Collaterol Opening Analysis

Collateral (2004)
The opening to Collateral uses the technique of binary opposites, by showing us the lives of the two main characters; Vincent and Max. We can see that they are binary opposites as the first thing we see Vincent (Tom Cruise) do is 'accidentally' knock into someone who happens to have an identical briefcase to him. This gives the audience an idea that Tom Cruises character is the villain of the film and creates suspicion and mystery. Also he wears dark glasses, which gives him a concealed image; which makes him seem even more perplexing.

The audience then meets Jamie Foxx's character; Max, who at is the complete opposite to Vincent and is a taxi driver. An innocent persona is created for him through the use of sound and camera angles. When Max is first seen he is looking stressed, and the use of diegetic sound is used to create the busy and arrogant atmosphere.When Max enters the car and shuts the door; the sound suddenly cuts and nothing is heard, only silence. This shows that Max's character is trying to get away from the stress and noise of work. This creates a empathetic atmosphere among-st the audience, as they will know how he feels and will put him in the position of the 'good guy'.

Secondly, camera angles that are used include a tracking shot, which follows Vincent, this shows the audience everything that he is doing and they follow his every move. This puts audiences on the edge of their seats as they want to know what he is up to and why he seems to suspicious. The camera angle changes when it gets to Max, they quickly move from one character to the other using jump cuts; to show the personality differences between the two people. A close up shot of Tom Cruise's face is used, although he is wearing dark glasses, so the audience still cannot see him properly, it gives them the nearest they will get to finding out who he is, this contrasts the idea of the concealed image used. A lot of close up shots are used during the scene where the audience finds out Max's character, the shots are mainly used on objects and people that represent his work place; the taxi service. This shows the audiences his whole situation before he has even said anything; which creates more sympathy. Point of view shots are used when Max is looking at pictures in his taxi. This puts the audience in the characters shoes and tells them that he is a normal person doing a normal job, like everybody else. They see what he sees, which is a normal day.

Lighting used for Vincent is quite low key and dark, mainly grey and white; which can represent secretive or mysterious atmospheres. Whereas the lighting used for Max, is colorful and bright; which represents he is a good guy and is a normal person. However, when Vincent and Max eventually meet; it is set in the night time which shows that the whole of their time together is quite a dark and tedious.

Further into the opening scene, an unknown female gets involved; she is used as an enigma code as at the first meeting; she seems like someone who is just there to fill in the gaps, but it soon turns out that she is involved in the main story line and is part of Tom Cruise's job. Enigma codes allow the audience to put two and two together at the end of the film as they will not seem important at the first meeting. The woman is also the classic femme fatal character, she finally gets between Vincent and Max in the end and is the one responsible for what Vincent is doing all the way along.

Tom Cruises' character dresses in a very slick and professional way, which makes him seem very good at his job, efficient and experienced. This contradicts his overall persona that is set for him at first. Max dresses very casual and very laid back, which gives him more of an innocent personality.

All these elements work together to create a dark and mysterious atmosphere as they all create suspicion and don't add up; this is what creates suspense and tension in the audience and allows them to keep wondering.

Narrative Conventions

Thriller can be split into a few sub-genres, the key ones being: crime, mystery and psychological. These are the key narrative events that happen in these films for each sub-genre.
Crime: ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge and kidnappings
Mystery: investigations,'whodunit technique', police
Psychological: mind games, psychological themes, stalking, confinement, death-traps,horror of personality, obsession

The conventions of crime are evident in the narratives in the Dark Knight. For example, beginning when the joker robs the bank and also in Taken when the main protagonists daughter gets kidnapped. 
Shutter Island uses the narrative conventions of mystery in Shutter Island by having a police investigation as the main point of the storyline. 
Psychological games are used throughout the narrative in Seven. 
Most thrillers involve a set up based around a certain crime, this is an old convention from when thriller films started off.

The narratives are always used to thrill the audience, hence the name of the genre. Usually the main protagonists life is put at stake. This makes it more thrilling and exciting because the audience have formed an attachment to the leading character and strive for them to survive.

Most narratives are tense, this keeps the audience on the edge and allows them to be thrilled more effectively because they know something potentially bad, yet exciting will happen.

Shutter Island Opening Analysis

Shutter Island (2010)


The Poster of the Film

The opening scene to Shutter Island starts by showing the main character; Teddy, vomiting on the boat. During this clip, one technique used is an enigma code, we see chains and handcuffs hanging up from the top of the boat which at the first viewing does not seem like an important factor. However, further on, the audience sees patients chained up whilst doing gardening/normal daily jobs. Enigma codes are used a lot in thriller films and are used to surprise the audience and make them think about what they have seen and how everything links together.

There is a large use of low key lighting whilst on the boat, the colours and lights are very dark and dreary; which causes tension and suspense among st the audience. Low key lighting is often used in thriller genre as it portrays darkness and mystery and leaves the audience wondering what is about to happen next, causing suspense.

Low Key Lighting

Camera angles used are quite often point of view shots, which put the audience in the situation of the character and build yet more suspense. Thriller films are all about the unknown and the shock of the next scene, which is what point of view shots do perfectly to really make the audience feel like they are doing everything the character is doing. Another camera angle that is used is a tracking shot, this makes the audience feel as if they are following the characters every move and puts audiences on the edge of their seats as they will often know what is about to happen to the character before the character does. In the opening scene to Shutter Island, many jump cuts are used during conversation; particularly between Teddy and Chuck Aule on the boat, this creates a fast moving atmosphere which makes the audience need to pay attention to everything that is said. This also happens between Teddy, Chuck and the Deputy Warden.

