Opening to The Usual Suspects

In preparation to when we have to film our very own thriller opening, we watched the opening to 'The Usual Suspects' to further research what needs to go into a opening.



The film opened with a sequence of credits identifying the actors, directors, producers etc involved with the film. However while this was going on the soundtrack was playing over the top and it created a rather tense atmosphere by a combination of the piano and a stringed orchestra. This set up the mood which the audience expect to be carried out through the film and it certainly was in the opening scene.

The opening scene began with a close up on a man, who appears to be injured as he is having to lean against a block to stand up, lighting up a cigarette. The close up was used so the audience can see the pain on his face and therefore feel sympathy for him. This is followed by when he drops the burning card onto the floor and it sets alight a oil path which reveals a man on the floor appearing to be either dead or asleep. However there is a strong emphasis on the fire aspect which implies danger and destruction which could be a main theme followed throughout the rest of the film.

After this, there is a long angled shot of a man (who we find out his name is "Keyser") dressed in a long black coat and a black trilby covering his face. This straight away creates a mysterious aura around the man (especially due to the low lighting used when filming him) and leaves the audience feeling weary of him. Also, the use of the high angle shot combined with the lower cutting rate gives the protagonist greater anonymity and makes his movements appear unnerving. The then quick cut rate back to a close up shot of the injured mans face shows his facial expression portraying sadness and almost as if he knows what's about to happen to him.

Throughout the entire opening Keyser is always filmed by using a low angled shot of his body but not revealing his face. The continues to build upon the mystery surrounding him as well as presenting him as a rather shadow like figure. The once the characters begin to exchange dialogue between them it comes across as a rather relaxed and almost friendly conversation as shown by how Keyser says to the injured man, "how you doing kid?". This also implies that the two are acquaintances and have met previously before but, like before, Keyser is still filmed with a low angle shot without revealing his face. This contrasts to the injured man who is filmed with a high angle shot to show that he has both less power and control over Keyser.However this atmosphere is then juxtaposed when Keyser supposedly shoots the other man after having a seemingly friendly chat with him, therefore this illustrates how the Keyser character is rather unpredictable making the audience become increasingly weary of him. But the audience are not certain if he does shoot the injured man as the camera uses a reverse zoom shot of the setting which is revealed to be a boat. This is followed by a close up of a fire on the boat which, yet again, increases the imagery of fire.

Analysis Of A Credit Sequence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v2VMPBxpo4&feature=related - Opening sequence of The Ward.

In order to gain a improved knowledge of what makes a great credit sequence I decided to analyse the opening to John Carpenter's film - The Ward. Even though 'The Ward' is a horror film, I was not looking to analyse the opening scene just the credit sequence which, personally, I felt that this credit sequence set the mood of the film perfectly as well as, at the same time, creeping the viewer out and making them already on edge for what is going to happen. I thought that it would be helpful to look at what a horror film credit sequence contained, as I've analysed multiple thrillers, because it could aid us when doing our own credit sequence by adding elements into the credit sequence to depict a more sinister thriller genre. It also gives an insight to what the film might possibly contain as the picture below, taken from the opening sequence, suggest:

The opening credit sequence involves, as shown above, superimposed images of, woodcut prints from the middle ages depicting men and women racked to the tools of torture. This immediately creates a sense of threat and danger within the film which the viewers will be expecting. The superimposed images are also being shattered, in various ways, as if they were printed on glass further implying a dangerous tone to the film. Also the glass can be playing on peoples superstitions as it is said that shattering a mirror or glass can cause 7 years bad luck. Techniques like arousing peoples superstitions was commonly used by Alfred Hitchcock.

However as the credit sequence carries on, the images of tortured victims (shown below) seem to look more recent judging by the clothing of the people being tortured. This would create a sense that these ways of torture may still be around today and leave the viewers rather uncomfortable and threatened as it could happen in real life.
 
As the glass is shattering the names of either the director, actors/actresses etc are presented in a reversed out copy or white colour which stands out more as the background is black and it is also in a san serif font. However, the font, is not really implying great threat because it allows the main focus to then be appointed onto the disturbing images. This example of editing could possibly be useful in our opening. Then at the end of the credit sequence there is an example of a advanced piece of editing when the superimposed images of shattered class comes towards the camera and reveals the opening scene. This allows a spontaneous and fluent viewing experience which does not seem to sectioned.

