During lessons, we looked at a variety of different thriller openings in order to identify how they create suspense and think of ways we could include some of these elements in our film opening.
The Dark Knight
The film starts with an establishing shot, informing the audience that the action is taking place in a city in the daytime. As the camera zooms in closer, suddenly a window in an expensive building is shattered and there's a man in a clown mask with a gun; who is presumed to have shot it. This is done so that the audience are instantly feeling tension, this character is committing what looks to be a crime in the making in broad daylight, he doesn't have the shadow of the night to protect him from witnesses or cameras. As the scene continues, it's made clear that there's than one of these people and due to their similar dark clothing, which is a convention of the antagonist and their matching clown masks; it's clear they're working together. These first set of characters that the audience sees in the film is a group of clowns performing a heist, which adds the element of mystery, because the audience can't see their identities and we instantly know they are the antagonists and therefore are not supposed to be trusted. We hear the clowns talking about their boss 'The Joker' and it's clear from the way they focus on this character and talk about how they've heard of him, both groups of clowns, that he is the main antagonist of the film and therefore much more powerful than the rest of them; so powerful in fact it appears he's sitting the heist out - but still insists on getting a cut of the money. As they rob the bank, the non - diegetic music builds in the background insistently which creates suspense; as the audience are aware that something is going to happen and this heist won't be successful. In a way that's almost overlooked, one of the clowns kills his partner and continues on his own; the music picks up informing the audience this is not what should have happened. A bank teller decides to grab his own gun and protect the people in the bank by shooting at the thieves, with the non diegetic music almost screeching with string instruments being played; drawing attention to that fact that something major is going to happen. As he inevitably runs out of bullets, one of the clowns kills him as the music dies down, subconsciously ensuring the audience that nothing shocking will happen. It's then that the clowns reveal that the boss 'The Joker' told them that each member of the team's job had been fulfilled, that they were meant to kill each other. It eventually leaves two clowns and after pointing guns at each other, it's revealed that the last remaining clown was supposed to kill the bus driver. Just then, the bus driver smashes through the bank wall, killing the clown and leaving the last one standing - who happens to be The Joker.
Source Code
Source Code starts with the main character awaking in pain against a glass window, a tannoy plays in the background with the sound of bombs exploding in the distance. Suddenly, the sound of a passing train, jolts him from his seat; it's now clear that he is on a moving vehicle, a train. As he looks around in shock, a woman talks to him informing him that she took his advice and thanks him for it; he stares at her in confusion. Seemingly normal background noises such as people talking, beer cans opening, make the main character, Sean, jump and look around frantically. This creates suspense, because it's unusual to see people react in this way to normal daily life sounds; the audience so far also haven't been given been much information and are just has much confused as Sean. As the woman talks to Sean, he doesn't pay much attention instead taking in his surrounds, which is shown to the audience using short establishing shots and jump cuts. The conductor asks for his ticket and Sean jumps back violently as the woman he was talking to reaches for his jacket to get his ticket; however she doesn't seem fazed by this; this also builds the the suspense, surely she would have said something if Sean was acting strange, is this normal behaviour for him? So far, there has only been diegetic sound used, the background noises of conversation and the array of sounds trains make. This makes the audience feel at ease, so far there is nothing subconsciously to make them fear or become weary. As the woman asks Sean if he's okay, the camera cross cuts to a variety of different people complaining about the delay and if they'll make it up in time - this is a new piece of information for the audience, but not quite beneficial as it doesn't tell them much. It's then as suddenly the non diegetic music begins that Seans leans forward and tells the woman that he doesn't know who she is and that she has been calling him by the wrong name. She laughs this off and he staggers to get off the train as he notices more 'normal' things happening on the train, the non diegetic music builds. As he stands by the doors of the train, he asks another passenger where he is to which the passenger replies 'Chicago', this adds to the suspense, because the audience are now aware that not everything is as normal as it might seem. There is another quick establishing shot to show the train at the station and another to show it moving off as if to force the idea that this is normal and nothing is out of the ordinary. Sean returns to his seat, and the camera cross cuttings to a birds eye view of the train moving off towards Chicago where the non diegetic sound builds louder this time using string instruments. As Sean looks out the window, brief flickers of what seems to be his own reflection confuses him and makes him look away. He asks the woman if she saw that and when she replies that he is make her feel uneasy, he quickly leaps out of his seat and to the bathroom. He looks in the mirror and is shocked to see a completely different face staring at him, as he looks through his pockets he finds ID confirming that he is Sean Fentress, a teacher; however this is not what he looks like to the audience. This is very climactic, because not only is the main character confused but so is the audience and they have been given hardly any information about what is going on or what is going to happen. The non diegetic sound increases as the main character looks once again in the mirror, seeing a face that isn't his before opening the door and finding the woman outside. He jumps as she asks him if he's okay and he repeats that he doesn't know who she is or who Sean is. The camera cross cuts to the train passing another, causing the passengers inside to jolt to the side, before cross cutting again to show the train approaching the heart of Chicago; meanwhile the non diegetic music is getting more and more intense. As the woman tries to calm him down, without much success, trains keep passing each other causing them to shake in the carriage. She says they'll get off at the next station and talk things through, promising him that 'everything will be okay'. Just as she finishes that sentence, the train they're in explodes. This creates suspense, because of the shock factor, the audience didn't see it coming and therefore they want to know what will happen next. In our film opening, we will keep to the convention of keeping the antagonists identity a secret seen in The Dark Knight as this will build suspense for the audience, as they don't know what they're fearing. We will also try to include a plot twist or an element of shock at the end as this will keep the audience enticed and wanting to see what happens next.
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