The document analyzes the opening sequences of 5 thriller films - The Dark Knight Rises, Memento, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Se7en, and an unnamed film - to identify conventions used in thriller openings. It finds that thriller openings often use dark colors and lighting, ominous music, vague hints about the plot or characters to build tension and mystery, and stereotypical protagonists to set expectations for the genre. They aim to prepare audiences for danger and elicit feelings of fear, suspense and uncertainty through visual and audio techniques without revealing too much of the story.

1. Real media
research
By Analese

2. Genre: Thriller
The Dark Knight Rises
● The film opens with the Warner Brothers logo and
the logo of DC comics. Orchestral music builds up
in the background from the very beginning in order
to build up suspense which is a typical convention
of thriller films

3. ● The next scene is the
names of the production
company and the
producer/film creator.
● The dark background and
red writing connotes
danger which
automatically prepares to
audience for what is to
come. (as a theme of
thriller films is the
protagonist being put in
a potentially deadly
situation)

5. ● The protagonist is then introduced he is a typical
protagonist for a thriller film because he is a
white male. Also he fits into the Thriller genre
because he has an internal conflict( due to his
parents dying).

6. ● They then show cut out from newspapers which
suggest that someone is following Bruce Wayne
(and other characters) trail this could tell the
audience that the theme of the film is a mystery
which is a convention of thrillers.

7. Memento
The first few scenes just
show the names of the
production companies
and the film.

8. The names of the
main actors are
included in the
opening sequence.
Memento uses
stereotypical characters
as they are in their late
20’s – early 30’s and are
white, which is very
common of thrillers.

9. The names of the most important members of the
production team also appear in the opening sequence
they have also included an image in the background that
relates to what will happen in the film.

10. These screenshots show images that indicate but don’t
give away the plot of the film. The gradual fade of images
signifies the start of the movie to the audience.
The image isn't very clear to begin with which makes the
audience feel tense and uncertain, thrillers often make
audiences feel this way by using dimly lit and very dull
colours as demonstrated in memento.

11. The Girl with the dragon tattoo
It opens with a black background which is
conventional to the genre because they tend to use
dark colours with menacing connotations in thriller
films.
Rock music is also used in this opening sequence
which connote rebellion which could hint to the
audience a theme in the film.

12. The use of dull colours and low key lighting builds
tension in amongst the audience which the gradual
building up of the sound track excites the audience.
The grey writing and black background established the
dark nature of the film whilst the sharp letters are
reminiscent of blades which connote danger.

13. In this opening sequence lots of things are done in
order to establish the genre and give hints of the plot
on of these things is the keyboard which gives the
audience that idea that the film is in a way about
technology however it has a black blood-like liquid
running down it which connotates death.

14. The scenes where things were setting on
fire would evoke feelings of fear and
terror into the audience, which is
conventionally what thriller films want the
audience to feel.

15. These shots show the last few seconds
of the opening sequence where a dark
figure appears to swallow you, the
music then fades out before the film
begins.

16. se7en
It starts with the company name and producers
name . They have also used an extreme close up
of a book which could get the audience to start
asking questions about what is going to happen
and what the relevance of this book is i.e. is the
protagonist an intellectual character who plans
out his every move.

17. The title of the film is shown in a white font
which is bold and stands out, the bold
writing could connotate danger, this is a
conventional theme in thriller films

18. The colour red connotates danger and death and
is used in the opening sequence create tension for
the audience. The fast pace cuts between the
scenes and the titles are used to add suspense to
the opening sequence.

19. The red in this scene signifies danger which suggest
to the audience that the antagonist is a murderer as
they are very dangerous. Also some of the writing is
red which could suggest that whatever the person
is writing is linked to the menacing plot.

20. There is a scratch high pitched sound that
repeats and sounds like a screech a little , this
sound is there to make the audience feel
uneasy and tense. The music that is used
throughout the opening is mainly used to
build tension using eerie music which builds
up in pace and volume throughout before
coming to a climax and fading out at the end.
These sort of soundtracks are conventional
to the genre due to the types of feelings the
evoke from an audience e.g. fear.