Gone Girl Opening Sequence

Shannon McCormack

These shots use the thriller convention of dark settings and shows a flawed protagonist. The husband refers to cracking his wife’s skull, making him as well as his wife flawed, because she has evidently done something to make him feel like his, and her expression does not suggest much emotion or love towards him. This establishes to the audience that their relationship isn’t happy or even stable. Introducing the audience to things about the characters that will later be relevant is a convention of opening sequences.

Another convention of opening sequences is seen here when “Gone Girl”, the title of the film, appears on the screen. This shot also helps to establish the setting of the events or at least where the characters live. No people are seen and some parts of the location seem slightly run down or just unused. This gives the basis of an unhappy, lonely life for the characters because the location is suggesting this to the audience. These types of locations (scary or creepy ones) are a convention of thriller films. The second shot also includes credits, in this case for the costume designer, another convention of opening sequences.

The first shot shows the husband looking back at his house seeming reluctant to go back in. This tells the audience that his marriage or his life with his wife isn’t a happy one, hence why he doesn’t want to go back into it. The close up of the bar sign also gives the impression that he has a drinking problem due to his issues with his wife, especially because he is going during the day when you would expect an adult to be working. The credits also continue in these shots.

The first show establishes the relationship between the husband and his twin sister. The second shot shows Amy’s diary in a flashback to the beginning of their relationship, the lighting in this shot contrasts with the low-key lighting used at the beginning with the shots of her head. This shows the audience further that her mental state and relationship has darkened.

This flashback again contrasts with these characters present, particularly in location because they seem to be very isolated now, when at this point they were at a social gathering.

No Country For Old Men Opening

Sequence

This film starts with the opening sequence convention of showing the title of the film. The black background used suggests death and unhappiness in the future for the characters. An establishing shot is then shown so the audience know where all the action is going to take place.

These shots of the location show the sun coming up, suggesting that the events that take place are just as inevitable as the sun coming up everyday. Thriller films often use dark settings, but an isolated location has been used instead in this instance (isolated locations are still conventional). The fence shows the sign of human life though and nature being affected – similar to how the murder in this film affects the characters.

The first reveal of the antagonist happens just after the narration/voiceover (a convention of opening sequences) says “said he knew he was going to Hell. Be there in about 15 minutes.” This gives the audience an idea about how seriously this criminal takes any pain that he causes before he is even shown. The scenery behind the police officer at this point shows how isolated they are and therefore how unlikely they are to encounter much crime, especially at the extremity of this criminal.

The criminal’s weapon of choice is shown here which will later become siginificant to the plot – opening sequences typically give away things that will later be important in their opening sequences. There is also dark lighting the back of the police car shadowing the antagonist’s face. This is conventional of the thriller genre and also keeps his identity a mystery to the audience so they are kept engaged.

This shot ends the opening sequence and suggests that there is a journey to come for the characters, to deal with what the criminal has just done.

Se7en Opening Sequence

Shannon McCormack

The opening sequence to ‘Se7en’, a psychological thriller, gives away many clues about the antagonist - a convention of opening sequences. These two shots tell us that the antagonist, who in this case is a serial killer, is intellectual, hence the book, and he has documents relating to human remains/bodies. This gives the impression that he is calculating and plans out his murders well, as well as keeping details about them like it is his life's work. The shadows and low-key lighting are also conventions of the thriller genre and give a mysterious atmosphere, especially because the antagonists face is not seen during the opening sequence.

The shot of the antagonist holding a blade in his hands connotes to the audience that he has a lot of trust in himself and is used to sharp and dangerous items. This could potentially make the audience feel uneasy because he seems so calm. The serial killer is also writing, presumably about his planning or experiences of murder, showing the audience that his crimes are not “crimes of passion” because they are all planned out. This opening sequence is essentially just a montage of all the antagonists behaviour surrounding his planning of murders which entices the audience because they can get an idea of how intelligent and callous the antagonist is. This was mostly used by the director David Fincher to give the opening an ‘edge’ on other thriller films.

