Analysis of the Opening to Se7en

The opening begins with a very low speed editing, with several closed frame long shots. The diegetic ticking sound in the background builds suspense, a key idea in the thriller, as it hints that something is about to happen. The camera crosscuts between two shots, a close up of the ticking clock and a mid shot that slowly zooms into him. In synchronisation with the shot of him being shown we hear loud non diegetic noises of people talking, which immediately cut out when the clock is shown, this suggests there is something he is trying to block out and forget but can't. The room is lit with low-key lighting by two separate lights, either side of the man. The first shot we see establishes his room to the audience, displaying that he is an average middle class man, though without anything too fancy in his room and his not matching lights convey the feeling that he does not have a lot of excess money. In the first shot of him, he is shown reading illustrating him as an intelligent, studious man. The shot then cuts to black and the title sequence begins. This is a distinct contrast to the first half of the opening as it is made up of a montage of high speed editing close ups. The audience is shown a variety of objects such as books, pens and paper with seemingly no chronology, straight away disorientating and creating a sense of the unknown for the audience. The shots are mostly lit by a signal top light and are all in black and white apart from four shots which are shown in red, highlighting these shots, as red connotes blood and danger. Several times the audience will catch a glimpse of a dark, shadowed hand, reaching into the shot, though as all of the shots are close ups it is not revealed who this hand belongs to, where they are, or what they are attempting to do, adding to the mystery in the opening. The idea of things being hidden from the audience is furthered by several shots being slightly out of focus and the whole opening having a very shallow depth of field. There is a non diegetic typewriter like sound placed over the sequence, paralleling the typewriter style font that the titles are in, establishing the film as being set in the past. The music begins slow, contrapuntal to the high speed editing, though as the opening continues it begins to speed up, building the tension. The music also has a lot of base to it creating a very erie and haunting feel.  The fast pace style opening where very little is revealed to the audience is a key theme in many thrillers, so straight away gives the audience an idea to the genre of the film.

Analysis of the Opening to Skyfall

 The film begins with a dark, out of focus, wide shot from inside a house, only backlit through a single window. This causes the figure to be a silhouette, immediately adding a sense on the unknown tho the film. Apart from a single, orchestral sound at the very beginning, this long shot is completely silent, building suspense as the audience are left guessing without any clues as to what is going to happen next. The shot remains stationary as Daniel Craig walks into it, his eyes becoming lit by a filler light on the left,revealing his identity. He then reveals his gun, key iconography of the thriller genre. The shot then changes to the reverse shot, following the 180 degree rule. This shot again is only lit by a single warm yellow light, making the house feel almost homely, juxtaposing the darkness around it, conveying that his home could be just like the audience's. As Craig enters the room the camera pans across two dead bodies on the floor and the follows as Craig moves on to another room, all in one long shot, emphasising hoe he is not phased by the dead bodies and does not stop

to pay them any attention. In synchronisation with the first dead body being shown, quiet, parallel music begins, furthering the suspense in the opening. We see Craig smartly dressed in a suit, establishing to the audience that he is well off. Then we are shown a close up of a battered hard drive, revealing the reason for the murders. Once Craig sees his colleague is still just barely alive, we are shown a much more human, caring side to his character as he attempts to save this man's life despite bing told not to by his superior. The shot cuts between a shot reverse shot of each of their faces, Craig is now well lit from the key light of the left side through the window, a contrast to the darkness earlier shots. This lighting change could be intended to mirror the change we see in his personality. The shot the changes once more as Craig makes his way out of the building, the music picks up and quickly crescendos, it is almost African sounding, full of bongo drums, giving us an idea of the part of the world it is set.We here the loud diegetic sounds of the crowd, displaying how busy it is to the audience, a distinctly contrasting the complete silence in the house.

Analysis of the Opening to Now You See Me

The opening begins in an unconventional way by establishing each of the four main protagonists through a sequence of magic tricks performed by each character in a variety of locations. The opening shot is immediately a close up of one of the magicians, directly addressing the audience through an eyeliner match. There then several shot reverse shots between him and the woman he is performing the trick to, hinting that he is attempting to impress her. There is quiet non diegetic music as the soundtrack, paralleling the visual as it helps in building the tension as the trick is set up. The trick is performed to audience as well as the woman allowing then to from the off set feel apart of the film themselves. As the magician tells the crowd that they have been looking too closely it becomes apparent why all the shots so far have been close ups as so the film audience will, just like the audience to the street magic, be oblivious  to what else is happening around the cards. As the cards are thrown the camera pans upwards to show a wide shot of the building, a contrast to the previous close ups. You hear the diegetic sound of screams from the crowd and the music becomes a lot louder and more theatrical, emphasising their excitement. There is then a wide city scape shot displaying  just how large a scale the trick was on, impressing the audience.


