Analysis of thriller openings

Shutter Island

 At the very beginning of shutter island it begins with the title sequence, it states the company that produced the movie 'Paramount Pictues' and then goes on to state the movie title 'Shutter island'. At this point there is slow chilling music. It then cuts to the first scene where there is static mist from which we slowly see a large boat emerge. Next is the introduction of the protaganist, when we first meet Teddy (Leonardo DiCaprio) we see him throwing up in the toilet. It uses close up shots of his face to express his sickness. We then meet the next character on the boat, he goes to the front of the boat where we get a two shot of the two character together. They are both wearing similar clothing, large beige coats and hats etc. From this uniform we can tell that the film is defintly set in the past and also they are wearing uniform so they have some kind of link. Then next they engage in convesation he asks him 'how long have you been with the marshalls', so we know that they are both U.S Marshalls. The next significance of the opening is the flashback, we see a flashback of Teddys past in which he had a wife, the flashback expresses his hapiness before his wife died. From this we can digest a lot about the character for instance he has had a shadey past. We again here the chilling music during the flashback and then it stops once it cuts back to them on the boat. The next shot is the introduction to 'Shutter Island', there is a establishing shot of the whole island from the boat. From this eastablishing shot we can see the shear size of the island. Also the general colors and weather give the island a very spooky touch. Also at the time when the island is shown the music return but much heavier and deeper to signify the islands magnitude.


 The Departed
At the start of the film like Shutter Island it begins by listed the companies involved in the making of the movie. It then goes to the first scene, it states 'Boston, some years ago' telling us where and that it is in the past. The first shots we see are of actual historical events that have taken place in Boston, they all have a focus on violence and racism. Also as this point we begin to hear the voice over of Jack Nicholson and the beginning of the song 'Rolling Stones-Gimme Shelter'. As the voice over continues in then cuts to the Jack Nicholson character standing in a garage smoking, there is a track shot of him moving through the garage and also you can only see his silliouette at this point adding mystery to the character. The camera then cuts to the next scene a cafe, it starts off as a pov shot of him walking into the cafe and as he goes in it changes to an over the shoulder shot, also the music climaxes apon his entry to the cafe. Whilst he is in the cafe he is handed some cash there is a close up shot of the money. From this scene we can guess that he is some kind of 'gansta' if he is being handed money for no reason he must be involed in some kind of crime. During the cafe scene Jack Nicholson also meets a boy, he gives the boy some food and comics. The significance of this is that it is showing to sides to the character because he also believes in helping others, the music changes as he begins to help to a more slow song and then returns to original song as the boy leaves.

Using what i have found out from these thriller openings i have come up with a list of what is usually shown in thriller openings. This checklist can then be used as a tool when making our production to see if we have the same things in our opening.

• Opening credits, name of the production and distributing companies invloved.
• Suspense and tension can be built.
• Main character will usually be introduced right away and we will learn a bit about them.
• A theme song can be used at the beginning or a song that sets the scene.
• A narrator can be used at the beginning to set the plot etc.
• The actors names can be stated throughout the opening.
• Set the scene, establishing shots or it can state it (eg. Boston, Some years ago)
• The film title can also be stated.