DW: conventions of a thriller opening

The usual suspects (Springer 1995)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6msq8mgdnE

• From the very beginning of the film enigma is created via the use of set and character exposition. We see fire in the back ground (established by a medium shot) dead people and leaking gasoline. These things make the audience question what has happened in the scene and therefore keep watching the film to find out.
• Dim lighting and a sense of film noir helps shroud the man in black, lots of shadows and darkness are conveyed via the use of a long shot with slow panning. The man's face is hidden at all times to perhaps give the audience the feel that this character is the antagonist.

• This concept is reinforced for example when the blacked out character urinates on the flames which the protagonist deliberately ignited, leading to blow up the whole ship and destroy himself and everything else. This is done casually and ironically by the antagonist and the audience are positioned to sympathise with the man sitting down as his intentions have been prevented.
• Further enigma is created from the use of dialogue, it makes us ask what has happened in order for things to end up the way they have and also makes us ask who are the characters? "what time is it?" asks the audience - is that important? What relevance to the story is that, therefore encouraging them to watch on and find out.
• Further noir created by whispy cigarette smoke and the capture of shady boats and docks from medium and longshots.
• The music is very imortant as it creates tension and a sense of mystery about the scene, it is quite sharp and high pitched but also ranges from quick to slow pace; picking up when something tense or shocking happens i.e. lighting of fuel.
• Lastly and perhaps most importantly the opening scene leaves questions unanswered; the antagonist is hidden and kept secret, you don't actually see the protagonist shot, why does the camera keep zooming towards a pile of rope? Is there something significant about it? Who are these people and why has this happened? These questions are essential to encourage the viewer to keep watching the film and find out and also to show that the film is likely to conform to the generic expectations of a thriller.

Pulp fiction (Tarantino 1994)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwusCDRiDwE

• This film is a thriller, and has been rated the best thriller ever made (by IMDB.com)
• The audience assumes that there is a background story from the beginning of the film, this is due to dialogue I.e. what the characters talk about. It fulfils the generic expectations of a thriller in that the people are criminals and thrillers very often contain criminal characters.
• The scene (watched up to 3 minutes) is unusual for the genre in that it has been shot more or less in one take; in a 2 shot, with the addition of a few over the shoulder shots. Thrillers are usually more action filled and tend to use a faster cutting rate perhaps.
• The dialogue within the text also displays that the criminals actually have intelligence, this is common with some thrillers for example The Dark Knight (Nolan 2008) however in others the criminals come across as less intelligent, thus this film coould be somewhat challenging the generic conventions.

• Narrative/explanation of the scenario is explained by the two characters on screen - it explains their activities and their intentions via the use of dialogue.
• The audience is positioned to listen carefully to what the pair are saying, perhaps to observe their intelligence and also future intentions which may/are likely to be relevant to the rest of the film.
• Via the use of dialogue we identify the characters as criminals, and in particular robbers, the pair seem aggressive and untidy. Although there is diagetic sound such as plates clinking etc. to create verisimilitude the dialogue overpowers this and gives a sense of alienation of the two characters, so that the audience can fully interpret and understand them.
• The major theme(s) of the scene seem to be that the couple will be robbing the restaurant in the near future (as well can tell by their dialogue).
• The only tension perhaps in the scene is the possibility that these two people will hold up the restaurant and rob it, their dialogue builds up to this and therefore perhaps create tension. If you watch the scene past 3 minutes they do actually begin the robbery by the end of the scene.