What do director seek to establish in the openings of thrillers?

What do Directors Seek to Establish in the Openings of Thrillers?

Directors have different aims in what they want to establish in the openings of their thrillers. A good example of this is se7en because in se7en the director creates a tone of mysteriousness and darkness through the use of mise en scene and lighting as well as location. The director could have been trying to establish this as it foreshadows the rest of the film and the tone that the film has throughout. This could be shown through the title sequence in se7en and the soundtrack that is incorporated through out the sequence. The sequence has constant sound throughout it which connotes the harshness of the violence and the almost investigative tone throughout the whole film and opening scene. The tone could also be established through the mise en scene that belongs to Somerset like the paper rose and the pocket watch. The use of this establishes the character as well as the tone which could also set the tone of what the character is like but it also give some sort of back story of why he is like it. This could make the audience curious and intrigued which would make them want to watch the film.

This is different to the opening in layer cake as this opening tries to disguise the mysteriousness and the theme of criminality in the entire film because at the beginning of the opening scene there are branded drugs on the shelves which then change into normal convenience store items. The drugs may be branded as this may be how the character sees them as if they are some type of luxury when in real life they are illegal to have possession of them is criminal and a fellany but by the products changing it means that the world that involves drugs is hidden and disguised by everyday normal objects and lives or it means that drugs are in the open and people just choose to extinguish the fact that they exist and are oblivious to the fact that they exist and are to busy in their own world to take note of what is happening around them. This presents a theme of criminality all around normal lives but it also presents a theme of mysteriousness as the audience don't know what relevance the drugs have to the main character.

This could be useful in the film openings as it gives away what the film could revolve around but it doesn't give away the plot it just lets the audience know what the main theme of the film is which could be useful as it gives the film a brief introduction to the audience and also a brief introduction as to what the main character is like before the film delves into more detail about the characters and maybe their back stories.

The Third Man also establishes character through the opening scene even though one of the main characters isn't in the film at the beginning they are established though narration and other characters dialogue. But at the beginning of the film the director tries to establish a sense of distortion and darkness but the director could also be trying to create a tone of war which would link with the WW2 which had ended a few years prior to filming the piece. The director could have been trying to portray darkness by contradicting the scene with the happy ukulele music which brings a sense of darkness to the scene. The director could do this because it creates tension while also deceiving the audience in to thinking that the film is a happy one  but in then end turns into a film about criminality and deceiving friends.

Figure 1

The graph represents that one of the most important things that should be established in the opening of a thriller film  is the tone/mood and the character. It also shows that the thing that is least important is the plot as this shouldn't be given away straight away. As well as the tone/mood being one of the most important items to establish in the opening of thrillers another important item to establish is the character. This is because it allows the audience to become more involved in the film and the character if something happens to them. It also allows for the audience to become more intrigued in the film because they have an insight as to what the main character is like. The reason that plot is one of the least important items to be established in the opening is because if the audience is busy focusing on the plot and trying to figure out what is happening then they focus less on the characters and their back story or items that could foreshadow an event that will happen in the future of the film. An example of this is se7en as the character Somerset is established pretty much straight away through through the use of the mise en scene like the paper rose and the pocket knife which makes the audience intrigued as to Somerset's past.

The use of this graph could help when creating the thriller openings because it would allow for us to see what would be the most important technique to use throughout the beginning of the opening .This has helped because it informs which is most important to establish in an opening like the character and the tone/mood because it makes the audience curious and want to watch more of the film. It also allows for us to see which is the least important technique to establish in the opening 

How are quadrants used in Anna Karenina to create meanings and to tell a Characters story?

Figure 1

In figure 1 quadrants are used effectively to tell the separate characters stories. Figure 1 is the dance scene in the movie and Alicia Vikander and Aaron Tylor Johnson are set to become married but in this scene the quadrants allow for the different stories to be told. Alicia Vikander is looking at Aaron Taylor Johnson character with admiration. So this quadrant is telling the audience that she perhaps is in love with the character where as if you look at the quadrant next to it on the left Aaron Taylor Johnson is looking in the opposite direction which could perhaps be towards  keira knightly's character. This connotes that although he is with Alicia Vikanders character he does not reciprocate her feelings  towards him but he could perhaps be in 'love' with someone else and he is just following his mother's rules. This could connote that although they come from the same type of world they are very different in their life decisions and that although everyone believes they should marry, the male character doesn't want to conform to what society wants him to do and believes that he should be in control of what he does. The bottom left quadrant tells the audience why Aaron Taylor Johnson asks Alicia Vikander to dance and that it is purely formalities and how everyone expects the male character to behave in the era of this film. But in the right corner quadrant it shows Alicia's body language which is formal but at the same time it could be seen as hopeful body language as before the scene everyone expects Aaron's character to propose to her. Alicia's body language also reflects her facial expression of hopefulness and admiration towards the male character.  Although at the end of the film the male character could be seen as the homme fatale which the male character could foreshadow with his facial expression and the direction he is looking in. The background is completely unfocused which represents that everyone is looking at the 2 characters and that all focus is on them which is everyone's aims in the film.