The scene the quickly changes to an extreme close up of the eyes of another man, establishing him as a second protagonist. His speech parallels the visual as he tells the audience to "look into his eyes". The shot then zooms out revealing this is only a photograph, further backing up the idea that we are looking at things too closely and therefore not seeing what is truly there. When he begins to read the man's mind the editing becomes high speed, showing how frantic the man is as more and more is found out about him. As the mind reader becomes closer to finding out the truth the editing speed increases further and we see the man's face twitching, reviling his uneasiness. The camera then focus on a close up of the money being passed over, emphasising how money is important to the mind reader and that he does this for his living.

The third part to the opening begins with a more conventional wide establishing shot, showing that this part of the scene takes place on a boat. The music begins to pick up with loud drums, building the suspense over a diegetic ship horn, again helping to establish the location. There is then a mid shot with the camera following him upstairs with an audio bridge of him introducing his show. The audience can tell straight away from his body language and the way he talks to the crowd he is cocky and over confident in his trick. As we see the trick being performed through a sequence of mid shots, furthering the story, the camera itself bobs up and down slightly, making the film audience feel they too are on a boat. As a man comes from the audience to expose how the trick is performed the shots quickly change to become close ups and the editing starts to be high speed to trick the audience into thinking things are going wrong.

For fourth and final part of the opening we are shown a more glamorous side of magic, a contrast to the previous street performers. The is several close ups of the the performer being locked up, conveying the danger of the trick to the audience. We here almost game show type music playing and can tell from the way she talks to the audience that she is very confident in her trick. Once she falls into the tank the shots begin to cross cut quickly between her and the timer, showing that her time is running out and building the suspense, a key theme in the thriller. She manages to break free a moment too late, another common idea in this genre. We see an eyeliner shot of the piranhas falling down onto her with an ear piercing diegetic scream over the top, shocking both the film audience and the crowd in the film. In the final shot of the opening we see a close of of her reaching out to the audience for help, placing the audience themselves in a state of jeopardy as they are powerless to stop  what appears to be her inevitable fate.

Analysis of the Opening to Vertigo

The film opens with the title sequence played over a series of black and white close ups of a face. This creates an immediate sense of ambiguity as the audience is unaware of whose face this is and why it is being shown and introduces a common theme in thrillers, suspense. The close ups show the person's lips quivering and their eyes flickering back and forth, clearly displaying their fear and therefore showing to the audience that there is a potential danger. At the same time the music parallels the visuals as it is quiet and creepy, with a synchronous crescendo as each title appears adding emphasis to them. The shots are all side lit from the right, creating dark shadows across the persons' face, further adding to the feeling of the unknown in the opening. The shot the becomes tinted a red colour which has connotations of blood and danger. The eye widens, again in synchronisation with the music, reinforcing the idea that this person is terrified. There is then a graphic match cut to a series of colourful spirals, a distinct contrast to black background they are shown on. This change in the opening mirrors that the audience is now no longer examining the external appearance of this woman but instead the inner workings of her mind. The shapes are continually spinning, introducing the idea of dizziness which is commonly associated with Vertigo. This opening establishes straight away that Vertigo is a psychological thriller and also shows it will focus on identity, which is often a key convention of the thriller genre.

Analysis on the opening to Brighton Rock

The film opens with a very dark shot, only top lit by a single light. There is a several non dietetic sounds placed over the top of the shot, building the tensions as the camera zooms inwards. The shot then changes to a close up of a man in a phone booth, we hear his heavy breathing, straight away establishing him as scared. We can see from his old fashioned cap and coat that this film is likely set some time in the 20th Century. Similarly to the first shot it is very dark, though this shot is side lit, creating a heavy shadow across the man's face and leaving a third of the shot in complete darkness, further adding to the mystery. We then see a wide of the phone box, the dramatic soundtrack starts to crescendo and we hear the man become increasingly frantic. Two figures then appear, they are back lit making them appear as silhouettes, shrouding their identity from the audience. The editing style then quickly 

changes from a very slow speed to fast as we see a series of close ups, ending with a brightly lit shot of a knife, highlighting the danger of the situation and again establishing the period as it is a knife not a gun that is being used. The audience is then shown a several close up of knives, in each shot, light seems to appear as the knife is shown, a contrast to the otherwise dark surroundings. The action then begins to cross cut between the fight and to a mid shot of another man running towards the action. This second shot is

slightly shaking creating the sense the audience is there with him. The shot becomes brighter and brighter as he approaches the scene of the fight as it becomes more obvious he will not make it there in time to save his friend's life. As he stops there is a shot reverse shot showing the eyeline match between him and one of the attackers. We then again here loud breathing sound over the shot and the music turns from dramatic to orchestral emphasising his horror and sadness. The zooms into his face, building the audience's emotional connection to him and establishing him as a main character as the shot fades to black.