During the opening scene, the binary opposites that are first observed and known about are the detectives and the patient; Rachel, that they are trying to find. This creates an understanding of the story from first viewing, but quite often in thriller films, there are twists and changes and the people you first thought were initially binary opposites will turn out to be on the same side. and another binary opposite will have been created.

Over the Shoulder Shot

Sound that is used is a range of diegtetic and non-diegetic. On the boat mainly diegetic sound is used such as the waves crashing, rattling of chains and cages etc. But, as the boat gets closer to the island, non - diegetic sound is used and an eary music which slowly builds up and creates a crescendo is used. This can represent a change in mood or atmosphere which causes tension among-st the audience. Diegtetic sound shows that the situation is real and natural and makes the audience feel as if it is a real situation and experience, as they will recognize the sounds.

The Three Act Structure

Syd Field proposed a theory called the Three-Act Structure, which he claimed most screenplays followed. It also applies to Thriller Films and works like this:

As you can see, the tension builds up throughout the film. During crises, something tense will happen but will quickly be resolved and so the tension decreases once again. This happens a few times throughout the film before you hit the climax. This is something that is very tense and is the pinnacle point of the film. Once the climax has been resolved, the tension drops completely until you hit the equilibrium once again. During the tension decrease near the end of the film, this is known as the denouement.
The Three-Act Structure may also apply to Thriller films. The tension will continue to increase throughout the film as more and more information is revealed to the audience, and then you get to the end of the film when all is made clear to the audience and you go back to equilibrium.
Despite the fact we are only making a Thriller opening and so won't need to worry about the structure of the entire film, it is important to remember that during our opening it wouldn't be too tense. The only thing that may happen during our opening is the first crisis.

Todorov's Theory of Narrative

Thrillers generally follow Todorov's Theory of Narrative throughout the film. It goes like this:

1. The film starts in a state of equilibrium when everything is as it should be. This is when the set up usually occurs and all of the vital information is provided. It includes introducing the main characters, the basic story line, location and it prepares the audience for the story to come.
2. Disequilibrium then occurs when there is a disruption of that order by an event. This is usually caused by a catalyst and will change the situation. It will set things going. It could be a specific action (like a murder, or other crime) or could be a piece of information. It is the presentation of this catalyst which raises the central question of the story - a problem or situation that needs to be resolved. 
3. A recognition that the disaster has occurred then takes place. This is when the central characters begin to realise that something is wrong. 
4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption will then happen. 
5. Finally, a return of restoration will take place with a new equilibrium. It will be relatively similar to the old equilibrium apart from one thing which will be different. For example, two people may get married.

Todorov argues that the narrative involves a transformation. The characters or the situations are transformed through the process of the disruption. 

Key Conventions of a Thriller Film

Part of our initial research, I have tried to find out what makes a good Thriller film. There are various common codes and conventions that we could follow in order to make a 'typical' thriller film. They are:

• Restricted Narration - it is important in a Thriller film not to give the audience the full story straight away. Important bits of the plot should be withheld from them until near the end of the film. This could be an event that happened during the film, or it could be something that happened before the film is set which the audience is unaware of. Restricting the narration makes the film more interesting for the audience because it will make them ask more questions. 
• Enigma Codes - although important information may be withheld from the audience during a Thriller film, subtle 'hints' may be dropped throughout it to make it more interesting. For example, at the start of Inception, you see a spinning top which at the time seems irrelevant. However, later on in the film, it plays a big part in the film's narrative. Enigma codes are a lot more apparent once you have watched films multiple times and know what happens in the end. 
• Plot Twists and Turns - Thriller films tend to twist the plot at the last minute. This comes as a shock to the audience because they thought they knew what was happening when in fact something else was. This makes films more complex and makes the audience work harder to understand the film. 
• Misdirection - a very similar convention to plot twists and turns, except they are designed to make the audience think something else is happening when in fact they are wrong. The film directly misleads the audience and then surprises them as it, once again, makes them work harder to understand the film.
• Deadlines - many Thriller films use deadlines to create tension. A character may have to do something within a certain amount of time. For example, you may find that there is a bomb ticking down to zero before it explodes. The tension this causes makes the film much more exciting for the audience. 
• Mysterious Characters - many characters in Thriller films are very mysterious. They may have a shady past and things like this will make the audience unsure of their intentions. It keeps the audience guessing throughout the film. Hints may be dropped throughout the film, to allow you to build up a bigger picture of the character. An example of this would be in Shutter Island when the man says "I've seen something like it before" - this may sound like an irrelevant statement but it gives the audience a clue that he has been somewhere as terrifying as Shutter Island (or even Shutter Island itself....) in the past. Characters may also be morally complex which, again, makes the audience unsure of their intentions and makes them work for the answers.
• Cliff Hangers - sometimes in Thriller films, something dangerous or interesting happens but the results of the event are withheld from the audience. They can be used at the end of the film so that the audience have to wait until the next film for the answer. This assures that the audience are keen to keep watching, or make sure they see the next film. 
• Narrative Retardation - sometimes, a critical bit of information is held back from the audience. This makes them unaware of something which is actually really important. An example of this would be if the audience think someone died in a film when actually they are still alive. 
• Red Herrings - similar to misdirection, sometimes 'lies' are thrown into the film which the audience thinks is really important when it's actually not. This confuses them and makes them interested to see what the truth is when they discover it's a red herring.

And So It Begins.........

We are Silly Kiwi Productions and we are currently working on our Thriller Opening. We are in the research stages, which we will begin to upload shortly. We have some wicked ideas and can't wait to get started properly!