Figure 2

 In figure 2 the image has all of the main characters involved and it foreshadows how most of the story evolves and gradually ends. In the top left quadrant  it involves 2 possibly contrasting characters but could be very similar just in different ways. This is because both characters are homme fatale at some point in the story. This shown in Jude Laws character as she pushes knightly's character away more and more and he causes her to destroy her social status and lose everything to be with someone else but the other main male character played by Aaron Taylor also becomes the homme fatale because he destroys knightly's character and she becomes so paranoid about him leaving her because she already lost everything. Also in the quadrant Law's character is looking at Taylor and knightly's characters as if he is judging them and always involved and affected by what they do.Where as Taylor's character has a look of ''love'' which at the end of the film could be mistaken for as infatuation. This different to the opposite quadrant because all the characters are happy and are with someone who they fought to be with which makes the male character and Knightly's character similar because they fought to be with their partners. Knightly's character  has a look of infatuation towards Johnson's character which is different to his facial expression as for him it has become like a job in his eyes. But towards the end of the film the characters  are similar as knightly's character becomes a femme fatale due to Johnson's character being a homme fatale which causes her to become ill and paranoid about him leaving her. This is different to the bottom quadrants as the body language reflects their facial expressions. Knightly's body language could connote desperation to not be left whether Johnson's body language could be seen as protective which is almost like he is dealing with a child not someone who he calls his wife. This contrasts Law's body language as the audience could view this as formal and almost disapproving towards knightly and Johnson's characters. Knightly's choice of clothing could also predict that in the end she turns into a femme fatale as red is seen as a stereotypical colour of danger and blood which could foreshadow that somebody dies in the end of the film.

Figure 3

In figure 3 the mirror makes the scene seem like it is in two different perspectives. The top left quadrant has a bright light which could be mistaken for a train headlight which foreshadows the end of the film when the main female character commits suicide. This could connote that she has already lost everything and that her own paranoia and mind have driven her to think that she would be better off leaving everyone's lives. But at this point in the movie it could possibly connote what she has thought or is thinking about doing. It could also connote that within every character in the film their is a certain darkness involved in them and that each character taunts themselves in different ways. This is  similar to the top right quadrant as her facial expression reflects pain and almost regret even though this isn't the part where she dies. This could possibly be the part where she realises that she shouldn't have gotten married at such a young age but it could also connote that she betrays Law's character and that she has deceived him and ruined his reputation which links back to figure 2 and the fact that she is the femme fatale and she has destroyed his life even after everything he has given her. By having her look in the mirror it looks like it is unexpected and her facial expression looks like she is scared which involves the audience and makes them feel emotionally involved with the character later on in the film when she does jump on to the train track.

In conclusion Anna Karenina uses quadrants effectively to submerge the audience and to tell a characters story in each scene.

The techniques that could be used in the thriller is the use of the mirror scene as this would create an obscure shot and allow the audience to viewtyhe background but it would be able to forshadow a ppossible event which allows for the opening to move on with the story of the opening.   

Se7en How the directors create Enigma throughout the opening scene

How does the chase sequence and opening of the third man use framing and composition techniques, mise en scene and cinematography to create meanings,metaphors and effects?

Figure 1

Figure 2




Figure 1 is shot at a tilted angle which could cause disorientation fro the audience. Another factor which causes disorientation in this scene is the building faces aims towards one direction while the character faces the other direction. This looks strange and disorientated as they are opposites, while the buildings become smaller and smaller in the distance Holly stays prominent in the scene. This could show that he is morally better then Harry is and that he ends up taking  the moral high ground in the end. The buildings becoming smaller lead to the vanishing point in this scene. The vanishing point possibly connotes bleakness but it could display a journey ending. For example the journey Holly has been on is trying to find Harry whilst believing  he is dead, this journey soon comes to a close after this shot.`This could also connote that the journey of grieving is over. The vanishing point is centre frame this could connote that even though the background and Holly are opposites the scene is balanced which could foreshadow the ending of the film.  The vanishing point also connotes a sense of darkness and misery which is also reflected through chiaroscuro lighting. Key lighting is used but only in one position so the rest of the scene is in darkness, this creates a high contrast between Holly and the background which makes holly stand out in the scene but it also makes the background in points look slightly fake  as well because of the hints of blackness with the dull greyness which could represent Holly and Harry's friendship. The use of key lighting could link to ww2 as Europe was fill of bleakness and surrounded buy darkness so the key lighting could physically represent the light in all the darkness  The disorientation of the scene could be used more to Harry's advantage as it makes him easier to escape or give the audience the illusion he has escaped. But in the end the disorientation could be used to either advantage as they used their knowledge to succeed in their goal. 

