Analysis of a Thriller

Opening Sequence
An effective thriller opening will capture the audience
and make them want to continue watching, it will often
do this by creating enigmas. The opening titles will
also include credit to come cast and crew. Effective
thriller openings will establish the setting and possibly
introduce some characters.

What titles are shown?

Seven
In the opening sequence to seven the first title you see is the production
company, this allows the audience to know who had produced and help direct
the movie. You then see the names of the people who helped produce the
movie. It then shows you the main actors in the movie, this might make the
audience more interested in the movie as they are well known actors and
people want to watch them. the next shot is the title of the movie; it is
superimposed onto a black screen; as it is a black screen the title is the only
thing that the audience will be focusing on. The titles then begin to appear
with more images, the audience may begin to focus on the images more than
the text after this.

Tiles after that include

Music by
edited by
costume design
production design
casting by

They are important as they give credit to people who helped in the
production of the movie. People credited at the start of the movie are
often the people who has played a big part in the production eg if the
film was heavily music based they will often include all of the people
that helped with music in the opening credits

How do the titles fit into the

narrative?
The Walking Dead

The opening title of The Walking dead reveals a lot of the narrative through the
opening credits. The shots shown, the shots go in chronological order of things that
happen in the episodes; they reveal key settings and props. The first shot shows a
shot of abandoned cars, this helps to set the scene for the first episode as it shows
that their has been panic and chaos. It then also shows props for characters that you
are introduce to throughout the season; such as Rick and his police badge. it also has
the name of the actor next to its prop that has been superimposed on to the image.
The settings also help to fit into the narrative as the order they appear in the opening
credits is the order they appear in the episodes. The effect on the shots can also be
linked to the narrative; it has a grunge/ decaying effect to it that can be linked to the
walkers (zombies) and that the world is slowly ending and people are dying.

How does this sequence engage

your interest?
The walking dead
The walking dead opening sequence engages your interest as it visits lots of
locations and shows you different props; you become interested in what they
are and what events will happen in the locations. As it is a series you only
watch part of it each week the opening sequence will make you want to keep
watching as you want to discover more about what is happening in the
opening sequence each week and what will happen here.
It also shows you characters props this may engage the audience as you want
to learn who the characters are and how they are connected to the prop. For
example in the opening sequence you are shown a shot of Hershel's watch,
you become engaged as to who's it is and why it is there.
It may also engage peoples interests as the opening title immediately
sets the genre of a thriller, you see scenes of abandoned cars and buildings
you become intrigued as to why they are like this and you want to continue
watching.

How is typography used?

The typography starts in a serif font it is a
font that connotes formality and maturity.
So you get the impression that the film will
be a serious and mature film. It then jumps
to what looks like a child's hand writing in
a uv lighting, it also looks quite psychotic,
its not in straight lines and looks like it has
pain splattered around it. It then cuts back
to serif font this shows how the main
character is actually a lot older than
expected and how she is quite psychotic. It
shows her doing mature things such as
putting on make up and it matches the
serif font, it then cuts to her doing messy
painting and writing showing her double
personality. The text in uv lighting is
significant to what happens in the film as
it reveals the secret that the girl has been
keeping and that she is dangerous.

How is camerawork, editing, sound and

mise-en-scene used in the title sequence?
American Horror Story

American Horror Story uses editing very effectively in its opening sequence, it uses
very fast pace editing to create tension and mystery in within the opening sequence.
The shots are so quickly together that it can be difficult to see what the shot it and
creates enigmas. The sequence cuts between shots of images and text of actors
names this happens abruptly and can create a jump. The sound is quite muffled and
difficult to distinguish instruments or any type of sound, this also helps to create
mystery. The sound slowly builds up and gets louder and more sounds are added, this
builds tension as it makes it sound like it is building up and something is about to
happen.
The opening sequence I mostly made up of pictures of infants and an old science
laboratory. The images have a vintage effect on them and later in the sequence you
see shots of them on fire, meaning they could be dangerous or harmful. there is also
shots of small unhuman creature in jars all chopped up; they look like they have been
experimented on and something unhuman could have been created or ungodly. The
lighting is very dark and this helps to create the mysterious atmosphere.

How does the sequence indicate genre?

What enigmas are created and how?
No Country for Old Men
This shot shows an extreme long shot/
establishing shot. This helps to indicate
genre as it shows an isolated place and
if you were to be there you would be
helpless and alone. It creates enigmas
such as where are you? And is it a safe
place?
This is the first shot where you are
introduced to characters, it shows a
long shot from behind of the two
men. As it is a long shot you can see
the surroundings and that they are in
a very isolated place and if they were
to get into danger they could not
easily get help. You can see that one
man is a police officer arresting the
other; the other man is in all black
and it makes him seem mysterious
and that he could be dangerous as
the connotations are death so it
immediately creates enigmas such as
why is he being arrested? Has he
You
then get
a close up of a possible
murdered
someone?
weapon or something that the police
officer has taken off the man he is
arresting. This would create enigmas for
the audience as it is not a typical weapon
and they may question what it is.

The next shot is a mid

shot for the two
characters, you can not
see the second character;
this indicates genre as the
antagonists identity is
often kept a mystery from
the audience until later
on. This makes him a
mysterious figure and the
audience may question
his identity and who he is.
The final shot in the
opening is another
extreme long shot. You see
the police car driving off
into a isolate surrounding;
as they are so alone this
can indicate genre as it is
often the protagonist and
antagonist alone together
face to face in thriller
movies. The audience may
begin to create enigmas
such as, what will happen
next? And if they are both
safe?