Analyses Of The Opening To Se7en

We analysed the opening of the film Se7en (1995) which is about two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi. Individually, we each analysed a specific field within mis -en- scene.

Becky looked at the camera within the opening of Se7en. She noticed:

• The use of low angled camera shots portrayed Detective. Somerset (Morgan Freeman)  as a significant character within the story and its plot. 
• Numerous close up shots to illustrate to the audience both Detective. Somerset and Detective. Mills (Brad Pitt) their emotions and reactions towards what is going on. 
• There was also a pan shot to follow both the main characters once they were outside and walking along the street. This allowed the audience to feel more engaged with what was going on as the pan camera shot implied that the audience was accompanying the characters while they were walking along.
• Close up shots were also used when both the main characters were in the apartment where the crime was committed. It had close ups of both were the murder took place and the blood on the wall to show the audience what exactly went on. 
• The first shot is of Detective. Somerset which therefore implies that the film will be based around him.

Mike looked at the props and costumes used by the characters in Se7en. He noticed that:

• Detective. Somerset wore traditional police investigator clothing which insinuates to the audience, without having to say anything, that he is indeed a Detective. His clothing differs from the uniform of Detective. Mills as he is dress roughly and less formal which further shows how the two characters differentiate between each other.
• Objects within the house of Detective. Somerset were well presented and tidy which contrasts to the neighbourhood in which he lives in, which is violent. the chess pice in the centre of the room shows his intelligence.
• The metronome in Detective. Somerset's house is a main focus within his house.
• The blood on the wall from the murdered victim, highlights the 'sloppy' and un- skilled manor  to which the victim had been killed in. 

Jack looked at editing and sound within the clip. He noted that:

• The police radio in the background helped to implied that the men are cops or involved with the police force. 
• The heightened diegetic sound of the metronome can be interpreted in different ways. One way is that Detective. Somerset may be running out of time either within the case or in his actual life. Or each beat could be symbolically representing his heart beat and maybe insinuating that he does not have long left to live. 
• Intra- diegetic sound of the soundtrack whilst credits are playing to create tension and suspense, this shows the mood of the film
• The diegetic sound of the rain and the busy road next to the two main characters helps to create a believable atmosphere.
• The rapid cutting during credits is used to create both suspense and ambiguity. 
• low cut scene rate is used to allow conversation to flow as well as allowing the audience to understand what's going on.
• The son serif reversed out copy font used to tell the audience of the names of actors and directors in the film mirrors the tone and creepy atmosphere of the film. 
• The dog barking and screeching of the car, most probably intra-diegetic, implies that the characters are in a rather hostile environment. 

Analysis Of The Opening of 2 Films.

The first film I decided to analyse was Shutter Island, mainly because it is a great psychological thriller film which we will possibly base our opening of our thriller film on. As I have already seen the film numerous times its helped to perceive the opening in different ways: the first time I watched it, I found it rather slow and unexplanatory however after watching it again I have realised how, very cleverly, the director has incorporated many features which would not stand out if viewing it the first time but make sense after watching it retrospectively.

The opening of Shutter Island establishes a context of deception for all that is to follow. This is done by when, at the initial start of the film, Teddy (Leonardo DeCaprio) wakes up sick on a ferry, but what exactly does he wake up from? This straight away bringing in mysterious feelings to the film. Then Teddy goes up on deck where he meets “Chuck,” his new partner on the case to which they’ve both been assigned. They are U.S. Marshals sent to the Shutter Island hospital to investigate the whereabouts of the missing Rachael Solondo, a psychopathic patient who murdered her own children (which is explained). By introducing this idea to the audience early on that they are dealing with a psychopathic patient, makes the audience feel on-edge as they immeadiatly associate psychopathic with danger and violence. The opening scene also has a long shot which shows the ruined boat coming through the mist. This can be interpreted as Teddy is going into a place of uncertainty and questioning. Then the establishing shot of Shutter Island reveals to the audience where exactly Teddy is going to.

