In order to help me learn about thriller openings, I evaluated a number of openings to existing thrillers so that I could get a wide, realistic perspective of common and effective conventions and techniques used within them to eventually help me create my own thriller opening as part of my AS Media course. The first thriller that I evaluated was the film Seven (1995, Sometimes stylised as Se7en). As I am only going to be creating an opening to a thriller, I only evaluated the opening titles of Seven, making note of the narrative structure, thriller codes and conventions, camera work, mise-en-scene, sound, editing and the graphics.
Narrative Structure:
The narrative structure is how the narrative of the story is presented to an audience of media. At the very beginning of Seven the audience is introduced to a mystery person - the only part of their body that we see are their hands, making it impossible to draw out any ideas of who this person might be. Because it is the first person that the audience sees in the film, they assume that this unknown person could possibly be either the main antagonist or protagonist of the film. The hands are shown to be researching, turning book pages and filing things away which creates the impression that this person is planning something.
In the middle of the opening titles the audience is shown that the mystery person is not a very nice one despite still only seeing their hands, as they are shown harming themselves - cutting their fingers and inserting and drawing a needle out of their hand - and disturbing images are also seen on the person's desk next to their hands which they appear to be using for their research or plotting.
The ending of the opening sequence shows a task being completed as the hands are shown filling up a book with images and writing and sewing the book together. The book is completed as the opening sequence comes to a close. The opening for Seven is very non-linear as most of the clips do not relate to clips shown directly before or after them and different things are shown at a rapid pace to create a tense and crazed atmosphere.
Thriller Codes and Conventions:
There are a number of common codes and conventions featured in most thriller films. Most of these were highlighted in the book Thrillers by Martin Rubin (1999). The Question-Answer Model is used in the opening titles of Seven, as the audience has many questions to ask just by watching the opening titles: Who is the mystery person? What are they doing? Where are they? What are their intentions?
The way in which things are hidden from the audience are also examples of concealment and partial vision: concealment is used as the audience cannot see the person's face or any of their features aside from their wounded hands and other things are hidden from the audience, such as the unreadable writing in the book and the person's location. Partial vision is where things are only half shown to the audience and this is also used - we are shown a person doing something, but we cannot be sure of exactly what they are doing. We also see them cutting their hands and looking at disturbing images which could give the audience an idea of what is going on but the whole image is not revealed to them yet. The Mazes and Labyrinths technique is also used because the rapid shots of the unknown person doing bizarre things could lead the audience around many mazes, assuming many things and making predictions which may or may not be correct.
Camera Work:
Seven begins with a series of short, non-linear clips as the opening titles are displayed. The film starts with an extreme close up of a book's pages being turned slowly before showing a high angle shot of the unknown person's hands. Another extreme close up shows the filing being done and then yet another one shows the person cutting and inserting needles into their fingers which is shown to scare and unnerve the audience. Another extreme close up shows books being written in, but the cuts are so short in the opening titles that you cannot read anything that is written in the books, an example of partial vision as the viewer knows that something is written but they don't know what. There are also point of view shots in this section, looking through the eyes of the mystery character at the books and other things in front of him/her. There is also a panning shot of the files in the gloomy room, showing that the person is organised and that whatever they are planning is very complex. The opening titles of Seven contains many extreme close ups, which are used in quick succession with short cuts to confuse and hide things from the audience, an example of concealment.
Mise en scéne:
The mise en scéne is everything in the opening titles that appears before the camera, everything that can be seen on screen. In the opening titles of Seven, not a lot can be seen as tight camera angles control most of the mise en scéne. Not much can been said about the location of the opening titles as not a lot is given away about the location, but the tight camera angles give the impression that it is in a small, confined space which unnerves the audience and gives a sense of claustrophobia, as well as the idea that there is nowhere to run. The room or area where this section is set is dark and gloomy which gives the impression that it would be in a secretive, dark location such as a cellar or an attic. The only things that the audience can really identify in the opening sequence are books that are open, written in or crossed out among other things, and strange photographs.
