A thriller film is usually full of action, filmed at a fast pace and circulates the good guy who overcomes an obstacle and defeats the bad guy.
I am going to analyse the opening scenes of a few thrillers, some examples of which films I may use are Donnie Darko, the Matrix, the Bourne Identity, Old Boy, Run Lola Run, Infernal Affairs, Reservoir Dogs and Natural Born Killers.
The Matrix
I am going to analyse the opening scenes of a few thrillers, some examples of which films I may use are Donnie Darko, the Matrix, the Bourne Identity, Old Boy, Run Lola Run, Infernal Affairs, Reservoir Dogs and Natural Born Killers.
The Matrix
The Matrix is an action/thriller based on a different perception of reality. The idea is that the entire world is a fake reality which has been created by machines in order for them to have ultimate control over humans. It follows a character named Neo, who starts out as a normal person living his life, but is suddenly sucked into reality and made to find a way to free man kind from the shackles of the matrix.
The scene opens on a dark screen, with high pitched, slow and eerie music, as though it is building up to something. The screen then looks like a computer screen, with bright green coded numbers flashing, the camera is gradually moving in closer to focus on certain parts of the coding. In the background you can hear a phone call between a man and a woman, this entices the viewer to continue watching because the conversation remains mysterious until it ends, it doesn't give away too much information, but enough for the viewer to know that they will understand it all if they watch it through. You can tell that the two people speaking are dangerous and quite secretive just by the way they speak to each other, you feel as though they know something that you don't, which could again be a device used to draw the viewer in. When Trinity, the female begins to think the line is being tapped, it makes you feel like you're eavesdropping on the conversation as though you traced the line yourself - this involves the viewer.
The scene cuts to a dark and dingey hallway which sets a dark theme for the entire film. You see a lot of police officers approaching a door and it's hard to link this in to what was said during the phone call. The camera involves the viewer again by creeping towards the door behind the officers at quite a low level. The only lighting during this part of the scene is cast from the torches that the officers are using. Already you can see the amount of armed officers, the torches all aimed at door 303 - this keeps you in suspense because you want to know what is behind the door, why the officers are there etc.
You can tell that the lack of music and slow paced camera movement is building up to something big. When the door is kicked open, you enter a small and poorly lit room, occupied only by a woman, a computer and a phone. This is quite confusing because it makes you wonder why so many police men have shown up to arrest one little and seemingly harmless person. Next there is a close up shot on Trinity where you can see her reaction after the police burst in, but she looks quite still and calm which is a pretty suspicious reaction in such a circumstance. This draws the viewer in, you want to know why she is there, what she has done and if she'll get out.
The scene cuts to outside of the building, you can see the amount of police cars and even more officers set outside for backup. When the agents show up, they illustrate how dangerous Trinity is and you can tell that they have authority over the normal police officers. There are quite a few over the shoulder shots used during the confrontation between agent Smith and the chief officers, the lighting is again pretty dark with most of the light coming from lamp posts.
Whenever the scene switches, you get this high pitched noise which only lasts for a second which is used to build tension. It cuts to the room again and it's extremely quiet, every small noise like the jangle of metal hand cuffs is elevated. There is an extreme close up shot of Trinity, where again, you realise that she's a dangerous individual if only from the expression on her face - she is surrendering, she's surrounded by policemen with guns, yet she is oddly calm.
When the escape begins, the music becomes louder and more fast paced. During the fight, there is a lot of non diegetic sounds placed for punches, kicks and general movement. There is a slow motion/pause and camera movement so you get an extreme effect of the violence and of Trinity's skills. The camera moves back and forth quite quickly to keep up with the pace of the scene. There is a final low angle from the top corner of the entire room which shows how many men Trinity took out. This lures the viewer in because they want to find out more about a specific character - how was she able to take out such a large group of men? what did she do to have them all come after her?
I think the key elements in this opening scene is that we are given clues about they story, but no set facts. We are kept in suspense throughout but not in a scary way because that would make the film a horror! Instead, we want to know what happens next. During an opening sequence of a thriller film, you can feel that everything is building up to something and you want to find out what. The music and switch in camera paces builds tension and is incredibly effective.
