RESEARCH - Conventions of Thriller openings

A thriller movie is usually tends to be tense, jumpy and atmospheric. However, the opening of a thriller movie may be dependant when it comes to the insight of the movie, including characters, settings and also the narrative. From past experiences watching thriller films, i have realised that they do not tend to be short, but prolonged with taunting atmosphere, to almost put the audience in an instance thrill mood.

From our research and discussions, the conventions needed for a thriller opening is very specific.

The conventions are:

• Teaser to the story.

The teaser, also known as the hook, is given through the sound, performance and effects. this is key, as the opening should hold suspense, helping the audience to engage with the film.

• Special effects/special sound

The effects are also key, due to the atmosphere it brings through the mis-en-scene. effects, such as fades etc can bring a basic visual scene to an ongoing sequence of effects. sound could possibly be added instead of music, giving different ideas about the film through sound to build up the atmosphere.

• Sound 

Music would tend to be taunting, scary and mysterious. however, the visual scene must collide with the sound to make it more engaging and continuous, as the openings would be short in terms of time, but long in terms of the scene itself.

• Title sequence

Must be put in the opening of the film. some things that will be used : Producers Ident, Director, Stars, other cast, Name of film. these tend to appear in this chronological order but depending on the status of each aspect, some things may be swapped for others.

This is a snap shot from the opening of James Bond Casino Royale. the title is clear as well as the teasing background.