What do directors seek to establish in the opening of thrillers?

What do directors seek to establish in the opening of thrillers?

The opening to a thriller film is crucial- it gives the audience the first impressions of the story and therefore it needs to incorporate ways of establishing characters or tone or location, etc. these elements often contribute to the actual end result of the story. The opening gives a first indication as to where the story itself is heading. The best way to foreshadow or in the case of a thriller, often forebode, is through the opening. By using subtle metaphors, it can create an atmosphere that already gives the audience an indication as to where the plot will take them. Although all of the different aims of the opening to a thriller are important to consider, some of them are left out; an example of this is se7en- they establish location and genre excellently but the director David Fincher decided not to establish the plot as such. This in a sense creates more of a tension and is effective for the story of this film. 

One film that captures the purity of its genre is Layer Cake. They immerse the audience by establishing clear characters. The director does this in a very stylistic fashion. Matthew Vaughn uses techniques that can be associated with a film noir style; alike to his other films such as Kick Ass and Kingsman: The Secret Service, he uses a narrative that allows for the audience to instantly establish a connection with the characters- in the case of Layer Cake, we as an audience are able to associate ourselves with the anti-hero. Daniel Craig's character is established through his dialogue and his actions. However we don't initially see his character; his narrative his voiced over a movement through different scenes. This indicates that Daniel Craig's character is a god-like character, it seems as though he is dictating the speech, especially with the use of synchronised sound. 

In this shot, Daniel Craig voices over the movement and the bald headed character says a line in synchronicity with Daniel Craig.  

From this opening, we also learn that this character is a cool, laid back character- the camera is constantly moving, slowly and smoothly, connoting a fluidity and thus symbolising that this character reflects these ideas too. He lives a fluid cool life and he continues to live this life; this however is used to create a big tension when we learn that his life is soon to turn around towards the end of the opening. The camera is constantly moving, following him in many shots. He leads the movement of the camera and many of the shots are shot in his eye-line in attempt to further establish a mental connection between character and the audience. By using this movement in following the character, the audience are under the impression that Daniel Craig is a leader-like character and he is symbolised to be an image of power and nobility, then making the rest of the film that much more exaggerated. 

When we first see this character interact with any other character, they are packaging drugs to sell. This instantaneously creates a sense of immorality within his lifestyle. It is also an efficient way of introducing another character- with a close up on the other character and a narrative describing who he is and what he does. Vaughn uses this simple technique to introduce various different characters. In the shot where there are various different characters in the shot, Daniel Craig voices over and, with the contribution of close ups, individually introduces every character and who they are. Although this is a very simple technique, it works very effectively in establishing character.

The Disappearance of Alice Creed, uses close ups to establish character, but the importance of character establishment is far less significant in this opening. The want to establish mood and tone is a lot more important. They do this efficiently without the use of any dialogue whatsoever. The establishment of tone and mood is created entirely through camera movement, shot types and cuts. Character establishment is crucial in this opening which is apparent through the non-verbal dialogue, however it is not the main priority in the opening.

Although the character he has been to some extent made to look more significant than his counterpart, therefore creating an idea of character, the use of a shallow focus also symbolises the need for detail. This technique is used again numerous times in the opening. The camera often focuses on very little, detail-rich objects. The reason behind the opening is to develop the sense that these two men are going to stage a kidnapping and therefore they needed to focus on every little detail to ensure that their plan wasn't going to fall through. This works as a tool to establish tone and set the mood of the opening.

In the Disappearance of Alice Creed they also use symmetry to again portray the character's necessity for perfection. The symmetry of the two characters not only signifies a patterned routine which they follow to ensure their success, but it also disembodies the establishment of characters and proves how the opening of this film does not focus on the need for character establishment, instead it contradicts previous shots that showed a power imbalance and symbolises that the too characters are more equal and have some sort of relationship.






In this opening, the camera is constantly moving, usually being zooms or pans. However the constant movement creates a disillusionment with quick cuts from slow moving or still shots to fast moving shots or inward zooms to outward zooms. The opening shot is a quick dolly movement but it is edited so that the shot is cut up into sections where a slow pan across the cars interjects the shot and thus juxtaposes the fast movement of the camera. By changing the speed rapidly, and making the scene change the tone quickly from calm to manic, it signifies an irrationality. The scene becomes hectic but peaceful at the same time. This gives off an uncertainty and this further builds tension- the audience feel on edge, despite the clarity and simplicity of the plot. The jagged cuts also represent an immorality within the story; the arrangement of the shots is messy to an extent and this could symbolise the life these two live that have brought them to criminality. The zooms however connote a change in tone. When the camera zooms out it is often widening the eyes of the audience as to what's happening and to what extent these characters are going to work at, until ultimately the camera zooms in on the door. The inward zoom shows an ending to their creation and portrays a sense of entrapment and claustrophobia, making the viewer uncomfortable. It goes from the viewer being immersed into what the characters are doing to then being immersed differently, where they feel the mood created.

Sin City is different in the sense that tone and mood is important. Only two characters are seen, but through the opening we can determine they're character. The director uses the grand background to suggest an isolation in the femme fatale character- we can assume that she is a femme fatale character as she is dressed all in red, suggesting provocation and she' s quite intimate towards the other character. The other character is seen in front of a much less grand background, suggesting his significance throughout the story- he comes up to the female and effectively wins her trust only to then distrust her at the end of the opening. The character he establishes is that of a typical film noir anti-hero. The opening invokes a sense of ambiguity and distrust which opens the film with a foreshadowed ending.

The director also uses mise en scene to establish the relationship between the two characters. Ironically, the male character is envisioned to be in control- he holds the lighter to light her cigarette, and he is the one to give her the cigarette. This also gives a sense of disillusionment as he shouldn't have the control if this is following the lines of a stereotypical film noir.