Then there are a sequence of medium paced cuts showing Teddy and Chuck arriving at Shutter Island. Straight away the viewer notices the amount of armed guards which are there when they arrive (if the viewer did not notice this then Teddy himself comments on how many armed men there are). By there being so many armed guards 'greeting' Teddy can be interpreted in two different ways. Firstly that possibly Teddy himself is dangerous and is having to be watched closely (which later the audience find out is true) or that Shutter Island itself is very dangerous which further makes the audience anticipate danger once Teddy gets to the main body of Shutter Island. All this is followed by a great exchange at the gates of the hospital, where Teddy is asked to surrender his weapon. By Teddy having to surrender his weapon when the audience know it's a dangerous place, creates a sense that Teddy is vulnerable on a dangerous Island and making the audience continue to be on-edge. Then as as they pass through the gates onto the grounds of the hospital, we learn about the dark and imposing Ward C building, where the real crazed people are kept. There’s a moment here in which one of the patients looks up from her gardening chores and puts a finger to her lips in a “shhhhh!” gesture. By the camera doing a close up on the deformed woman saying "shhhhh!" could portray that there is a secret on the island which she knows but cannot say, therefore building on the mysterious aspect of the film. Or that the women herself along with the other patients know something about Teddy, then take that combined with the fact that Teddy is weaponless helps to demonstrate how vulnerable Teddy really is. I was unable to find an opening clip but the trailer, from YouTube, contains features and scenes from the opening of the film:

The soundtrack at the opening of the film called Symphony No.3 Passacaglia - Allegro Moderato really helps to bring out the suspension of the film and the ery stringed music really brings alive this sinister feeling about what is going to happen in the film. Below is the sound track taken from YouTube:


The second film I decided to analyse was Inception as this had been rated especially high on numerous websites and is a great example of a psychological thriller. The film itself is rather confusing dealing with the idea of being able to enter peoples dreams and place a thought inside: therefore this makes a classic psychological thriller.

The opening sequence see's Leonardo DeCaprio (the lead actor) with a close up on his face waking up on a beach being covered by water. Straight this applies confusion onto the audience as they are unsure into why he is there and how he indeed got there. The then low level shot of two kids, who we don't see the faces off, shows them playing in the sand and laughing. The quick cut back to the close up of Leonardo implies that the kids are a memory which he i experiencing but it is not explained, therefore leaving the audience anticipating the reason behind it. Then the close up of the Chinese guard revealing Leonardo's gun wedged between his trousers at the back, implies that he is hiding it from sight of others, which gives off the impression that he may be dangerous or is in a rather hostile environment which would explain why there are other armed guards around.

The then sudden switch to an inside environment, which seems at first rather royal as it has multiple lights, expensive and well crafted table and chairs, has a over the shoulder camera shot and shows two possible associates of the man sitting down who's back is turned towards the camera creating a mysterious aura around the man. After that, one of the associates tells the man sitting down that Leonardo "was carrying this.... and this" and places a gun and then a spinning top on the table. The extreme contrast between both the gun and the spinning top initially impertuates confusion onto the audience as it hasn't been explained as of present why Leonardo is carrying the items. Also, how there is is a close up of the spinning top and the gun is out of focus implies that the spinning top is more significant which furthermore adds to the confusion and mystery surrounding it. Then Leonardo is thrown down on the opposite side of the table to the man sitting down, who then is revealed to be very old, and giving a bowl of food which, along with how Leonardo hastily eats out of it, that he hasn't been fed in a long time and gives off animal characteristics.

However, there is a sudden quick change cut rat into a different scene where now Leonardo is wearing formal attire. The contrast between how he was a couple of seconds ago and is now, furthermore presents this confusion and explanatory story of what's going on.  Also, how Leonardo is talking about a "dream" and "implanting an idea" subtly illustrates the story line to the audience. That the film will be about dreams and ideas being put into someone's head. Suddenly as one of the characters leave, the table and lights in the room start to shake. In this scene the use of heightened intra- diegetic sound is used either when convey a mini earthquake the lights and table are being rocked as well as when there is a close up of Leonardo's watch, the second hand's ticking is emphasized. This could either be interpreted as time is running out for Leonardo or that time itself is actually slowing down. All this is adding to the audience's initial confusion into what exactly is going on. This is all followed by long shot camera showing a explosion which takes place in a different setting. This unexplained switch of scene builds up the tension and makes the audience desperately try to figure out what exactly is going on, leaving them on the edge of their seats.

I was unable to embed the video but click on this link to view the opening scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VXkUzf1et4