The first shot shows the man with more photographs of human bodies, drawing lines through a young boy’s eyes and his writing. This connotes that he is desensitised to these images and he puts a lot of time and effort into planning murders, giving the impression even more that he is psychologically disturbed. The second shot also features the opening sequence convention of credits.

The opening sequence of ‘Se7en’ is unconventional because the main character is not introduced, the audience only gets information about his behaviour from the sequence, not his identity. There is also no establishing shot of his location or the location of the protagonist. These shots do show that he prefers to do things himself, shown by him stitching his own book rather than just buying one. This makes his actions more secretive as well because there is no indication of other people or someone else doing anything at all for him in the planning. The scenes, as shown in the first shot, also begin to mix which shows the psychotic nature of the character and his thoughts overlapping each other.

The antagonist cutting out ‘God’ from the newspaper connotes that he is either removing God ‘from the equation’ or that he is going to play God, and is taking it out to give himself the title. The end of the opening sequence shows the antagonists everyday location contrasting with the previously seen dark and creepy shots. The word ‘Monday’ is however still written in the same font as the opening credits in the sequence of him planning, suggesting that the disturbed mindset is still present even when he is trying to behave normally.

The Departed Opening Sequence

The opening starts with the production titles for Warner Bros. Pictures and other studios involved, a convention of opening sequence. The setting and time period are then set as being “some years ago” in Boston. This suggests to the audience that whatever will follow is not a recognised historical event because “some years ago” gives no indication of when the events actually started (or finished), which important events would have. This makes it seem like more of a personal story. Establishing setting is also a convention of opening sequence.

There is silence when the credits are being shown but this is interrupted by the sound of indistinct shouting and footage of men fighting. The narration is another convention of opening sequence and gives the audience an insight in the character so they are engaged straight away. The shot of the policemen and the fighting immediately indicates that violence and crime is going to be part of the film.

The voiceover continues to establish a narrative and a background into the character at this point. The second shot also includes low key lighting, a convention of thriller films. This makes the character more mysterious because some of his attitudes and beliefs have been introduced in the narration, but his face still hasn’t been shown.

The setting is further established here as being fairly average and safe, because of the presence of the elderly people and the children’s ride outside the shop. This will intrigue the audience because violence and policemen have already been seen but they do not seem to be needed in this area. This could connote that the crime is undercover and not known to the authorities. The character (Frank Costello) also seems to have more control in this situation because he has something to offer Vin and therefore he “owes” him – this could be the crime the audience may have assumed is going on.

The lighting on the male characters face is still low-key at this point, connoting that he is the antagonist. His identity is also covered slightly by his sunglasses and although he is being nice to the child, the lighting doesn’t suggest he is doing this entirely out of kindness. “L Street”, the audience can assume, is where this man works and is probably where any crime takes place – which will important to the plot.

The Purge Opening Sequence

These production titles (a convention) have been adapted to fit with the horror sub-genre of this thriller. The animation is also an interesting way to engage the audience.

The actual film begins with this text explaining the state of America since the beginning of the “Purge” this establishing setting and the time period of the film.

The opening sequence uses the convention of a montage here of various “Purge Feeds” in different areas of America. This indicates to the audience the severity of the violence that takes place during the Purge and the extent of America that get involved. It was shows the date “2017” so the audience will know when this started and potentially find the events scarier, because the plot has been designed to feel like it could happen very soon. The events are all also taking place at night with low-key lighting, another convention of thrillers.

More credits are shown in the first shot, which is a convention of opening sequences. The music throughout the montage is asynchronous because it is quite calm and slow, which could make the audience feel uneasy. The character of James Sandin is then established through him calling his office. Opening sequences also tend to introduce the protagonists, so this is another convention.

People’s opinions of the Purge are being heard over the radio at this point so the audience know it is controversial. Finally, the title of the film is shown at the end, another convention of opening sequences (although this doesn’t usually happen at the end of a sequence)