Cut from Inspector Somerset getting ready to the murder scene instantly relates the two together.
“Monday” - Graphics on screen show that throughout the film, things are going to be set on different days.
Thriller Codes and Conventions:
Heroic romance – Inspector Somerset getting ready in the very first scene makes him look like an ordinary/everyday person.
Transformed city – Constant background noise of a busy city.
Question and answer module – In the opening titles, the audience is automatically interested in what’s happening. – “What is he reading?” “Why is he reading?”
Camera Work:
Opening titles – close ups of everything including different books, knives and fingers. This creates mystery because as an audience we are thinking “what’s that?” Also, you can’t really tell what you’re looking at.
In the first scene, Somerset is the centre of focus and the walls around the edge make a frame around him and makes the audience feel like they are looking into his home or that someone is watching him.
Over the shoulder shot of Somerset tying his tie and then shows his face shows he is a normal guy just getting ready for work but the audience don’t know where he works or what his job includes.
Body all in shot – see everything camera moving upwards- ped.
Depth of field – Type of depth in shot – Somerset taking up half the frame, fridge taken up a third of shot, out of focus people in the background because they aren’t important. It’s framed in a certain way so another hero could be introduced. Detective Mills enters larger than the man that Somerset was talking to, this shows that Mills is important to the film and more important to the other man.
Low shot, tracks down the street to hear dialogue – uneasy atmosphere.
Mise-en-scene:
Inspector Somerset is first character shown, we associate him as main character.
Boring colours – mostly white and grey.
Neatly organised props on dressing table in Somerset’s home. This shows his personality – clean cut, organised.
Dark, gloomy, low key lighting is creating the mood
Blocking – Where a character stands, showing something behind them or blocking it from the audience.
New character introduced – Bigger on screen because of framing.
Door takes up quarter of the frame, looks like someone looking through his home. Single bed in Somerset’s home– lives on his own. Shows contrast to Mills who has a wife. Low lighting – Night time. Somerset has a metronome which shows him trying to block out the noise of the city. This is part of his routine, maybe to keep him calm.
Sound:
Cars – Diegetic sounds of the city – constant throughout the film. Shows the transformed city.
Being introduced to the main characters – introducing themselves to each other. This dialogue is used to help introduce the characters to the audience.
Distorted sounds of the city when the Somerset starts the metronome and it becomes louder as the city sounds fades.
Music on opening credits creates uneasiness – Music picks up the pace half way through the song.
Editing:
Cut from Somerset to murder – Relating the two.
Creepy music on opening credits sets the mood of the whole film. Uneasy music. Nine Inch Nails – “Closer to God” are the only lyrics heard by the audience. Juxtaposition to the images that we see in the opening titles which don’t suggest anything relating to God.
Red on the opening credits – Blood, Anger...
Graphics:
Thunder and cut to black shows the end of the sequence.
Opening credits shows clips of someone cutting paper out and pictures and sticking them down.
The font used looks creepy and looks like someone has scratched them. This creates the feeling of uneasiness.
Flickering old-school cinema style. Close up of hands and scraping the end of the fingers. Makes the audience wonder why.
Distorted vision – Two images dissolving into each other. Cut to black and then carried on, doesn’t flow.
“Monday” is written in the same style writing as the names in the credits.
Kevin Spacey, who is the killer, isn’t included in the opening credits. This creates more mystery as the audience don’t know anything about him.
Notes on the opening to Jaws
Thriller Codes and ConventionsProtraction and concealment - Don't actually see the shark but you know something is there. This links to the opening of Se7en in the opening titles because you don't know who the man is.
Built up suspense from the music and suddenly stops dead. Outcome is being delayed.
The beach is the transformed city as it would be an ordinary place for people to be and hang out and now its part of a murder scene.
Camera work
Underwater shot shows the view of the shark but we don't actually see the shark itself.
Setting is underwater so you know its about a shark or a sea creature
The camera moves quicker when the music kicks in.
Crab right - so you can see the whole setting of the beach and the people on the beach.
High angle shot of the beach, so the audience can link the sea to the beach.
Shot reverse shot between the boy and girl shows their connection.
Extreme long shot of the ocean with Chrissy is showing how big the ocean is and how small Chrissy is in comparison to the ocean.
Extreme long shot of the ocean after the murder (without Chrissy) shows the calmness of the ocean and the shark could kill again without a trace.
Mise-en-Scene
Underwater - Cold colours, blue, green. Represents the danger of the sea - more open place so anything could happen
Camp fire - low lighting, fire, night time, warm colours, red, orange, yellow.
Boy drinking alcohol - Audience knows that something bad is going to happen
Women are usually the damsel in distress - vulnerable - It's dark and she is with a man that she doesn't know which makes the scene more worrying for the audience
She is stripping away her clothing which could represent her stripping away her protection.
