appears out of place and unimportant, but he says it as though it has a bigger meaning - "You and I are about the same height, Matt."
What happens next is incredibly sudden and so unexpected that it catches you off guard with incredible surprise. Just as the car is driving by, Martin shoves Matt into the path of the car, causing it to veer off the road and crash. The music begin to play a more menacing soundtrack, reminiscent of the style of Jaws and Psycho as Martin is shown with a look of excited shock on his face, seeming exhilarated, and stunned at the same time. He then approaches Matt, still barely alive, taking his ID and wallet, and seems to comfort him, telling him to be quiet. He then picks up a piece of concrete, and bashes Matt's face in.
The final scene shows Martin walking across a field, no longer wearing glasses, with a guitar and rucksack on his back. The background sound is menacing and dark, and the sky is still clouded over, and the surrounding area is darkening too. What makes it more menacing is that he is singing the same song that Matt was singing in the car. The scene then flashes out and starts the opening credits.
Psycho:
Genre: Suspense/Horror/Thriller
Main Actors: Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, John Gavin & Vera Miles
Release Date: June 16th 1960
Profit: £49,193,053
Description:
Following on from the theft of $40,000, motel secretary Marion Crane mysteriously disappears after running from her hometown with the money. Following an enquiry into her disappearance, her family is lead to a backwater motel owned by bachelor Norman Bates, but as more clues are found about Marion, a dark revelation about Norman's true nature begins to surface.
Opening Analysis:
This film, rather than having an opening scene to start, has the opening credits starting the film off. Uncharacteristic of a thriller, since a good few thrillers use the opening scenes to build up initial suspense and set an atmosphere before starting any opening credits, to add effect and emphasis to them. Instead the credits start without any prior suspenseful build up to emphasize them.
The credits themselves do not contain any imagery, just a black background with white text appearing and disappearing off of the screen, not unexpected, considering the film is monotone. The only editing used is the presence of solid grey lines streaking across the screen in orderly fashion, to clear the screen of any text or add different text to it. Some of the text also gets distorted during its time on screen, particularly the title, and the name of the producer, somewhat fitting considering that the film is called Psycho.
The non-diegetic music track used to accompany the credits, is done purely with string instruments, and, whilst not having the menacing feeling that creates the stomach turning feeling of tension, instead has the sharp, strong and quick sound associated with action and climaxes at the end of suspense build up. This again adds to how uncharacteristic of thrillers the opening credits are, since there has been no prior chance to create the suspense to make the opening music more weighted and moving to the viewer.
What the opening credits do do is, instead of being used as a way to end suspense build-up, instead provides a premonition of sorts, as to what the film is really going to be like, and to what to expect in the film's plot.
So it comes as a surprise when the credits finish, what the first scene shows. It begins with a panning shot showing a cityscape from what is evidently a high place, that looks out over a large view of the city. It's daytime, the sky is bright and the buildings themselves have a light colour to them. Several bars of text show up on the screen, revealing that the location is Phoenix, Arizona, the date is Friday 11th December, and the time is 2:43pm. Aside from the height of the view, nothing initially seems out of the ordinary or are there any signs of abnormality. The camera eventually begins to zoom in on one particular building, a multi story hotel, and then fades out to a view of one of the windows, where the window is open, and the blind is partially up. From the outside the view into the room is completely dark, until the camera physically moves through the gap and gradually the inside of the room is revealed.
The next scene in the room also doesn't follow the general conventions of a thriller film. The room has two people, a young and attractive woman, Marion, initially lying on the bed in nothing but her bra and underdress, and a handsome young man, Sam, with his shirt off standing at the edge of the bed. It is easy to assume what has just happened before the start of the story, and the relationship the two characters have.
As the scene continues they are shown having a conversation about the state of their relationship, Marion saying that they need to be more respectable and less secretive with their affections, with Sam agreeing as long as he can still see her. It is revealed that it is her lunch hour at the current time, and that she still needs to go to work. Their relationship seems to be strong, and positive by the way that they talk to each other, albeit not fully public, most likely due to the views of unmarried sex and intimacy in the 60s. The positive mood and the casualness and lack of danger in the scene really seems out of place for a thriller, where there always seems to be some feeling of danger, and none has revealed itself yet, even though the intro already suggested the nature of the story.
