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