Figure 2 uses a long shot  which creates a sense of balance in the scene. This is displayed by the kiosk as it is nearly perfectly in the centre and everything is equal. This connotes that although this has influences of WW2 there was balance in Europe between some countries. The Kiosk is central which highlights its relevance in the film and it also hides the truth even if the truth is in plain sight and Holly actually stands next to where the truth is hidden. In  this scene key lighting and back lighting are used in  this which also  highlights  the kiosk as the light surrounds it and makes it more prominent in the scene which draws the audiences attention towards it and makes the audience curious and encourages them to try and guess its significance in the film. The kiosk could also be a metaphor for moral ambiguity which is good versus bad. This could be because Harry  disappears to the sewers                                                                                                                         and  Harry could connote darkness within him because of is back-story which could link to a previous scene on the staircase of the German character saying how heaven is down and hell is upwards. Harry knowing that he is Morally wrong tries to get to heaven and rid himself of his sins by thinking that going towards heaven will make him good enough to go whether Holly has stayed on level ground which could connote that he is neutral and  God hasn't decided on whether he is worthy of heaven or if he belongs in hell. The cobbled pavement with the look of rain connotates bleakness and misery within Europe but also within the film as Holly has Just found Harry but has suddenly lost him again. The kiosk also has a very dark protruding shadow which symbolises moral ambiguity and that because harry has escaped through the kiosk it  now has darkness within it.

Figure 3

Figure 3 displays disorientation in a variety of ways. The camera angle is odd and isn't balanced this creates disorientation for the audience as they don't know what has happened to Harry yet but it allows them to be curious as to think something has happened. The disorientation also leads to the chiaroscuro lighting which is created using key lighting which influences the heavy dark shadow behind Holly which foreshadows that he has darkness within that possibly hasn't been revealed yet or it could reveal a darkness in the past. The chiaroscuro lighting could also connote mystery  as the audience doesn't really know who Holly is or his back-story. The staircase is repeated which could connote never ending which to the audience may represent  Holly's journey finding out what Harry had done or even where Harry is. The staircase is also metaphorical for heaven and hell so  this causes it to be biblical and also makes the audience question why heaven is downwards and hell is upwards when normally it's the other way around. The angular camera angle is influenced by German expressionism this connotes distortion in the film and confusion in the audience as German expressionism paintings are normally quite angular and confusing.
 

Figure 4

  In Figure 4 the character Holly is not as significant as in other shots, the background engulfs him due to the camera angle being low. The use of the camera angle creates distortion as the scene looks more daunting and like a scene from a horror movie. The scene could represent this as it is so prominent and as the audience would be the first thing you would take notice of . This is because the back building faces one way and aims towards one building while the side building and Holly are aiming the other way this could connote that all the dimensions are off centre. It also  creates unnerving tension between the film and the audience making the audience feel suspense as they don't know what will happen next. The costume Holly is wearing looks like something a detective would wear which connotes mystery in that the audience don't really know who Holly is. It could also connote that he is quite secretive like a detective.The scene becomes lighter and lighter which leads to the  chiaroscuro lighting which creates darkness and also a sense of false hope between the two buildings as that is the direction Harry ran off so the false hope is presented in Holly because he thinks that he will find his friend. The clothing Holly wears is dark which instead of the shadow could represent darkness on the outside and in his mind not only within Holly.  The quadrants in this scene are uneven as is the camera angle. Half of the quadrants are in light while the other half are in darkness this could connote moral ambiguity and also they could be biblical which links back the ' Heaven and hell being opposite' The direction Harry went off is in light which normally represents goodness and purity which contradicts what Harry is whether Holly is in the middle which links back to the point of him being neutral but mainly good yet he has stayed majoratively in the darkness which would normally represent darkness within and 'Hell'.

Cinematography, framing and composition and mise en scene are used cleverly  in The third man chase scene as each one connotes something different with the link mainly being a sense of distortion and confusion.

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Hi, I'm Natasha Ball and this is my media blog.