The railings look like bones or a skeleton and parts of the railings look like shark bites.
The railings also create a path to danger.
Sound
Very start the audience can hear submarine noises - instantly know its about water even though the screen is black.
Creepy music - Pace quickens - Undiagetic sound - getting louder and represents a racing heartbeat.
Minor keys - E and F creates an uneasy atmosphere.
As the beats get faster, we know the shark is approaching
cuts from non-diagetic sound to diagetic sound. Music comes back
Creepy music to harmonica
Music changes slightly and sounds like the shark has spotted something
The audience hears the same kind of music twice - associate the music to the shark
Bell ringing as the attack happens - cry for help, danger. Still ringing after she sinks - signifying death/funeral.
Editing
Don't actually see the shark
Built up suspense from music and it suddenly stops and cuts to a different setting of the camp fire
Camera crabs, then stops at the boy which shows he is the main guy.
Shots of the sea where the girl is and the shore where the boy is. The shore is quiet - can't hear the screams of the girl - calm shows that he won't be able to save her.
Chrissy is screaming in the sea and the music is louder - danger.
Graphics
Writing is in capitals and not an interesting font
fade in on black screen with white letters.
"Jaws" - Bold, white - stands out against the bright colours of the sea in the background.
Names have a black outline which makes them stand out.
Notes on the Opening to Silence of the Lambs:
Camera work
The camera follows the female character through the assault course - long shots.
This could be to show the audience following her or that somebody else is following her.
Shots of trees creates a frame - the focus is drawn to the middle of the frame and the trees almost make a tunnel/path that we know that the female character will go down.
The camera lingers on this frame, this suggests that something is going to happen and the longer it waits on this frame, the more tension and suspense it creates.
Girl is stood right in front of the camera, this shows her full profile and as she looks around, it looks like she is lost which could suggest that she is running from someone and doesn't know where to go next.
The camera follows her running from the side, this could suggest that someone is looking in on her. The trees cause an obstruction on the frame and this suggests that the person that is looking in on her is maybe hiding.
This also allows the action to pick up pace because the trees going past look fast.
Mise-en-Scene
The trees show that the setting is a forest or in the woods. These are both isolated/mysterious areas where no-one is around.
The trees are bare which shows that its winter which sets a cold dark mood.
Low key lighting.
Running deeper into the forest - running into danger?
A net - reveals that she is doing some kind of assault course. Shows that she isn't running away from something/someone.
Man in yellow vest - The yellow vest shows authority. FBI written on the hat shows that they both work in the FBI.
"Hurt, Agony, Pain, Love It" - Explaining how they should feel while training in the FBI. This could also show the feelings that run throughout the thriller genre.
Sound
Creepy music - sounds very eery. Creates mystery. Higher notes that are used in Jaws.
Heavy breathing, tired, out of breath - running away from something - stereotypical of female.
Diagetic sounds of birds of prey - eery.
Music gets louder as it shows side shot of her.
Running creates suspense
Dialogue introduces us to her - Sterling, her surname.
Diagetic sounds of guns. Stereotype of the girl is broken. Audience expects her to be the damsel in distress but this shot shows her as a strong and masculine character.
Graphics
Written in bold capitals. Black with white outline.
"Woods near Quantico, Va" - Near but not the exact location, don't know exactly where its set.
Notes on the opening to Red Eye
Narrative Structure:
The first picture that the audience sees is a picture of a girl in a graduation robe. This shows that she is the main character.
The music in this film is carrying the narrative as the music keeps playing as the scenes carry on. This creates suspense and pace while Lisa gets a call from Cynthia about hotel guests, and shows that her life is stressful and has a lot to deal with.
We know that Lisa's grandmother has past away and that is why she isn't in work and has to fly out to her father.
As Lisa is on the phone to her father, we see him walk around his house and we can see that she is a daddy's girl as he has kept her old room when she left home. This also shows that she doesn't return that often and stay over as her room still has her old cheer leading uniform hung up on the wardrobe.
Thriller Codes and Conventions:
Partial vision - The audience doesn't see who puts the keys and wallet on the table but suspects its the person who lives there. The audience also don't see you picks them after the other man puts them down.
Concealing something in ice and fish, must be important if they want to hide it.
Question and Answer model - why are the blue prints? What is that in the ice?
Heroic romance - Lisa, from the phone call with Cynthia, the audience knows that she is good at thinking on her feet which could come in useful later on in the film.
The antagonist - the person discarding the cards from the wallet but keeping the identity, the audience knows that something is going to happen because of this.
Transformed city - Many references to Florida/Miami. Car noises in the background, taxi's, aeroplanes, hotels, the weather - raining, miserable.
Camera Work:
First shot of Lisa - Main character.
