Nikita's Thriller Opening: Thriller Openings

You will consider and explore:
• How does the opening engage/create interest for the audience?
• Does it establish characters? How?
• Does the opening introduce themes, mood or story/narrative? How?
• How are the opening titles displayed?
• How is enigma established?

What you will need to analyse:
• Mise-en-scene;
• Use of soundtrack;
• Use of diegetic sound;
• Editing;
• Camera shot, movement and position;
• Use of special effects.

The Enemy Of The State

SCREENSHOT 1

Enemy of the State opens with a black screen and white writing - one reason for this could be that the director wants the audience to feel as if they are watching a computer screen or confidential file as this is a spy thriller. Another way the director engages and creates interest for the audience early on, is by the music that is used; the music that is used is very suspicious and engages the audience's attention immediately as it was very loud and the volume of the music fluctuates during the titles. The opening of this clip does establish the characters because it immediately goes into a shot of the man and his dog as you can see in SCREENSHOT 2. The character is established because the shot is of the man and his dog coming out of a car; however, in this shot the character is not clearly established and is still a tad vague in that you can't really see his face. Nevertheless this creates an enigma because the audience wants to know what this person looks like. The audience do get a rough idea of what sort of character the man may be - the audience may even think that he is a friendly character as people who own dogs are seen to be those who are more gentle and kind. The opening introduces story/narrative and themes. For example in SCREENSHOT 3 the shot is of one of both characters, the man who left the car with a dog on the bench and the man who called him standing nearby the bench. This shows some sort of dominance by the man on the bench because the other man is wanting to sit with him. However it can also be seen that the man standing has dominance because he has a higher level.

The genre could be political because of the conversation the men have together on the bench where they are both conversing about the 'state' and about a situation. This also brings the mood and story/narrative - the mood being suspicion and tense and the story/narrative being about some sort of mission or job that either of the men have to do. As I previously mentioned, the opening titles in this clip as shown in SCREENSHOT 1 are in a white font and medium sized with a background. This idea of the story/narrative being political will reinforce the idea that the audience were watching the computer screen in the beginning.The colours used give an edge to the opening because black and white are seen to be colours that cause suspense and are used when emphasis is needed. The enigma is established by SCREENSHOTS 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10. The reason why the enigma is established here is because this is where the audience observe the main part of the opening where when the men converse they talk about the situation occuring and it becomes more intense when the man leaves with his dog as he is attacked by a group of people and killed and put into his car as you can see in SCREENSHOT 10. The amount of questions that the audience would want to ask are insurmountable.

The mise-en-scene in this opening from SCREENSHOT 2 - 10 is done in such a way, for example in SCREENSHOT 4 the character has glasses and a scarf on and also a jacket. The background consists with trees and they are seen to be mysterious and to cause tension. Also SCREENSHOT 3 the landscape behind both characters is arranged in such a manner; having the men placed in that way enhances the importance of the landscape because it is quite mystical and mysterious which is the feel the audience are recieving from watching the opening. The use of the soundtrack from 02:53 - 04:00 is highly effective, it is used in this way, that it causes real suspense and tension for the audience. The soundtrack used is notifying the audience that something tragic is about to occur and the soundtrack emphasises that by the use of violins within the soundtrack; this is orchestral music and is very high cultured. It commences off slow and gradually builds as the scene of where the man is killed (SCREENSHOT 9) begins to transcend.

The soundtrack is used very effectively and gives the opening that extra edge to it. There is some use of diegetic sound during the part where the man is asking the other man for a favour (SCREENSHOT 4). The diegetic sound used is very effective and is a sort of low mellow sound of a violin increasing, and also the sounds of chimes or bells which make it sound quite sinister; this is because chimes and bells are also part of orchestral music. The camera shots, movement and position used were very unique and original for example in SCREENSHOT 4 and 5; it is the 180 degree rule which is very successfully used. Also in SCREENSHOT 2,6 and 9, panning is used to capture the movement. The position of the camera in SCREENSHOT 9 is very effective and is a close up of the mans face which creates emphasis on the situation and gives the audience a sense of fear and makes them question what else is about to occur.