Analysis of the Opening to Memento

The film open with a very long close up of a polaroid photo, containing a bloody scene, immediately linking this film to the horror and thriller genre. The music backing it remains constant thought the long shot, classical and almost mournful. The soundtrack is slightly contrapuntal as it juxtaposes the horrific scene in the photograph. The titles appear over the single long shot of the photo in bold, blue text, standing out very distinctly against the blood red.  The cold blue colour paired with the formal looking font off the text, hint at the ominous nature of what has happened. The audience then start to realise that the shot has been played in reverse as the bloody scene begins to fade away slowly, leaving a white polaroid, as if nothing was ever there in the first place. The shot then changes for the first time and we see a close up of the photo being taken, the shot then pans up, revealing the photographers face. The music diminuendos and becomes erie as we here the loud diegetic sound of the photo being taken. The camera then hovers on a close up of his face, building the audience's emotional connection with him. We immediately see that is is splattered with blood and scared, linking him with the likely murder that has taken place. There is then a series of high speed editing close up shots, establishing the horrific state of the room. The evident increase of pace here begins to rapidly build the tension and hints that what has happened is about to be revealed. We then see a close up of a bullet, conveying that it was a murder. The audience is then shown a mid shot of the dead body, right before we see the murder take place in reverse. We briefly see the victim's face though not for long enough to identify him, also we hear a shout conveying that there was some kind of struggle

Inception Opening Essay

Explore the use of film language for effect in the opening sequence of Inception. How does the director engage the audience?

The film opens with a title sequence accompanied by loud dramatic music, already beginning to build tension before the film has begun. As the film starts this music is juxtaposed by the sound of the sea along with a brightly lit open frame shot of the waves. The audience then sees a close up of a man, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, lying on the shore amongst the waves, establishing him as the protagonist of the film. He is evidently very weak and injured which can be seen from his scarred face and pained body language as he struggles to sit up. Water droplets collect on the lens creating the idea that the viewer is a part of the situation. The camera then cross cuts between close up eye line matches of DiCaprio and wide picturesque shots of the beach. We see children playing on the sand, a contrast to the usual conventions of the thriller. The children are playing happily and dressed in colourful clothing, a distinct difference to everyone else in the opening, highlighting them as out of place. Although, because of the placing of the eye line match either side of the shot of the children, it is hinted that they may not really be there and are just simply a figment of his imagination. The soundtrack becomes quiet and eerie hinting at the dreamlike state that DiCaprio is in. This is reinforced by the very bright shots, some slightly out of focus to show how he is not fully conscious and taking in his surroundings. The series of opening shots creates an immediate sense of intrigue as it leaves the audience with the unanswered questions of how and why the man came to be in this situation.

 We see a shot of DiCaprio’s body from above, a gun pressed to his back, the high angle shot helping to portray him as helpless. There is then a shot of this new man holding the gun from a low angle making him seem powerful, he is carefully placed in the centre of the mid shot so he is directly in front of the the sun, blocking out the light. He is dressed in a military style uniform and this coupled with his gun gives the audience an immediate idea of his nature, juxtaposing the beach and the cheerful children from before. The gun he holds is the first proper hint to the audience that this film is a thriller, as guns are often seen as iconography of the thriller genre. We hear the first dialogue of the film which is in Japanese and then see a wide shot across the beach showing us a very traditional Japanese style building, helping to establish the location of the film. This wide shot also shows that the children from before have now disappeared, backing up the idea that they were not real.

The location then changes to inside the building, which like the outside, contains an obvious Japanese design. There is a strong orange tint on all of the shots of the inside and they are brightly top lit by an array of lanterns, adding to the Asian feel of the scene. The first shot we see of the interior is through the door, displaying the backs of three men, masking their identity and so building mystery. There is no lighting coming from outside the room making the men appear as silhouettes and drawing the audience’s attention to the extensive décor of the room. The shot slowly zooms closer towards the centre man, switching to a close up, though his face still remains hidden, further increasing tension. The man is positioned in the centre of the shot, at the head of a long table and dressed in a formal suit, all hinting that he is man of a high status and importance. We see him reach for his wine glass but then after a match on action close up of the spinning top being placed on the table he retracts his hand, this could be an example of motivated editing, indicating to the audience that the spinning top is of greater importance than it would at first seem.

 The shot then changes to DiCaprio being hauled into the room accompanied by a non diegetic synchronous crash, grabbing the audience’s attention. We see from his body language, hanging limply without even the strength to lift himself, that DiCaprio is clearly very lifeless at the moment. His clothes are oversized and old, contrasting the pristine military uniform of the men dragging him. The shot then jumps forward in time slightly to DiCaprio sitting at the table, opposite the suited man, eating some unappealing looking food. The shot pans up slowly from the table first showing his reflection before the image changes to an over the shoulder shot. This shot beings with a long focus pull which along with the low speed editing in the scene, links back to the idea that the opening is in fact taking place inside a dream. We hear the suited man speak, looking towards DiCaprio whose eyes stay fixed downwards, not meeting the suited man’s gaze and staying silent. This conveys the idea that the suited man is in the position of power in this situation and has the control over what is going to happen next. We then see a close up of the suited man moving his hand from the gun to the spinning top, again indicating that it has some kind of hidden power or meaning. As he picks up the spinning top there is a close up with a very shallow depth of field, making the man out of focus, creating the idea that the spinning top is more powerful than even him. As the opening ends the background music crescendos over the top of a long close up of DiCaprio, where he looks up for the first time, straight into the camera, establishing the audience’s emotional connection to him for the rest of the film.