Zooming in on the wallet and keys, focus' our attention on that and not the pictures that we were focused on before. Draws our attention the audience knows that something is going to happen.
Establishing shot of the Hotel where she is meant to work at.
Crossing over from the hotel to Lisa in the taxi - Busy, fast pace
Mise-en-scene:
Picture of Lisa - Main character - smiley, clever (graduation photo)
Other pictures show her as sporty and happy.
"JR" written on the wallet - continuity, the audience knows that its the same wallet in every shot by the initials.
When the hidden man opens the wallet, shows the identity of the owner of the wallet, ID card with picture and "Florida" written across the top. This shows a location.
Pictures of Lisa in the wallet, shows their relation.
Credit cards thrown in the bin - Audience knows that this theft isn't for the purpose of money but for something else.
The house is being decorated so there would be many people coming and going into his house.
Lisa's flight is delayed - this means she is going to have some free time, meet some new characters. A friendly old lady, an angry man, handsome man who the angry man seems afraid of.
The camera shows a close up of the handsome man's blue eyes - Authority.
Sound:
Uneasy music - building suspense. Ticking noises and deep plane noises -This non diagetic sound shows the film is about a plane.
Music builds up and then disperses then cuts off to the image of Lisa - engages you to image on the screen.
More music building tension as wallet is stolen.
Dialogue introducing audience to why Lisa isn't there.
Non diagetic music in the background creates pace.
Phone call from her dad, confirming their relation. He mentions his wallet being lost and then she repeats a few minutes later - Important to the storyline.
Reference to the plane "Red Eye" - It's the last flight home so it won't be very busy. Reminded this is what the film is about.
Graphics:
Black background, white text.
Moving away from the screen - like an aeroplane moving on a runway.
Important names on the credits on black background - no distractions.
"Red Eye" - written in red, stands out from the white credits. The red could symbolise danger, blood or anger.
More credits taking place over images - less important.
Notes on the opening to Pulp Fiction
Thriller Codes and Conventions:
Question and Answer model - audience wants to know what they are talking about when they say it's "too dangerous"
Transformed city - can hear car noised in the background from outside the café
Camera Work:
Camera cuts back and forth from the man to the woman.
Doesn't show much of the café until the end of the opening.
Mise-en-scene:
Sat in a café and it doesn't look that busy although there are a few people in the background.
Day time - light outside the café
The couple kiss and tell each other that they love them - normal people?
Man puts the gun on the table before jumping up on to the table - showing the audience that he isn't the hero.
Sound:
Talking about something that's "too dangerous"
They go on about robbing a bank/bars/restaurants - crime
They talk about "last time" they robbed somewhere - the audience knows they have done it before.
Man jumps up on to the table and shouts "This is a robbery!" and holds a gun into the air.
The woman then shouts abuse to the café - not typical female in the thriller genre. Not the damsel in distress.
Music starts suddenly. Upbeat funky music. Not stereotypical thriller genre music.
The music suddenly stops and scratches into another song "Jungle Boogie" - not stereotypical thriller music.
Editing:
The main characters (John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman) aren't included in opening scene.
Graphics:
Explains what Pulp means - Dictionary definition on a black background with white text. Simple.
Credits on a black background with yellow text.
Film title image rises slowly with the music from the bottom.
Actors names flash on top of "Pulp Fiction" title image which is slowly moving backwards whilst getting smaller.
Notes on the opening to Fight Club
Narrative Structure:
Flash backs with the narrator explaining what has happened to this man to get to this point in time. Going backwards in the story - starting with the end and going back to the beginning.
Thriller codes and conventions:
Question and answer model - who is this man? why is he in this situation?
Protraction and concealment - Shows a bomb - when is it going to go off? delaying the bomb to show all the action.
Camera work:
Inside the body and then out through the skin. Extreme close up of mouth and the audience can see that there is a gun being held inside his mouth.
Zooms out so you can see the full view of the man's face with the gun in the mouth.
Mise-en-scene:
Shows a bomb in a car.
In the room that they are in, it's dark and not much in there apart from them.
Tyler is wearing a vest top and looking sweaty and nervous - the audience wonders why is he sweating?
The other man has his shirt open and looks scruffy and dirty.
Sound:
Music on opening credits is upbeat - not stereotypical thriller music but with the shots of inside the body searching for something then its building up suspense and pace.
Non-diagetic sound from a narrator - audience knows that the voice is the man with the gun in his mouth as it mentions "I" as the camera is on him.
"People are always asking me is I know Tyler Durden" - then cuts to man holding the gun. Audience recognise that this is Tyler Durden.
Graphics:
Credits are bright white with light behind them. As the words fade, the light becomes brighter and then fades. Flash up in front of the titles.
The titles are shots of inside a body and it looks like the camera is searching for something.
