Explore the use of film language for effect in an opening sequence to a
thriller. How does the director engage the audience?
Martin Scorsese’s 1990 film “GoodFellas” follows the life of gangster
Henry Hill as he becomes a professional mafia criminal. The opening scene is a
harrowing and graphic example of the casual violence that surrounds Henry. The
fact that this film is so real is what has ensured its success.
We open with opening credits, as many great films do. A large white font
appears, featuring the names of the actors. There is some faux-diegetic traffic
noise as these titles whip about the screen. This is a kind of sound bridge and
presents the viewer with an idea of the setting –
Very shallow DOF
Grey hair emerges from crowd as if from thin air
Extreme closeup, but no clear emotion - EVIL
POV shot, but shallow DOF means only focused on him - very self-centred man
Mid shots of people going about their airport business - we are reminded of the setting after a sequence of unrelated close-ups, just to ensure that we are still in the same place.
Bag swap! Dodgy dealings. Shot of bags on floor shows this.
Keep crosscutting between the two men - something is about to go down
Close up shots of taxi - takes a little while to actually realise what it is, and its onyl the colours that means we know that this is the same thing.
Motivated editing - we cut between taxi driver and taxi, meaning that we realise he is the taxi driver.
Montage of him getting ready to leave - we linger on the picture of the island, presumably a holiday location, as if this is very important to the man.
Already we have met 3 characters who seem as though they will be central to the plot. Also, we know motives for the taxi driver and have established that at least one of the others is a businessman. We are lead to believe that one of these characters is definitely going to get in the taxi at some point.
Who is the man standing on the scaffold? Bit of a Chekhov's gun here.
Thrillers often create feelings such as exhilaration, suspense,
anticipation, nervousness, and (of course) a thrill. It creates these feelings
through their use of low-key lighting, enhanced diegetic sound and expression
of emotion through tense music. These things are what thrillers are known for.
Often these films are based around revenge, or someone seeking to restore
equilibrium. Common thrillers can include such themes as terrorism, crime, and
sometimes psychological horror, although there is almost always have a rational
explanation rather than supernatural. They often aim to create suspense and
jeopardy, as well as placing violence centrally in the plot.
Our brief was to create a short film called 'The Package' in which some form of item was transferred from one place to another. We had to create suspense and jeopardy.
We started very smoothly for the first few days, but then we had a major setback; I lost the SD card. This was not good as it meant we had to re-shoot over half of our film. We recovered quickly and I am pleased with the final product.
I have learnt that time pressure is the hardest thing to overcome on a zero-budget film such as this, and we were very pushed to hit the deadline, with me having to come in and finish the editing in my own free time. This was unfortunate but not too bad because I had nothing else to do during this period anyway.
I was operating sound, and I found that it is very difficult to hold a boom pole, the DAR (Digital Audio Recorder), and the cables all at the same time, and ended up affixing the DAR to the tripod. it is also hard to get close enough to the sound source to get decent audio.
In David Fincher's 1995 film Seven (stylised as Se7en), he needed to move away from the disaster that was Alien3, and show that he was a director to be reckoned with. Indeed, he went on to direct such titles as Fight Club, Zodiac, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl, all major box office hits. An important film for Fincher, then, and as we examine its opening sequence we will take a look at how he has accomplished such an iconic scene.
The sequence does not include any long shots setting the exact location or premise for the scene. This forces the viewer to think for themselves to work out where and what is going on - hence already giving the impression of a detective film. The audience is made to assume that the scene takes place in an office or a bedroom, because the close-up shots of props and furniture contain the kind of props and furniture found in these places. Furthermore, we cannot see who is writing, or turning pages, and this creates a great deal of suspense for the scene.
All of the shots in this sequence are quite dark, connoting danger, which is added to by the opening shot: a shot of a page being turned with such a shallow depth-of-field that you can hardly tell what is turning it. The shots are very low-key, further adding to the dark, mysterious and dangreous feel. The colours are mostly greyscale, giving the idea of a dark and myterious feel. The sequence is interspersed with shots of photos being developed. These shots show the red light used to develop black and white photos, again connoting danger, but also creating the feeling that the events depicted in the film are very current, just being developed (please excuse the cheesy pun).
There is almost no camera movement in this montage of events, forcing the viewer to focus on exactly what is happening. The lack of movement creates a very closed feel to the framing, furthering the mood.
The film opens with a wide, establishing, aerial shot of a building in a big city. Match on action with window smashing ensures that the audience follows the scene as it progresses. The high angle inside the building gives an overview of the scene, and also gives the feeling of a small room. The camera follows the robbers out of the building, then looking down, giving the idea of being a third robber, and makes the audience feel 'with' these robbers, as if they are the characters we are meant to follow in this sequence. Slowly building music creates a build-up, creating suspense and tension. There is a beat in the music, and the scene synchronously cuts to the audience's introduction to Heath Ledger's character, The Joker.
This shot is very carefully composed, giving a closed framing. The suit is very dark, silhouetting him, forcing the audience to focus on his mask and the bag. There is a buildup of music as we track into him, which then cuts back when the car pulls up. This helps the audience to know that this particular robber is important. All the while, the smooth motion of the camera shows how carefully the heist was planned, and introduces us to the style of the Joker's crimes.
In the car, one of the robbers says "I know why they call him the Joker." We then cut to one of the rooftop robbers saying "So why do they call him the Joker?" This content matching shows that all the robbers are thinking about exactly the same things. The "he wears makeup. To scare people" line creates suspense - we've seen the trailers, we know exactly who he is. This first mention of him is
Upon exiting the car and entering the building, the camera follows the robbers and uses a low angle, giving them power in the scene. Upon entering the building, the camera particularly follows Heath Ledger's character, further emphasising his importance in the film as a whole.
Inside the bank, the music begins to build, as the shotgun man shoots one of the robbers. Simultaneously, another one of the robbers is electrocuted whilst attempting to break into the bank vault; this is the proverbial 'volta' of the scene. This is where the little guy makes a comeback; or so it seems. This creates a huge moment of drama in this scene.
