The other Thriller opening i have looked at is The Dark Knight. The type of genre of thriller this is is an action thriller. This is also evident in the opening due to the reference of violence straight away. I only looked at the first five minutes of the opening. Here is the opening from YouTube.
This opening is similar to the opening of Law Abiding Citizen in the sense that it goes straight into the action. This is typical of an action thriller because the opening is there to set the tone for the rest of the film. Like I learnt before music is also a big contributing factor whilst setting the mood and atmosphere for the rest of the film. The music in this is very atmospheric its quite calm and not over powering however it creates tension for the view. The music hits a climax when the action happens like when the man shots the window and you see a shot of the glass shattering. The music in the opening underlines the parts that the producer wants the audience to be shocked and confused at. The music in the opening is a way of controlling the audiences emotions which is also a common tool used in thrillers.
This also conforms to the typical style of an opening to the thriller it leaves the audience with questions in there head. Who is the joker? Why are people getting killed that apear to be on the same side? Are they taking revenge? Why are they wearing the odd looking masks?
The camera shots used are very specific. For example at the very beginning we have an establishing shot that shows you where they are. Then after you have a zoom into the mask that the criminals are all wearing. Then after all the action we have a close up of the real jokers face.
Zoom shots are used to make you specially see something that is important to the rest of the storyline. This is like Close ups as well, they are used to show true emotions on characters faces. These camera shots are typical of the opening conventions of a thriller. They help with the storyline and sometimes are there to mislead as well as support the story. The editing is also likely of a thriller this is because of the fast pace whilst the action is happening. The editing is also asynchronous to the music.In the beginning we experience two of the conventions mislead and a twist. This is when all the criminals are talking about the joker and it is made out to the audience that he has sent them out to do the robbery for him and that they are part of his team. However at the end of all the action the real joker is revealed this twist helps us to understand why all the other criminals where killing each other. Mislead and twists are typical conventions of a thriller, from this I may consider using one of these techniques in my thriller because how effective I have seen them to be.
In conclusion I think that this thriller opening was a good one to look at in terms of the conventions used. I have also learnt a lot from this from the effective use of camera angles and shots. What specific things need to be focused on more to help the story within camera shots. As well as that I learn how effective the right music can be to control the emotions of the viewer. This also adds to the intensity and suspense which is what makes a thriller a thriller. However in this clip there is new use of titles so I will have to look at another opening to see how effective this can be when used correctly.
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