1. Conventions:
At the beginning of American Psycho when you
see the titles you believe you are seeing blood
but then find out that it is only raspberry sauce
being dripped on a plate.
Titles:
The background used when the titles are coming is not fully
white, its grey. It seems like it should have been white but has ben
tainted with something dirty.
The texted used in American Psycho is not fully stabilised but the
text does not move smoothly either. The titles look quite shaky
like they’re about to fall apart this could be something that relates
to the film, maybe a character in the movie might be organized
and together but also falling apart. During the titles the what looks
like blood dripping on the screen helps you identify what the
genre could be.
You see a large kitchen knife being moved across when the name
‘Christan Bale’ appears this could suggest that this character might
be a dangerous character. When I did research into title opening I
noticed that if a just a name comes up it means that, that person
is playing a character.

2. Camera Techniques:
After the titles are finished that cameras main focus is not on the
people but its on the food, the camera shows the food from an aerial
angle. The camera also does a panning shot over the food showing the
audience how expensive the food looks but how small the portion
is, this is also implying the people eating in this restaurant are rich
people.
We then see a mid shot of the waiter and then the camera tracks him
whilst he serves food for a customer, we have a close up of his hand
but nothing else suggesting to the audience that this waiter is not an
important person in the movie.
Mise en scene:
The way the titles opened up making the audience think it was blood but in fact it was sauce , has now gone through the audience head as blood.
The jerky music and the ‘blood’ has given the audience this thought of killing and death. This helps the audience understand the main character
better – the main character may see ordinary things different to other people.
You see a couple dress classy at the table, almost facing each other. The man is dressed in a business suit, with the tie done up perfectly and his hair
is perfectly coned back in place. The girl is in a classy dress with golden hoop earing on. This look lets the audience know that they’re rich, these
character have basically money written over them. You notice that they’re on a double date but due to their body language and facial expression
you can tell that they’re distance, emotionally cold.
Everything you see at the beginning is trying to tell the audience that they have a lot of money as the camera does not really focus on the
people, just stuff that tell us they’re rich for example the food and the setting. The close up of the hands also shows the audience how rich these
people are, we don’t see working class person whose most likely to have more manual work and not a manicure. Everything you see at the
beginning indicates how rich they are pink rose, wines glasses, expensive watch on a mans hand, all the gold jewellery being worn, double set of
cutlery, a lady eating her desert delight but if you look at their faces these people do not seem that happy.