Analysis of two thriller film opening sequences

The Shining opening sequence

The opening scene to The Shining seems to go against the conventions of a psychological thriller as it does not make it clear to what sub- genre the film is e.g. low key lighting, mysterious characters. Instead, the scene is quite bright, showing a landscape setting the scene. The powerful soundtrack is the only convention that I can recognise to be associated with this genre; it creates a suspenseful and tense atmosphere that makes the audience feel on edge and want to know more.

Shutter Island opening sequence

From watching the opening sequence of Shutter Island, we can immediately tell that this psychological thriller is following the usual conventions in order to make the audience tense from the offset. It features a very dramatic and suspenseful soundtrack and the scenes feature very low key lighting. It gives off a sense of claustrophobia and captivity due to scenes of prison cells and dark places. Even the title sequence adds to the tense nature of psychological thrillers as the music gets louder the title of ‘Shutter Island’ moves towards the camera, maybe giving a sense of uneasiness as it intrudes the audience’s space between them and the screen actions. The title credits are also in a bold red font that commonly interprets as danger. Due to the iconography that we can see from the first minute, we can tell that the film is going to be a serious thriller maybe involving murders, as there is men in suits, guns, blacked-out window cars & prison cells.  

Andrew Wilson

Psychological Thriller Opening: Memento

Psychological Thriller Opening: Memento

Throughout the opening sequence of Memento all of the psychological thriller conventions are explored in one way or another. The central theme of identity is explored to some extent. In the opening sequence the characters identity is exploited through inking on his skin which  is shown. This inking signifies the characters flaw of having a bad memory and also the mystery surrounding why the character has these inkings. The point of view shots which are used at the beginning of the opening sequence when the character is in the hotel room build suspense and draw the viewer in. It also makes them question what is happening and the reasons behind it. It also portrays the main character to be confused having a loss of memory, and also makes the viewer wonder if the central character even knows his own identity.
Memory is portrayed in Memento in an interesting way. The main character is shown having pieces of information written on his hands. Although the viewer can't actually read what is written it makes them question what is written and draws them in. It also signifies that he does have a memory problem and therefore uses his body as a canvas for these tattoos in order to remember things that he would not remember. Also in the opening sequence close-up shots are used of the main characters face and these show cuts and bruises which he has on it. These cuts and bruises suggest that the character is vulnerable and suggests his weakness of having no memories, as he would not be able to remember why he got these cuts and bruises or what happened to him for them to appear.
I believe that the target audience for Memento would be between 18-60. I think this because the way that the start of the film is laid out could be difficult for young teens, children and the elderly to understand. Also, with all the blood and disturbing messages and images children and elderly people could become mentally harmed.

-Nathan Hardwick

Psychological thriller opening scenes, Target audience, Ideas

Psychological thriller opening analysis

One of the psychological thriller i decided to watch was ‘se7en’. I chose this films opening sequence as it includes many typical psychological thriller conventions. This film includes different shot types and angles in the beginning sequence of the film, this is very common in psychological thrillers, in these shots it also includes different images which give you hints to look for in the film e.g. the cutting of fingertips. The music used in the sequence creates a scary, dark atmosphere into the scene, this also links to the typical conventions of the sub genre. Occasionally in psychological thrillers they have a first person narrative allowing the viewer to better understand the characters phycological state of mind, “se7en” contrasts this as it only includes the music, throughout the whole opening scene and dosent stop, this may confuse the viewer. 

The second opening i decided to watch was "The Secret Window". From the opening titles you can tell that the main character is a man, who appears to be in his late thirties. He storms into a motel room and finds a man and women in bed together, which the audience presumes to be his wife as whilst steering the car at the beginning of the film the audience can see a gold wedding ring on his finger which suggests that he is married. After that the shot changes to show a remote location where there is a red house in the woods by a lake and as the camera goes into the house the audience notice a laptop on a desk surrounded by books. From this use of mise-en-scene the audience would assume that the main character is an author of some sort. In addition, whilst the main character is in the car at the beginning of the film you can hear someone talking, although the main character's lips are not moving and there is nobody else in the car with him, because of this the audience is lead to believe that the voice we can hear is coming from his mind and are therefore, his thoughts. This suggests that the film may have something to do with his mind. "The Secret Window" is a psychological thriller as psychological thrillers are based on elements that are related to the mind and processes of the mind e.g. the audience hearing his thoughts. The audience can also tell that it is a psychological thriller because of the tension building music in the background and because the title of the film fades from white to red (and red or white titles are quite a generic convention of psychological thrillers). the lighting at the beginning of the opening is quite dark, which suggests that something bad is possibly about to happen as usually in psychological thrillers bad things happen in the dark rather than natural lighting. At the beginning of the film the main character is seen to be wearing all black, which is quite an ominous colour and has of death, perhaps to signify the death of his marriage.

The target audience for the sub genre would be from teenagers to adults. The teenagers ages starting from 15 to adults being aged 60. The sub genre targets this age range because the viewer will have to engage in the film to understand it and pay attention to follow the hints and clues in the story line.

ideas for opening sequence:

Credits-(Cast, Director), dark Lighting (e.g. film noir), Music/Sound/Narrative, Transitions, hints and Clues, Titles.

Zaki Dowd

The Art of the Storyboard

The purpose of a storyboard is to give the production team of a film a visual image of what the scenes will look like, this will give them a better idea of what the director wants to show and they will not have to check with the them.
The storyboard should contain, camera angles, direction of movements, shot numbers, the contrast in brightness, sound, camera movement e.g. zooming in and out and overall what the scene is going to look like. Here is an example of one: