Today we looked at the opening sequence of two thriller films. The films were Insomnia and Fargo. We were looking at the conventions in a thriller film. Our essay question was:
Analyse a thriller opening you have recently seen. What conventions does it use to engage the viewer?
There are many conventions in thriller films which help to engage the viewer. This is done through the use of music, lettering, images, colours and camera shots. They have different effects on a viewer, and can trigger certain emotions and feelings onto the viewer. Firstly, the use of soft, deep mellow music in Insomnia may create a tense atmosphere. It may also make the viewer feel uneasy, and feel uncomfortable in what they are watching. It sets the tone of the film, and sets up an important enigma for the film. The elongated notes may add to this atmosphere. Similarly, in Fargo, the music is soft and slow, and suggests a feeling of innocence. As the opening title progresses, the music portrays itself as more heroic, and as if the protagonist is going to play a huge part in solving the enigma that has been set up.
Secondly, the use of lettering and credits helps engage the viewer. The two films differ in terms of their opening credits, the main difference being that one is substantially longer than the other. Insomnia has blotted writing for its opening credits, and the words blur into each other. The writing could also be described as a 'ghostly imprint', as they don't stay on the screen for long before they disappear. The words are positioned centre screen, and the credits in this opening sequence are never combined with an important scene. This is so as the words don't distract the viewer away from the important scene going on. In a less important scene, the credits appear on the screen, as not much is going on. The font is fairly simple, and varies between a black font and a white font. The colours are varied so as they match the background, which is effective as it makes the words really stand out. In contrast with Fargo, the background in Fargo is constantly black, and so has a consistent font colour of black. The font in this film fades, which adds to create a tense atmosphere.
Thirdly, images help to keep the audience engaged. The most effective images are used in Insomnia. There is a denotation of blood in the opening sequence. There are many reasons as to why this is effective, and one of the reasons is because it connotes an enigma. It creates questions by the reader such as "who is that?" and "who's blood is that?". This is a main convention of thriller films, with the problem being shown at the start of the film, and then usually solved by the end of the film. It looks as though the blood is fresh, and so this adds even more suspense to the viewer, and makes them wonder what is happening. The theme of voyeurism is also introduced at this point, reinforced by the camera angles, which I will talk about later in the essay. As well as introducing this, it also suggests that the protagonist is fallible, and that his weakness is that he has done something he's ashamed of and feels the need to hide it. This makes the viewer even more engaged in the film.
In addition to images, colours are also used to help engage the viewers in the opening scene. In Insomnia, a lot of dark, dreary colours are used in the opening sequence to help set the mood of the film. The fact the font colours alternate between black and white helps the viewer to see the writing more clearly, as well as setting a mood of seriousness and intensity. Also, the fact that red is used in the opening sequence (not the blood) portrays a feeling of danger and that something bad is going to happen. Also, the man in the film is wearing a white shirt, which not only helps the blood to stand out, but it triggers a lot of questions within the viewer. If a man is seen wearing a shirt, he seems like a formal, respectable, smart man, however the fact he is cleaning blood off his shirt triggers questions about his status and what he is doing. However, on second viewing, I realised that the blood actually drops onto his cuff, which is what he was trying to clean blood off later on in the opening sequence. Similarly, in Fargo, the colours help to represent a certain feeling or emotion. The blue background denoted in the opening sequence connotes a 'cold' feeling, as blue is usually associated with a lack of oxygen or coldness. This can help establish an enigma as it suggests the storyline may be eerie and so makes the viewer want to keep watching.
Finally, the use of camera shots and angles help keep the audience engaged, and are probably the second most important way in which the audience is kept interested. In Insomnia, there are slow camera angles used, such as a slow pan effect when the camera is moving across the mountains. It suggests that the viewers are 'following' the protagonist as he's going to be the hero in the film. Subsequently, a close up of the protagonists face is shown, but at first just his eyes. They look tired- linking in to the title of 'insomnia'. It also makes the audience think that maybe that was the man who was cleaning blood off of his cuff, and that the audience may possibly feel sorry for him.
Before this, a medium shot was used, showing the man's back to the camera. These micro elements give the audience a snippet of information about the characters and the film. The fact his back is to the camera connotes that he is ashamed and that this is the protagonists main flaw. There are a lot of high angles used in this opening sequence, possibly making the characters feel small or vulnerable. However, unlike Insomnia, Fargo uses a lot of long shots. For example, the car at the start of the sequence is coming towards the camera, and shows a shot of it pulling another car. This triggers questions within the viewer such as "why is the car being pulled?". The fact the car slowly eases into the picture through snow makes the audience almost squint to see it, possibly suggesting the film will use subtle techniques to show an enigma.
In conclusion, the music, lettering, images, colours and camera shots all work together to help the viewer stay interested into the film. It helps portray important messages about the enigma of the film, and also important information about the character of the protagonist, and on occasion, the antagonist. The theme of voyeurism is very effective as it may evoke feelings of guilt in the viewer- the feeling they shouldn't be watching, and sometimes shows the protagonist as a fallible character.
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