Typical conventions of thriller films and opening sequences and how we applied this in our work

1. OPENING SEQUENCES
What is included
and how we
applied this

2. TYPICAL CONVENTIONS OF AN
OPENING SEQUENCE
Establishing shot
Flashbacks
Production company logo
Titles
The movie title

3. FLASHBACKS
These are typical in opening sequences
as they show key events which have
happened before the present time in
the film and give insight into certain
characters background history and give
the audience an idea as to what they
might be like. In our thriller we use
multiple flashbacks to create tension
and give the audience their first clue as
to our antagonists character and his
weird obsession. These are clearly
defined as flashbacks as they’re in
colour and this differs from the rest of
the footage which is black and white.
We also added the ‘dip to white’
transition which is a typical transition
used to show the narrative going back
in time. I think we used these
effectively and it was one of the main
things that people commented on in
our audience feedback, saying were
effective and built tension.

4. ESTABLISHING/PANNING SHOT
Establishing shots help to set the scene
and inform the audience where the film is
taking place and puts the rest of the film
in perspective in terms of location. We
used an establishing shot in our opening
sequence in the form of a tilt and this
helped the audience that it is a common
location which any person could live in this
and adds to the verisimilitude. The tilt
establishing shot is also a smooth shot to
open with at it slowly introduces the
location and eases you into the movie.

5. TITLE SEQUENCE
Title sequences often appear at the
start of a film whilst the story line is
being set up for the rest of the movie, it
lets the audience know who has been a
part in making the film and is
informative. As much as giving the
audience information about the cast
and crew it gives the people involved in
film credit. We made our titles simple so
that they didn’t draw away from the
narrative but they help to distinguish
the video as an opening sequence
rather than an extract from any part of
the film. They are in a simple white font
which has been distorted and made to
look unusual in adobe premier pro.

6. NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC
Non-diegect music is often used in
opening sequences to give the
audience a chance to see things like the
location and characters before they
start talking or the action starts to
happen. It also allows the audience to
get a feel for the mood of the film. We
used this in our opening sequence by
choosing deep, eerie music and this let
the audience know that the mood of
the situation was a sincere one and
allowed them to focus on the narrative
rather than the sound as a main focus.

7. THRILLER GENRE
What is included
and how we
applied this

8. TYPICAL CONVENTIONS OF A
THRILLER
Quick edits
Tense music
Prolonged periods with no dialogue
Black and white effect
Low key lighting

9. CHARACTERS
Male actors are usually cast for the main
antagonist of a thriller film and this
character will have a hidden identity that
the audience will uncover as the film
progresses. This is a typical convention of
a thriller as males are usually seen as the
more scary gender, adding to the narrative
enigma. We show this in our opening
sequence by not giving too much about his
character away but enough to make the
audience question what is going on. The
way that he acts is also very sincere and
the quality of acting was commented on in
our audience feedback.

10. SOUND
The music of a typical thriller film is a very
distinguishable type of music. It reflects
the mood of the characters and adds
tension. Typically this includes low, deep,
eerie tones of music and is at one
consistent pitch. The sound that we have
used as our backing music defiantly
reflects the mood of the whole film and I
am pleased with how it adds to the
narrative enigma. Without the sound the
footage wouldn’t be as easily identified as
a thriller film and it wouldn't be as tense.
The use of a nursery rhyme in this
situation also helped to add suspense
because it isn’t what would be expected.

11. MISE EN SCENE
Low key lighting is a typical attribute of
a thriller film and we made sure that
this was a part of ours along side it
being black and white in colour. The
actors cast in a thriller film must have
something unusual about them and to
be able to act seriously which our actor
did and did very well, portraying his
character exactly as we’d hoped as
mysterious and creepy. We also used
low key lighting to add tension and the
use of props on the desk portray the
image of his need to be neat and tidy.
This makes us question if he has
something like OCD and whether he