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

What do directors seek to establish in the opening of thrillers? They want to establish the genre, this is important as it allows the viewer to know what sort of film they will be watching, they want to establish the characters as they will be present throughout the film and by establishing  them well at the start, less time is needed later on for character development. They want to establish themes as this will let the viewer know if this film is for them or not, they want to establish location, especially if its a high quality location.

Web that shows how different films approach making a opening to a thriller

Casino Royale's opening is strong in establishing the character, Bond, and also establishing the themes of the film, however, it is weak in establishing location and the plot of the film and pretty average at establishing the genre.

In contrast, Double Indemnity is the strongest of the films on the list when it comes to establishing plot as from the opening alone we already know what the film is about and we get a pretty good idea of the path that it is going to go down. To establish a good plot though , Double Indemnity had to make sacrifices in establishing character, some may think that this was the wrong decision but i think it was the right one as Double Indemnity also does very well in establishing the themes of the movie and establishing the tone and the mood of the movie.

Essex Boys goes down a completely different route and puts less effort into establishing the plot and instead focuses on establishing the location of the film and the genre and tone/mood.

The Third Man establishes the location of the film in a very strong manor, right from the get go we know that the film is set in Vienna and its wide variety of locales, however The Third Man doesn't lend many of its resources to establishing the plot or characters or themes, in fact the opening of The Third Man is very contrasting to the rest of the film. Whilst the opening is quite upbeat and cheery through its choice of background music and variety of camera angles, the rest of the film is a lot darker once the main plot line is established.

In Sin City, there is a great emphasis on establishing the themes of the film whilst sacrificing emphasis on character development. Sin City also does a great job in establishing the genre with its unique opening also helping to establish the tone and mood of the movie. However, not much is done to establish the location of the film, although we can assume it is set in "Sin City" the only clue we get about the location is that it is in a high rise city full of skyscrapers and office luxurious apartments littering the skyline.

Se7en establishes character the strongest out of all the films, after the opening we already have a very strong idea of what Morgan Freemans character is like and we can build up a strong character profile from what we have seen of Brad Pitt's character as well. However, se7en doesn't do much to establish the plot of the movie as the main plotline of the movie is very far away from the one we are shown in the introduction. Se7en also does little to establish the location of the film, using low tilted up shots to create a sense of claustrophobia is great for setting the mood and tone of the film but very bad for establishing the location.

In Layer Cake, the themes of the movie are apparent from the very first minutes of the film, the director establishes the genre and tone very well through clever narration, the establishment of location takes a hit to accomplish this though and we are left at the end of the opening not sure of where the film is going to take place.

A film we added to the list, Alice Creed, does very well to establish such a strong tone and mood on a shoe string budget. On a budget of only £1.5 million the director creates a real sense of tension and despair through a good use of close up shots and transitions, this creates a sense that what happens in the movie could happen anywhere in everyday England. The opening establishes the two characters and how their roles interact with each other very well. The tone is very important in that sort of film and the director really sets the film of to a good start in the opening. The plot is hinted at in the introduction and throughout we are given more and more hints until it is made very apparent at the end of the opening.

Figure 1

Firstly, I am going to look at Se7en in more detail and how it establishes character. In the opening scene to Se7en, Morgan Freeman’s character is shown to be trapped in his everyday life. As Freeman is walking away from the kitchen his head is cut out of the shot. Usually we would expect the camera to zoom out and pan with his head, as cutting out headroom is often an amateur mistake in film making. However, this decision to cut out how head from figure 1 was a very deliberate one. By doing this we get the impression that Freemans character has no escape route out of his routine life. Furthermore, the placement of a chessboard is used to show us that Freeman's character is intelligent, however this also connotes ideas of clinging onto what he once had. We know that Freeman's character lives alone and perhaps keeping the chessboard he used to play with his loved one allows him to still keep some of feelings of her alive. By having a very plain living space, which through a mid-shot seems to be very constricting, it gives the impression that Freeman is trapped even in his own home and wherever he is he can never get away from his inetense life. Throughout the opening of Se7en there is always a wild track playing in the background and at this point in the film it is other tenants shouting and having an argument, this connotes the idea that Freeman is never at peace and never will be. The lighting in this shot is very gloomy and gives a whitewashed look to the room, this makes it look like it's not a very appealing place to live.

