The first thriller opening we watched was Silence of the Lambs, where we first see a woman called Clarice running through a wooded area. There is creepy music in the background which makes the audience think that Clarice is running away from something and as the camera stays on her actions, there is a high angle shot which makes her look harmless and innocent, therefore the audience see her as the protagonist. The music gets faster which builds up tension, however we then see an assault course which suggests that she is stronger than we think. There is then a deep, confident man's voice and it sounds as if he is saying 'darling' this completely changes the audience's perception of what is happening and as the man turns around we see a bold, formal, military font on his black hat, in white letters the initials FBI which helps the audience to understand what is going on.
In the next scene there is a long shot of a building which looks like an academy for police officers. Clarice is walking through the building at quite a quick pace and there is a diagetic sound of people working around her. As she gets in the lift we notice that she is the only woman, wearing grey and the men surrounding her are all very tall and wearing red which shows that she is different to the rest of them and the audience focus on her. It then cuts to Clarice walking through the corridors and tracks her while she is on her way to a man's office. On the way she stops at another office where there are two men in suits talking to each other, they talk to Clarice as if she is a young girl, in a patronising way suggesting that the men are more powerful than women. When Clarice gets to the main office we see a reaction shot of her face, looking very innocent when she sees the photos of the victims, the music is back and it is creepier than before.
The second thriller opening we watched was The Usual Suspect, this also started with creepy music. The credits fade over the top of what looks like water and as time goes on the music begins to get less tense as the instruments used sound more light hearted, like the piano. There is then a cut to a close up of a match being lit which creates confusion in the audience. The lit match lights up the area so we can see what is around and the man who lit it looks as if he could be the antagonist in this film. Upstairs we see a man however it is just his sillouhette and then it starts to rain heavily. Then we see someones hands and the other man's face with a low husky voice, this makes the audience believe that he is the antagonist and the other man now becomes the protagonist. Then there is a gunshot, however we do not see anything, the cigarette in the victims hand drops to the floor and the focus on the fire caused by the cigarette, the music is back also. After watching the opening, the audience is left in the dark as to what is happening as nothing is revealed and a lot of confusion is created.
The second thriller opening we watched was The Usual Suspect, this also started with creepy music. The credits fade over the top of what looks like water and as time goes on the music begins to get less tense as the instruments used sound more light hearted, like the piano. There is then a cut to a close up of a match being lit which creates confusion in the audience. The lit match lights up the area so we can see what is around and the man who lit it looks as if he could be the antagonist in this film. Upstairs we see a man however it is just his sillouhette and then it starts to rain heavily. Then we see someones hands and the other man's face with a low husky voice, this makes the audience believe that he is the antagonist and the other man now becomes the protagonist. Then there is a gunshot, however we do not see anything, the cigarette in the victims hand drops to the floor and the focus on the fire caused by the cigarette, the music is back also. After watching the opening, the audience is left in the dark as to what is happening as nothing is revealed and a lot of confusion is created.
