Opening Analyse

In my media class today we watched the opening to four different thrillers, all four of these thrillers were effective and unfolded e story in there own way. These thrillers were; A history of violence, No country for old men, Zodiac and Brick.

A History Of Violence 

The opening of A history of violence was very quite and unsuspicious. Digeectic sound is used in this opening as there is no music of some sort, the only sound that can be heard is hising of the landscape which is a very quite buzzing which could be heard in the oputside setting. The way in which the characters at the begining of this thirller film also contriubuted in giving the of an unsuspicious and casual begining. The dress code of two of the men in the opeinin did not hint or give any impression that there would be an y glimpse of vilonce/horror as one of the men was wearing a suit giving an office/professional look and ther other was casually dressed in denium jeans and a white t-shirt. This image did not correspond at all to the viont images which are shown later on in the begining, this was very effcetcive as it didnt give anything away, the opening kept made it a mystey keeoing the audienece clueless on what could happen, the images later on in the opening would have then shocked the viewers as they was not expecting such footages, this is good as it makes the viewer want top contuinue watching the film tom find out more on what the sudden shock in the opening was about.

No Country For Old Men

The opening of 'No Country For Old Men' was very violent and horrific. The violence displayed during the opening was not as unexpected and sudden as it was in A History of violence, this is beacuse the villain in this thriller film could have easily been identified by the audience. The use of Mise-En-Scene was effectively used in this thriller, one of the aspects which was effectively used was the costume in which the villain was dressed in, he was in an all black leather jacket and trousers, the colour 'black' suggests darkness, horror and a sense of danger which the audience could see to be the case later on in the beginning as the villain displays repetive violence on innocent people. In addition there was a variety of distant and close up shots of the dessert location which was were a footage at the beginning was at which suggested no escape, a place where no one could 'help'. There is no digetic sound used in this film which also contributed in the effectiveness. This made the beginning of the film more mysterious as there is no music or sounds to hint to what sort of mood is being created. It also makes it more tense and keep the audience intreeged as they'd want to know whats going on.


Zodiac

The opening of 'Zodiac' was different to the rest as the atmosphere created and other aspects made it seem peaceful and lively, this impression was giving off by the footage's of firework and diegetic sound as the music was calm not mysterious or implications of danger. The atmosphere in the beginning was very vibrant as children for could see children running and hear them laughing. Elements such as fast pacing or mystery for a typical thriller were not displayed. This was very effective in not giving anything away and keeping the audience intrigued on what rest of film could be about.