Analysis of Thriller openings.

Gothika - 2003


Gothika's opening scene immediately gives a strong sense of what type of film you are about to watch. The first shot is of a high security prison of some kind, surrounded by cages and grates. This instills the feeling of being trapped, and unknowing of wether something is being kept in, or out. The non diegetic sound of stringed music, violins ect. make a foreboding atmosphere. As the screen lightens enough to see, a woman's face is revealed, and she is clearly distressed. This shot is a close her, with her face covering the entire screen, and looking directly into the camera, making the audience feel connected with her, and possibly giving a ( false? ) sense of vulnerability. The interviewer ( played by Halle Berry ) has make upon, and her costume is designed to make her very good looking. This is known as the halo effect ( Thorndike ) when a good looking person is perceived to have a good personality. The camera is often looking from outside the cages, making the viewer feel like they are looking in on a private situation, and not supposed to be there. This also conforms to the thriller convention of voyeurism to a certain degree.
 
                                                                             Brick - 2006

                                                 
The opening scene of 'Brick', starts with some classic thriller semiology, in the form of running water, running into a dark tunnel. This often represents life running away so to speak, and has been represented in various ways before, such as in a bath down the drain. A body is then brought into shot, bringing death into the story. A unknown character sits and looks upon the body. This begins to make the viewer wonder if this figure is responsible for the death of this person, and starts to build suspense from there.  The next scene is of a large, but deserted area, full of sharp, straight buildings and objects. A note is left for the main character, leading the viewer to believe that obviously what the note ays is private. The scene in the phone box makes the viewer realize that the main character is being watched by someone, although not necessarily a bad character. The girl becomes flustered when a black car ( signifying death or danger ) roars past, creating intimidating digetic sound. This builds suspense and anticipation, making you wonder what exactly this girls connection to the person in the car is.

The book of Eli - 2009


' The book of Eli' begins in an eerie forest, with little movements, but falling ash. The large trees symbolize bars, or cages, giving the sense of being trapped. Coupled with the empty environment with no movements, this gives a strong sense of isolation, and entrapment. As the camera smoothly pans around the forest, the non digetic sound track changes in tone slightly, as a gun comes into shot. This change in music symbolizes a significant object, building tension as the camera continues to pan around. The next thing to come into shot is a body. This instantly makes the calm forest seem like a dangerous place to be. The dim blue light also gives a shroud of mystery to the situation. The camera pans very slowly, and very smoothly giving a greater sense of anticipation.
A man in a gas mask eventually becomes visible. The covering of his face conforms to the convention of thrillers. The scene builds up a huge climax with building percussion and strung sound, then it stops, only to the sound of heavy breathing, presenting a quick anti-climax. Then a rapid motion of events is put into slow motion to show the absolute precision of his shot.