ANALYSING THRILLER OPENINGS

Understanding Thriller

One of the most memorable thriller film in my mind is ‘The silence of the lambs’. It probably has the most memorable opening sequences for a thriller, and one of the most simple. The first image is the MGM logo that appears.

Now the production company has been introduced, we are lead in to another company logo which blends from a blank screen, into a star filed sky.

This then transforms to become the ‘Orion’ logo.

The film opens with a wide shot of a misty forest, setting the scene. There are also some trees in the foreground of the shot, obscuring the view of the entire forest, adding to a claustrophobic feeling, which is important to bring to the feel because it makes the character seem trapped in this wilderness.

This shot then pans to the side slowly, in this time it reveals the names of the main actors, and then the title of the film. It is interesting to note the fact that the writing is no fancy text; it is just a bold text that sticks out against the background.

The camera now slowly pans down to reveal our character that will be the main character in the film. At the same time there is a fast passed piece of music made from violins, adding to the eerie feel. The music gets louder and more intense as the sequence goes on, making the suspense build. The camera follows the character running. She is covered in sweat, and we do not know what she is running from, this grabs our attention automatically, as we wonder what’s the cause of this. We see her from all angles, but first the camera is following behind her, almost giving the audience a feel of being the cause of her running away, involving the audience more in the action. 

The running becomes more fast passed and out of focus as the music gets louder, but then we come across an obstacle and realise that she is in fact training for something and not running away from anyone or anything at all. 

After this obstacle a man in an orange jacket, who we presume to be an instructor has a conversation with her, and the music stops. The film is about to begin.