B- Our chosen genre and sub genre- Psychological thriller film opening examples.

Memento (Nolan, 2000)- Psychological thriller

The film-

Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line movies forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time. This is not just a thrilling film – it is a clever film that really does leave you guessing all the way through.
Here is a clip of the opening of the film...

The opening-

• Form- The form of the opening is linear but we start at disequilibrium, we are shown character exposition from the hand showing us the photograph, which we never see and the MS of the man taking the photographs face from a low angle therefore creating a sense of power from him. The opening is conventional to that of a thriller, this is reflected by the relevant use of iconography such as a photo, a bullet, blood and the glasses of the dead man. These all reinforce the genre creating an even bigger thrill to the audience. Here is a still shot of the photograph shot...

Analysis of techniques-

Sound-

• The sound used in the opening is mainly non diegetic music which is slow and almost jarring in order to get into the audiences head and build a sense of tension, therefore grabbing the audiences attention and being a successful film opening. We can then here the diegetic sound of the photo being flapped in order to be developed, this places the audience right in the action therefore bringing it to life.
  
• We then here more diegetic sounds which are turned up in order to be recognised by the audience. These sounds are the bullet rolling and the glasses from the dead man falling to the floor reinforcing the idea that the action is happening now.
  
• We then here the sweeping sound of the action we saw being reversed and the gun being fired again, this is a shock to the audience which then creates a thrill and grabs their attention.
  
• A voice over then starts which is teamed with the use of images reflecting what is being said in order to help the audience visualise the words and feel part of the film. The tone of voice is quiet and he talks slowly in order to create a sense of seriousness therefore following the stereotypical thriller opening.

Mise en scene-

• The set in the first shot looks like grass this connotes the idea that it could be anywhere and creates a stronger sense of thrill to the audience as they know they could be there.
• The color red in the picture connotes blood automatically giving the audience the impression something bad is going on and grabbing their attention.
• Mans costume is a simple brown coat and shirt giving the audience a sense of realism and positioning the audience within the action.
• The makeup used of the man has blood on his face, suggests to the audience that this is the antagonist and he is the first character they see.
• Prop of the camera reflect on the picture which suggested blood showing the audience that somethings going on and grabbing their attention.
  
• The bullet and the glasses reflect the idea of a murder scene which would be shocking to the audience therefore gives them a thrill. Here's a screen shot of the glasses...

• The Stock location of a dark room is used in order to connote the genre being a thriller, blood is on the walls and floor and the place looks dark and dirty. This suggests that something bad is going on and its not a nice place to be.

Camera/ editing-

• The first shot is a CU of the mans hand with the picture, this connotes the idea that the use of photographs may be a big part of the film and forces the audience to look at the picture.
• There is then a cut to the camera and a ped up of the man showing character exposition and showing a CU of his face in order to try and make the audience feel more vulnerable.
• The quick cuts used to show the blood on the floor, bullet and glasses are used to give the audience a feeling of not being in control and everything happening so fast therefore creating a thrill.
• The use of camera angles to show the power between the two characters also reinforces the idea of an antagonist and a protagonist, the antagonist is shown using low angles in order to give a sense of his power and the protagonist is shot from a high angle giving the impression of him being weak and vulnerable. Here is a still shot of the antagonist from a low angle...

Ideas for our opening-

I personally think that the idea of the action then a reverse to lead into the film works really well and is an effective opening to a film. The use of generic conventions to represent a thriller in this film opening have also given me some inspiration for our film opening, the iconography such as the picture and the glasses work really well to grab the audiences attention. I also like the idea of using character exposition to open the film as i fell it works well within the thriller genre and especially in the sub genre of psychological thriller. Here is a screen shot of the reverse in action that i think works really well...