1. Along Came a Spider (2001) Film Opening
Analysis
I decidedtoanalysethisfilmopeningasitisrevolvedaround
kidnapping,howeverwasbasedmore aroundthe police and
crime side of what ishappeningratherthan the drama of it.
I wantedto explore the differenttechnical elementsusedin
order for the audience to perceive the kidnapping theme in
my film opening.
The film beginning is about a man and a woman in a car
driving to what is seeming to be a one night stand after
meeting in a club. There is no visual at the beginning of the
conversation,howeveritsoundsasthoughit isbeingplayed
back on a recording. We then get a visual on what is
happening and we see that there is a man in question of
serial killing,and thatthe womanhe iswithhas a camera on
heras a broach,andan earpiece. Theyare beingwatchedby
a helicopter and two men in the back of a van.
It is set in a car that is driving, however at the very start as
just mentioned there is no visual at all. Instead we see
blurring, fuzzing lights – blue, green, white and black. It appears as if it is a television screen being
tuned.The lightingisverylow-keyasitissetinthe nighttime,whichsetstensionfromthe outset.The
props used in the film opening are suggestive that the film is going to be based around crime and
police – the first thingwe see is a car beingtrackeddown by a helicopter,andthere are two men in
the back of a van that are usingthingssuch as ear pieces,headphones,TV screens,andthis suggests
that they are tracking someone down. There are also several newspaper clippings above the TV
screens that state there is a serial killer on the loose,with headlines such as ‘unsolved homicide vex
investigators’ and ‘serial killer strikesagain’, which straight away lets the audience know he may be
wanting to kill this woman. As well as this, the woman in the car, Tracy, has a gun. The costumes of
the menin the van are veryformal – suitsand ties,suggestinghighauthority,mostlikelydetectives.
The men in the helicopter are in uniforms, suggesting they are part of the police helicopter force.
Tracey isdressedina skimpydress,insinuatingthatshe wastryingto lure the man inquestiontoher
in order to get evidence on him. The serial killers performance makes him appear as an aggressive
pervert who’s very fond of himself, with lines such as ‘that’s because I’m God’s gift to women’ and
‘innocent,justthe wayIlikethem.’He triestouchingupthe womanandputshishandquitefar upher
leg,backingupthat he isbehavinglike apervert.Also,whendiscoveringthe earpiece of Tracey’s,he
hits the woman and she groans, suggesting it was aggressive, and calls her a b**** - all of this
performingshowingheismostlikelytobe the serial killerandsheisindangerwhichbuildsuptension.
The cinematographyinthe filmopeningbuildsonthe suspenseof the scene. The firstvisualwe getis
an establishing shot of a car driving down a long road, and then helicopter flies into the shot. This
showsstraightawaythatthere are policeinvolvedinwhatisgoingon,andsomethingbadmayhappen
to one of the people having the conversation. This automatically builds suspense. There is then a
mediumtwo-shotof twomenin headphones,suggestinganongoinginvestigation.There are quite a
2. few close ups of Morgan freeman, playing a detective. These shots capture his emotion in the
situation,whichrubsoff onthe audience –asif he looksworriedthenwe willfeel worriedasaresult.
We thengeta wide shotof a car drivingpasta sign saying‘VirginiaDamFalls’,whichinstantlyletsus
nowthat by usingthistype of shotandincludingthe sign,somethingbadisabouttohappenwiththe
dam. Whenthe car flipsoff of the edgeof the dam, thereisaveryexhilaratingwide shotshowinghow
fast the water is going and how much the car is actually hanging off of the edge,which plays on the
tensionevenmore.We get nail bitinglyworriedaboutwhatmay occur next.Followingthis,we then
quite a lot of close ups of the detective as Tracey hangs for her life, and they are used to show the
painbehindhimeyesasthe carshe isinfinallyfallsintothe dam, andthe final shotof theopenlingers
on a close up of his face and the emotion bursts through his eyes.
The editing of the film opening is quite a fast pace. I think this is because they are conducting an
investigationintothe manand it isquite a tense situation,soto playon thissuspense theyuse quite
a fast pace editingtechnique.This drawsthe audience intowhatisgoingon,andkeepsthemupwith
the eventsof itall. There isalsoCGI usedwhenthe car ishangingoverthe edge of the dam, andthey
create a gigantic waterfall. They also CGI the man and the woman falling through the dam and
spiralling into the unknown, continuing with the suspense.
Finally, the sound demonstrated in the film opening continues with the aspect of tension and
suspense.Atthe beginningof the fil opening,we heara conversationbetweenaman and a woman,
andasmentionedbefore itsoundsasifitishasbeenrecordedandisplayingback,orisplayingthrough
a TV. As well as this, there are sounds of what appears to be a TV trying to tune, which leaves the
audience wondering what is going on for a good minute and a half of it. All the while, there is non-
diegetic orchestral music in the background that is quite slow, yet it suggests that we are building
towardssomethinghappening.Thisisbackedupbythe factthatwhenthe charactersdrivepastasign
showing‘VirginiaFallsDam’,the non-diegeticmusicbeginstogetdeeperandfaster andletsusknow
that somethingterrible isabouttohappen.Whenthe mandiscoversthe womanisapolice officer,we
hear soundsof helicopters,gunshotsand police sirens – signallingagainthat the police are involved
and the filmis about crime.The musicbeginsto get faster again,buildingmore and more suspense.
Thenwhenthe car isover the dam, we hear the loud,thunderingcashingof the wateras itis falling,
sowingjusthowrapid andheavythe waterisand how life-threateningthe situationshe isinactually
is. This music continues until the end of the scene, when Tracey actually falls with the car, it cuts
completelywhenwe see the shotof Morganfreemanlookingdownatthe car falling,andthenasthe
scene changes, we hear bells – connoting death and mourning of this character.
Fromwatchingthisfilmopening,Ireallylike the waythatthe cinematographyhasbeenusedtoshow
characters emotion.Ireallylike the close-upsusedonMorganFreeman’sface whenhe witnesseshis
wife fallingdownthe dam.I thinkit fivesouta verypowerful mage tothe audience thatwe instantly
empathise with, and I really want to create that same feeling in my film opening so will planto use
similar shots. I also like the way that wide shots are used to put the location and the character
together,suchaswhenthe carishangingoverthe dam, andIwouldalsoliketoadaptthisfeatureinto
my film opening.