Sound:
Sound is used throughout the opening sequence to create suspense - a heartbeat sound creates an impression of raising tension as the sound gets louder and more frequent. Tense music played throughout the sequence to increase the suspense. The music had no words to go with it apart from a distorted voice saying 'You've got me turning to God' which signalled the end of the opening sequence and also dropped a hint about the film being of the religious thriller genre. Strange noises could be heard throughout the opening sequence, such as screams and mechanical sounds.
Editing:
Seven is edited in such a way that creates confusion and tension in the audience by not showing much on the screen for very long before changing to another clip - the opening sequence uses quick, short cuts to not reveal very much to the audience (an example of partial vision and concealment) - just as you start to figure out what something is the clip changes which creates a high tempo and sense of suspense and confusion. Strobing and jump cuts is used to show that time is passing, unnerve the audience and add to the insanity of the constantly changing sequence. The strobing and jumped cuts also synchronise with the heartbeat sounds which makes the sequence seem more tense and images dissolve in a disturbing fashion with a red glow - red could symbolise many things such as blood, death, anger or danger.
Graphics:
The graphics in Seven are just words displaying the opening titles. The font use looks scruffy, handwritten and rushed, which reflects how the mystery person is shown hurridly writing in the books. The text is not shown in one specific position on the screen and each credit appears in a differnt place in the screen in a random fashion to create tension and confuse the audience - the random fashion of the words reflects the audiences' minds as they are also all over the place trying to establish what is happening. The words also shake in a violent and random fashion which adds to the sense of suspense, anger and danger. The graphics are super imposed as the words are displayed over the actual footage, and white font is used to make the words stand out on the dark background. The graphics in the opening sequence are simple and easy to read, none of them are slanted to it is easy for a viewer to merely glance at the words to read them.
Mise en scéne:
The mise en scéne is everything in the opening titles that appears before the camera, everything that can be seen on screen. In the opening titles of Seven, not a lot can be seen as tight camera angles control most of the mise en scéne. Not much can been said about the location of the opening titles as not a lot is given away about the location, but the tight camera angles give the impression that it is in a small, confined space which unnerves the audience and gives a sense of claustrophobia, as well as the idea that there is nowhere to run. The room or area where this section is set is dark and gloomy which gives the impression that it would be in a secretive, dark location such as a cellar or an attic. The only things that the audience can really identify in the opening sequence are books that are open, written in or crossed out among other things, and strange photographs.
Sound:
Sound is used throughout the opening sequence to create suspense - a heartbeat sound creates an impression of raising tension as the sound gets louder and more frequent. Tense music played throughout the sequence to increase the suspense. The music had no words to go with it apart from a distorted voice saying 'You've got me turning to God' which signalled the end of the opening sequence and also dropped a hint about the film being of the religious thriller genre. Strange noises could be heard throughout the opening sequence, such as screams and mechanical sounds.
Editing:
Seven is edited in such a way that creates confusion and tension in the audience by not showing much on the screen for very long before changing to another clip - the opening sequence uses quick, short cuts to not reveal very much to the audience (an example of partial vision and concealment) - just as you start to figure out what something is the clip changes which creates a high tempo and sense of suspense and confusion. Strobing and jump cuts is used to show that time is passing, unnerve the audience and add to the insanity of the constantly changing sequence. The strobing and jumped cuts also synchronise with the heartbeat sounds which makes the sequence seem more tense and images dissolve in a disturbing fashion with a red glow - red could symbolise many things such as blood, death, anger or danger.
Graphics:
The graphics in Seven are just words displaying the opening titles. The font use looks scruffy, handwritten and rushed, which reflects how the mystery person is shown hurridly writing in the books. The text is not shown in one specific position on the screen and each credit appears in a differnt place in the screen in a random fashion to create tension and confuse the audience - the random fashion of the words reflects the audiences' minds as they are also all over the place trying to establish what is happening. The words also shake in a violent and random fashion which adds to the sense of suspense, anger and danger. The graphics are super imposed as the words are displayed over the actual footage, and white font is used to make the words stand out on the dark background. The graphics in the opening sequence are simple and easy to read, none of them are slanted to it is easy for a viewer to merely glance at the words to read them.
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