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

This graph explores the establishment of various aspects regarding narrative within the openings of multiple thriller films, displaying how effectively each aspect has been developed by how close it is to the outside of the circle. In general, we can see that some of the main focuses for thriller films lie in character, themes, tone and location. However less so in plot and genre. Character and tone are incredibly important in the Thriller genre, as they set the film on course, and give the audience the atmosphere and feelings that they should expect from the entirety of the film, as well as presenting them with, often, the character that will guide them throughout the narrative. Some of these examples focus on themes and tone, such as the disappearance of Alice Creed which creates an incredibly sombre and menacing atmosphere. others focus more on genre and location such as sin city which tries to present itself as a modern take on the classic film noir genre.

Figure 1

One example which focuses on character specifically above other aspects with its opening is se7en, which uses close ups and mise en scene, and the respective connotations of items and colour to allow the audience to build an expectation and an understanding of the personality of the presented character through his surroundings without directly experiencing his personality. An example of this is the shot of our characters possessions before he collects them, with all 3 items lined up with equal spacing between them(figure 1). Just from this we, as an audience, can infer that this character is probably an organised, sensible and theoretical person. Another example of this is the gun which he picks up(figure 1, right hand side), which is carefully laid down on the table in its holster, signifying the potential danger and power that this character holds but more specifically the fact that he isn't a trigger-happy or corrupt power, but rather a controlled, restricted and possibly even reluctant wielder of this power. This method is further developed after our character meets the newcomer and is, in contrast from the first scene him preparing to go to bed as opposed to getting ready for his day ahead. He sets off a metronome in order to help him to get to sleep(figure 2), and immediately we can infer that this character has some sort of psychological unrest, perhaps a dark past or disturbing experience that changed him, the specificity of this is unimportant as we gain a sense of the constant ticking away of the thoughts in his mind metaphorically and already as an audience we are given an insight into his past through the simple use of an object and its connotations.   

Figure 2

Figure 3

Differently, The disappearance of Alice Creed's opening chooses to develop the tone and themes over other aspects, it creates an incredibly claustrophobic and menacing atmosphere through the use of close ups followed by various shots in enclosed and tight areas(figure 3). It also uses absolutely no dialogue and only the gestures and eye contact between the two characters as their development. This eye contact and the general composition of many of the shots(rule of thirds, quadrants, symmetry) creates a clear hierarchy, and we infer that the older man holds some authority over the younger character.

An example of the rule of thirds being used to emphasises this characters authority and power  

An example of symmetry and metaphorical lighting used to create a menacing atmosphere

This opening also uses various extreme close-ups to emphasise the characters attention to detail and precision in their work, a fact that only contributes to the already building enigma about why these two men are building this room. The close ups often focus on the construction of this room, perhaps symbolic of the two men's orderly and respectful relationship or their professional and formal manor. This attention to the precision of the men's work builds upon the tension and atmosphere established, as by simply first establishing the tone of the film with the repetitive yet slowly building and sinister soundtrack and dull, bleak settings and colours and then presenting the audience with this construction of a room, we can tell that there is clearly some brutal or cruel intention in building this room simply from what we infer given the atmosphere that we have experienced through the last 2 minutes of the film constructed by mainly mise en scene and location, yet also the lack of dialogue which is incredibly unsettling for the audience given that the whole opening contains these two characters consistently interacting with one another.

         

Figure 4

An incredibly similar technique is used here(figure 4) to Se7en, where the layout of these specific items is used to give the character a personality through only seeing these objects, again similarly to the character presented in Se7en we can infer through the orderly and linear placement of these items that these men are theoretical, precise and orderly. However given the enigmatic and unsettling atmosphere that has been developed in this opening we can perceive this in a much more negative way, perhaps these men are ruthless, brutally stubborn and methodical in their methods of violence and harm. There is also significance to the negative connotations associated with these specific items, many violent and imprisoning, but also cruel and torturous. Therefore as the audience we come to the conclusion that these two men are intelligent and methodical in some way, and therefore are likely to be planning to do something sinister and violent, making this opening incredibly effective at telling a story through only visuals and sound, and with no dialogue whatsoever.