ANALYSIS OF THREE FILM OPENINGS

The Lovely BonesThrillers are often set in suburban settings with buildings. The opening two minutes of this film is set in a house. The setting has a very busy feel to it. This is created by the props in the film, such as the toys across the floor. The music used is light and uncanny to help to add to the eerie atmosphere of the film. The music reminds the audience of something that they would hear in church or at a funeral. The music starts off slow and when the drama in the movie is beginning to happen it speeds up to create suspense. The main protagonist in this film is wearing normal casual clothing. This, along with the fact that the beginning of the film is a flashback of the protagonist as a young child, helps to portray innocence. There are a lot of close ups focused on the main character of this film. The young girl is filmed looking at a snow globe. She has a blank and almost lost look on her face to suggest that she is naïve and childlike in the sense that she still has a lot to learn.

In the opening two minutes of ‘The Lovely Bones’, there is no obvious narrative offered to the audience that is connected to the main storyline. Although the film doesn’t give a lot away in the first two minutes, it is enough to make the audience want to continue to watch to see what is happening next. In the opening two minutes, the audience are shown a flashback of the protagonists life as a small child. The character makes it obvious that this is a flashback because they use dialogue in the voice over and says things in past tense such as “I remember being really small”. The use of the flashback is good technique used by the creators of the film because it makes the audience more eager to want to watch the rest of the film so that they can piece together the rest of the storyline.

In the opening two minutes, the audience is shown a flashback of the protagonist as a child. The child is portrayed as innocent and naïve through their clothing and because of the props in the scene such as the toys on the floor. In the first two minutes the audience already know that the child’s character is naïve, and this suggests to the audience that her personality will stay the same throughout her life and throughout the rest of the film.The sound used in the opening two minutes of this film is important in giving the audience an idea of the possible plot. The music used is very eerie and mystical. It is quite high pitched and it gives off a mysterious tone. The fact that this type of music is playing whilst a flashback of the child is being shown, suggests that the mysterious theme will continue in the rest of the film, which is true because similar music is played in the scenes where the girl is in heaven. The voice over in the opening two minutes is also very important in telling the story of the omniscient character, which in this case, is the main female character. In this film, the voiceover tells us the story of the protagonists life from the beginning up to the point where she gets killed. Without the voiceover, the audience would be potentially confused about the narrative.

The light, eerie music in this film begins before the visuals in this film actually start. This creates tension for the audience and we are already anticipating what will happen next before we even see the first scene.

The FirmThe first scene in this film is a busy suburban town. This is a common first scene in a lot of thrillers, because a hectic scene gives the audience a lot to look at and think about. The music is exciting and upbeat. This is a huge contrast to the light and delicate or low and slow rhythm music that is usually heard in the first few minutes of a thriller.

There are lots of different scenes showing the different angles of the protagonist’s life. Over the scenes the names of the actors playing the main characters appear in bold, white font. Because the names appear bold and in the centre of the screen, the audience are very attracted to them. The titles, as well as the busy background scenes create a lot of excitement and tension for the audience. Seeing Tom Cruise’s name appear in the first few seconds also makes the audience want tocontinue watching. In the first two minutes we learn the basics of the characters personality. We find out that the character is a lawyer, fresh out of college, but not just any college – Harvard! Companies are fighting for him to join their law firms. We know that the protagonist is highly thought of, and he comes across as quite prestigious. The fact that the actor playing this character is A list star Tom Cruise also helps to add to the characters high status that is portrayed.

The main protagonist is wearing a suit to convey superiority. Compared to the characters who the film doesn’t focus on who are wearing casual clothes, the main character looks prestigious. The characters body language also tells a lot about the personality of the character. During job interviews and meetings, the character constantly looks at his watch to suggest that he has to be somewhere else. This shows that he thinks he is above the other characters in status, even though he is the one in need of a job. This also shows that he is a relaxed character – even in tense situations such as job interviews. The music in the opening two minutes also helps to connotate that he is a very unperturbed person. The upbeat and almost happy music shows that even though he is in a busy setting, and that he is in a tense situation whilst looking for a job, he is still calm and not distressed about it. There is a lot of dialogue in the opening of this film. The continuous voices heard talking would usually make a person stressed, but this character remains calm throughout, again showing that he has a composed personality.

The Roommate

This film opening has all the codes and conventions of a rom-com. Some codes and conventions belong to the thriller genre, but if I was to watch the opening of this film without knowing the genre I would definitely say that this is a rom-com. The setting of this film is a very busy college campus is Los Angeles. There are also lots of low shots used to show skyscraper building and other various scenery such as beaches and palm trees. All of the films in the thriller genre that I’ve looked at opened with a busy suburban setting. In this film opening, the scene is quite hectic and it is filled with people, cars and bikes to create a frantic atmosphere. The music in this film is exciting and it straight away puts the audience in a good mood. This is a huge contrast to the usual gloomy or mysterious music in the opening of films in the thriller genre.

In the first two minutes of the film we find out that the protagonist is beginning college and that she has a roommate. The audience would typically be able to expect that this will be a big part of the story because of the title of the film.

The opening title sequence is very successful at trying to gain the audiences attention and it also makes the audience want to continue to watch the rest of the film. The first thing that the audience hear is the upbeat music. The music used is what you would typically hear over a film that’s trying to set a ‘feel-good’ mood for the audience. The loud and deep drumbeat in the music really helps to gain the audiences attention. It is also music that you would hear in a movie with a happy ending, so because this is a thriller and you wouldn’t really expect music like this, it makes it more exciting because the audience don’t really know what to expect from the film.

The mood that is created in the opening of this film is a happy and exciting one, which is unusual because movies in the thriller genre usually have a mysterious feel to them. There are lots of location shots used in the first two minutes of this film. The audience are shown lots of beautiful scenery such as shots of the beach. This suggests that the film will be set in a nice location. This helps to contrast all of the negative things that may happen in the film as the storyline unravels. Because a lot of the film is filmed inside a dorm it suggests that the film will revolve around college life. A lot of close up shots are used in the opening two minutes in this film to establish the main characters without telling the audience a lot about them.