The setting is revealed by the helicopter flying over and showing just the ocean, and then it shows the land where the two main characters are. At first the characters are shown as little figures, almost looking at ants, and then it slowly zooms into them walking away from a taxi.
The costumes and props used are very representative of troublesome youths who are misunderstood. The main girl has red highlights in her hair to show that she is very rebellious and that she likes to look different from the average teenager. The taxi ID is also used as an extreme close up in the opening sequence and it shows that they were in a taxi, and can be used as a clue. The blood on the chest of the woman looks fresh, and the blooded man is twitching and covered in blood therefore giving you a time frame of when the man was injured. Also because the girl is covered in blood, which obviously isn't her own it shows that she is a dangerous, rebellious teenager. The viewers immediately think that she is the one who has tried to kill this taxi driver. By wearing dark, Gothic looking clothes and being covered in blood she looks suspicious and threatening. The audience know that she is a bad character but they also begin to ask whether she killed him in self defence, why there are in the middle of nowhere covered in blood and why did they just leave the man on his own in his car? Also the taxi metre is also covered in blood, this shows that it was a brutal killing and not an accident, it portrays the two girls as unforgiving, cruel and malicious. In the car there is a key which has a picture of the mans son on it, so it makes the viewers feel sorry and feel empathy for the poor man because he had a family.
There is lots and lots of interesting camera work used in this opening sequence as it is very modern. Firstly there is an establishing shot of the whole setting so that the viewers are subtly introduced into where the opening sequence is set. Then it cuts to an over the shoulder shot behind the two girls walking away from the cab, because of the way the shot is angled you cannot see that the girl is covered in blood, you can only see that she is walking away, but the hyperbolic sound of footprints makes the girls seem like they are walking away frantically from something. They are not saying anything as they walk which also means that they could be in the wrong and makes them suspicious because they are leaving a dead man in a car, and don't even seem bothered. There is then a shot taken from inside the car which shows the two girls walking away from a blood spattered car with a dead man in, because you can actually see the girls walking away carelessly it shows that they are something to do with the murder. There are lots of extreme close ups used in the opening as to not give to much away by showing you the whole picture. There is an extreme close up of the mans hand flinching which either shows the last of his life has gone, or that there is still hope left and that hes been left for dead but is not dead yet. Then there is also an extreme close up of the side of the mans face showing the brutal, gruesome injuries that he has. The rule of thirds is also used when each girl is either side of the car walking away, and the car is in the middle and it makes and interesting frame to look at. Then there is a last extreme close up of the taller girls face and she looks unforgiving and doesn't look like she feels guilty for what shes done. Because she is the only one in focus and the girl behind her isn't, it makes her look like she has more authority over the other girl and is possibly more important than her.
The titles and font style are quite good for setting the thriller feel, after the first opening sequence has happened, after the woman drop s a knife, a black knife looking object falls across a yellow screen. By using the yellow and black that is a signature of danger and caution. By using these colours the viewer then feels that the caution and danger is going to be integrated into the film.
The story is set up well, not everything is given away at once. The girls just look like they are walking away from a taxi, but then you get a close up of the dead man. This shows controversy and also that the man was in danger from the girls. Because the two girls are walking in a desolate area that looks like the middle of nowhere, which suggest that the girls had planned to kill the taxi driver and that it wasn't by an accident. Then at the end of the clip it shows the girl drop the blooded knife, which confirms the audiences suspicions that the girl did kill him. The it goes straight to the credits which leave the audience asking questions. Questions such as why did they kill him? are they going to get caught? is the man still alive?.
The genre is set well in this opening sequence because the plain water and plain hills and grass show a desolate lonely area/setting. This is a key convention of a thriller film, the idea of feeling lonely and desolate. There is one girl who is clearly of higher importance than the other girl which shows that something bad is going to happen, and that possibly the less important of the two girls is vulnerable. There are weapons in this clip as well, which entails confrontation, and that someone is going to get injured by the weapon. It also is part of a thriller movie, the idea of danger.
The two girls are introduced first, but much like most thriller movies and sticking to the conventions of a thriller, their faces are hidden and we only see the back of them for a short while. This is key to a thriller movie because it leaves the audience wanting to see more. When you see the faces of the girls they immediately look rebellious and look like they are trouble, your typical troublesome youth, also because they are in an empty area they look more suspicious because they can get away with anything as there is no one around to see. When the mans face is revealed it is clear that he was brutally attacked by the two girls and because the girls are covered in blood they also look dangerous.
By having one of the women in focus and the other out of focus it creates this effect on the viewer that one of the girls is more important in the film. This is very effective because without saying anything they have represented one of the girls as having more power over the other.
No comments:
Post a Comment