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