The conversation then shifts to Sam's own experience, stating that he is weary of having debts to pay off to various people, even though they are no longer around, and that he wants to still see Marion so that he can have something he doesn't mind working for. Marion says that they should get married. Sam jokes about it, saying that it's not the right time, and that it wouldn't work properly. Finally the scene ends with Marion leaving the room, saying she has to get back to work and that Sam has a plane to catch, before changing scenes to her workplace.
Inception:
Genre: Sci-Fi/Mystery/Thriller
Main Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page
Release Date: July 8th (UK)/16th (US) 2010
Profit: £665,532,764
Description:
Dom Cobb, a thief who specialises in corporate espionage by infiltrating human sub-conscious minds, is tasked with performing a near impossible process known as 'inception' by japanese businessman Mr. Saito. His reward, anmesty from his crimes and a return to his normal life. That is if he manages to do it succesfully.
Opening Analysis:
The film starts off strong, having powerful brass instruments playing a strong, emphatic soundtrack to accompany the start before the first scene even starts which gradually gets stronger and more dramatic - creating a build-up straight away. When it does start however, the brass instruments stop completely, and the only sound is the diegetic sound of ocean waves, as the first scene shows large white waves crashing against rocks, indicating that the location is on the coastline. The skylight is bright and radiant, and the sun is causing the water drops to shine. Considering the build-up from the music, it is a surprising way to culminate it, with a bright, somewhat surreal start to the film, although there is still a sense that something big will happen.
The camera then cuts to a close-up shot of the face of a man, wet through and seemingly alive, lying in the surf and looking in need of help, although no injuries can be seen. He only seems to be half conscious, or at the very least physically weak, since he seems to struggle even to lift his head to look around him.
The next shot seems to be from his point of view, and shows a pair of young children making sandcastles in the sand. It is not clear if the children are actually there, because the sound of their laughter isn't completely clear and has a spectral hint to it, indicating the laughter to be in his head; and, considering his condition, they could very possibly be an infringement of his imagination. Even so it strikes question as to what role they may have in the story and their connection to the man. As the scene progresses a more melancholy, and soothing soundtrack plays, that also has a spectral feel to it: another indication he may be hallucinating.
The camera then shows an asian man in black uniform and hat, poking his rifle into the man's jacket - a guard or soldier of some kind. He then lifts up the man's jacket with his rifle, revealing a gun half wedged inside the back of his trousers - an indication that the man isn't just an ordinary citizen, possibly a criminal or a government agent. The asian soldier then calls to another soldier (made apparent by him also having a rifle) in his own language, standing on a hill overlooking the ocean, with a large and distinguishable oriental styled building visible behind the man. The man then heads towards the building. Considering the building's size and the fact that there are soldiers patrolling its grounds is a clear indication that whoever owns the house has power, money, and importance.
The final scene is set inside the building, and initially shows the view of a room through a doorway, well lit by many lanterns on the ceiling, whilst the doorway itself is shrouded in darkness, and the visible figures are shadowy and all have their backs turned to the camera. What the men are saying is clearly understandable by subtitles at the bottom of the screen, and they seem to be talking to one man in particular, sitting in chair in the centre of the doorway and the camera's framing, indicating him to be someone of importance. As the camera zooms in, through the doorway, he is shown in more detail. He is an elderly man, bald, wearing a black suit.
As the men speak to him they bring in the items that the man on the beach had on him: the gun in the man's trousers, and one other object, made clear by the camera cutting to it's placement on the table. It it shown to be an unremarkable metal gyro, but is given importance by the camera deliberately showing it. Indeed, its importance is highlighted again when the elderly man suddenly stops what he's doing and looks to his side as the man is dragged in by two others, not shown to be physically capable of walking himself.
As the man eats rather clumsily, and not paying particular attention to the elderly man as he speaks, the old man asks a rather straight question - "are you here to kill me?" at which the man stops eating and looks up slowly at the man sitting opposite him. The asian man then picks up the gyro, and starts it off spinning, stating that he recognises it, and that it belonged to a man he had met many years ago in a "half-remebered dream," indicating that not everything about him or the other man is completely ordinary. The last thing he says is that the man was "possessed of some radical notion," what notion he doesn't say, but the statement is enough for the other man to lift his head up fully, and reveal his face completely, indicating he understands what the man is talking about.