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows 5 items laid out in front of Freeman that can be used to tell us a lot about his character. The paper rose symbolises that he is still holding onto memories of his wife and that he thinks about her every day, this is why he puts it in his blazer pocket as she will always be close to his heart. The police badge connotes the ideas that Freeman's character takes his work very seriously and that it is now the most important thing in his life, by placing it next to his wife’s rose it shows us that he puts a lot of effort into his work and that, that too is a massive part of his life, if not now the biggest part of his life. The flip knife is a Chekhov's gun (Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there. - Anton Chekhov) because of this we know that the knife is going to be used later on in the film at some point. The context that it is going to be used in, we do not know, but we do know that it will be used in one way or another. Including a high quality pen is done to further show us that Freeman's character is intelligent and takes his work very seriously, along with the glasses case we get the impression that Freeman's character is a very calculated man and pays attention to even the smallest of details.

Figure 3

Brad Pitt's character is introduced from the get go to be a contrast to Freeman's character. In figure 3 there is a very small cue that tells us that Pitt's character is a bit of maverick, here he is quickly checking out a woman who is passing by, this connotes ideas of Pitt's character being a lot more laid back and perhaps less professional than Freeman's character. Throughout the next shot the camera is always below Freeman and Pitt's characters tilted up towards them, not showing much detail of the background apart from the metal bars which go across the windows of all the shops. Heavy rain is constantly in the background whilst the street is considerably packed with many passer-by’s bumping into our two characters. All of these factors go together to form ideas of being trapped. Freeman's character is shown to be continuously trapped throughout every moment of his life, whilst Pitt's character doesn't realise what he has signed up for with his upbeat slightly optimistic personality.

Figure A

Essex boys chooses to focus on establishing to location of the film, which in turn establishes some themes and tones of the film. By using dirty,gritty,baron locations the director is able to put across ideas of different themes such as entrapment and moral ambiguity.

Figure A takes place in a dimly tunnel in Essex and showcases a low camera shot with a off centre vanishing point which our eyes are immediately drawn to. By using an off centre vanishing point a sense of uncertainty is created. Figure A features a horizontal so we know that everything is still on order, however the dim green lighting furthers the feelings of uncertainty. The use of the dimly lit tunnel with no light at the end of it connotes the idea that Billy is not going to get anything worthwhile out of working with Jason and that if he continues helping him there will be no "light at the end of the tunnel" for him and that he will be throwing away not only his future but his freedom and that he will be disregarding his morals. Tunnels usually symbolise the ending of one thing and the beginning of something new however we cant see the end of this tunnel, similarly Billy cannot see how his future will pan out if he continues to help Jason.

Figure B

Surrounded by nothingness and an empty sea, figure B connotes strong ideas of moral ambiguity and a sense of desperation. By using such an isolated location for figure B, we get the idea that the character shown in the shot has no future and no chance of recovering from his attack. The bleakness of the location connotes ideas of moral ambiguity as we know Billy only started to help Jason as a driver and now he his helping dispose of his enemies. Billy is getting himself wrapped up in something a lot worse than he imagined and he doesn't know what to do. His morals are telling him to stop and cut all ties with Jason but his fear of Jason wont let him do this.

Figure C

Finally, the use of an industrial location really lends itself to setting the tone of the movie. Industrial locations are a staple of the British Gangster genre and Essex Boys is no exception. By using a desolate gritty location we immediately know that nothing good is going to be happening there, this connotes the idea of Billy facing moral ambiguity and not knowing what to do.

Figure Y

Finally, I will be looking at how Alice Creed establishes the tone of the film and the character in its opening.

In figure Y we see the two characters of Alice Creed breaking into a van. The character keeping watch is the leader of the pair, we can tell this as he is in focus in this shot and is standing forward of his partner, overlooking the break in and not doing the dirty work himself. This shot establishes that the leading character has power over the other character and is in charge of him. We also get the sense that he is a more experienced criminal than his partner.

Figure Z

In figure Z it is made even more apparent that the bearded character is the leader of the pair. Just as their about to carry out their kidnapping the leader of the pair is in focus showing that he is going to be leading the pair and that he knows what he is doing, he looks much more composed than the other character furthering the idea that he is more experienced in this line of work.