No Country for Old Men:
Genre: Western/Thriller
Main Actors: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin
Release Date: November 9th 2007
Profit: £146,627166
Description:
When Texan welder Llewelyn Moss stumbles across $2,000,000 worth of drug money by chance, it triggers a sequence of fateful events that starts a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, and connects the stories of three men, as their crossing paths create an odyssey where not all of them come out alive.
Opening Analysis:
After the title appears on the screen, no sound except for the diegetic sound of howling wind can be heard, until a non-diegetic voice-over starts. It's a man with a strong and rough sounding western american accent to his voice. No other non-diegetic soundtrack can be heard at the start, literally nothing, just the background sounds of the film's setting. The absence of background sound is somewhat soothing, and allows the watcher to put more focus on the landscape and the person talking.
As the scene goes on, from his dialogue the man doing the voice-over is revealed to be a sheriff, like his two fore-fathers, is at least older than 25, and he seems to be talking about himself, his experiences, and his thoughts. Firstly about his feelings on being a sheriff at the same time as his father, saying he was proud of it.
As the man speaks the setting changes several times. The first shot being too dark to see anything except a multi coloured sky - dark blue lightening and changing to dark orange, seemingly before daybreak, and only the silhouette of the landscape - flat land with a visible high plateau in the centre of the camera's frame.
The next shots in sequence show various other parts of the land and how they look as the light gradually increases - the silhouettes of pylons, the sun rising up over the ridge of a hill and casting long rays into the camera, a vast prairie half in sunlight and half in shadow. The fact that the film utilizes the increasing light of daybreak to introduce the films environment and setting is unique and uncommon for a thriller, since with a thriller you half expect the light to be getting darker rather than lighter. The daybreak is appropriate since it represents new starts and new days - fitting since it is the start of the film.
During these pictures he then talks about the sheriffs of the past, how they never needed to carry guns, how he always took a chance to hear about them, how sheriffs nowadays would compare themselves to them and wonder how they would fare in the present time.
His next thought is from his own memory, of a man he apprehended because of him killing a teenage girl, not out of passion but simply because he had intended to kill someone all his life, and openly stated he would do it again and go to hell. He didn't know what to make of it.
During this third thought various structures are also shown, such as barbed wire and old, decrepit wind pylons, typically associated with western ranches or towns. The structures appear out of time and somewhat random since there is nothing else around them except barren prairie. It indicates that there is very little human life, and the little that there is is spaced out and out of touch from the world, an indication of how much human influence and importance there will be in the film.
That does change however, when the last shot of a fence pans around to reveal a police car, at the side of a tarmac road, and two men walking towards it, one a man wearing a beige shirt and trousers, a stereotypical western cowboy hat, and the star and badge of a deputy sheriff, the other a tall man with black hair, wearing black trousers and a black shirt, with his hands cuffed behind his back - clearly someone who's just been arrested by the deputy, and already indicating that there will be crime elements in the story. As the two get in the car, the handcuffed man's face is not revealed, since he has his back turned when he gets in, and his figure is shadowed when he is inside - an indication of him being a dark character, especially since his attire and hair are also black.
As this is happening on the screen the voice-over man talks now about his feelings about what his job entails in the current age. How crime has become more frequent and more alien, and that he is wary of going into it since whilst his job means he must be willing to die, he wishes to not become part of something he doesn't understand. This gives indication that this man, whoever he is, is alive, but whether he appears or plays a role in the film, is hinted and quite possible, but not completely definite.
His last dialogue as the car drives down a long road stretching out over the vast prairie ahead, is that to resolve crime nowadays "a man would have to put his soul on the line. He'd have to say 'ok, I'm gonna be a part of this world.'" This is also the only time that a faint non-diegetic sound can be heard in the background - a faint humming that emphasises the man's last words and that they play some role in what the film is about.
Wikipedia Article on the film Taking Lives + location for movie poster image
Wikipedia Article on the film Psycho + loaction for movie poster image
Wikipedia Article on Inception + Movie Poster image location
Wikipedia Article on No Country for Old Men + movie poster location
