Opening of a thriller

A thriller consists of two sets of people going against each other in a dramatic fight to see who will win. This story has a plot which is used to create tension throughout the story this is done through making the story have an intense climax this creates the tension. Conventions of a thriller are having low key lightning, quick cuts, shadowing and music which build tension. Some examples of thrillers that have recently been released are legend, hunger games, fast and furious and gone girl.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRqxHOCvnpo)

I have chosen to analyse the opening scene from the film series fast and furious these films are based on car racing and the concept to this being a dangerous industry. The film opening I am focusing on is from fast and furious 7  this clip uses many different techniques to build up the tension for the film and to show the film to be a thriller early on in the scene. One of the main ways in which the opening adds tension is though camera shots; the first camera shot which shows the tension is the close up at the beginning of the scene showing only the male characters face this shot is used to show the emotion of the character and it is also used to guard the rest of the scene which is shortly revealed once the shot is zoomed out. The close up shot shows the male character looking worried which adds suspense to the clip as it makes the audience wonder what is happening behind in this clip; also stereotypically males are not shown to have many emotions so by showing a male character with worry on his face adds to the tension as it will make the audience consider what is making the character worried. Another shot which shows tension and adds suspense is a long shot which shows the male character walking through a destroyed hospital with many dead bodies and worried nurses and doctors around him; this shot is used to show a great deal of distraught which  is made to look like it is  being caused by the charterer who is walking through the hospital ; .this shot also shows the film going stereotypically against the social roles of society as doctors are normally seen as important and respected members of the public which have a lot of power however in this scene the doctors ae shown as being weak without any power over the situation due to the male character who is shown to have all the power over the situation  this helps to show the danger which the character carries with him this creates tension as the audience don’t know what the character is going to do next and they may become scared of this character; all these shots are effective as they create and give off different ideas to the audience they also help to show different stereotypes and the film going against these which can also create tension.

  Another way in which the opening shows tension is the sound which is used; one scene which uses sound effectively is the scene which the male character is walking out of the hospital in this scene uses music in the background has a fast speed and a steady pace which creates tension as it is very similar to a fast heartbeat and this would sound would only be present in a dangerous situation as it a heartbeat stays steady in most situations; this music is very effective in creating tension and suspense. Some other sound which is effective to create tension is the bangs and crashes which are happening throughout the background while he is walking out of the building helps to show the damage which he has caused throughout the scene.

  The mise en scene is also effective to creating a tense scene because it allows the audience to see some background from the characters for example when the male character is first shown in the opening scene he is shown to be wearing a suit which can show power over the other characters and shows that he may be of a higher class than of the other characters as they are dressed in workers clothing which could show them of a lower class; this will all cause tension as it will show the audience that the male character has power and can harm or injure the other characters. Something else which causes tension is when the male character puts on his sunglasses as he is leaving the building this shows how he is trying to guard his identity from the other public members this creates tension as it will make the audience question why he needs to hide his identity and who he needs to hide it from.     

Another way in which tension is added is through the editing which is used the first shot shown is a shot of London this then fades out slowly  to show the back of a male figure looking out the window at the shot of London the way that this shot fades out to show the back of the males character is very effective as it doesn’t show the male figure straight away; this adds suspension as it makes the audience ask questions very early on these questions are things such as where are they in London and why are they here? When an opening makes the audience ask themselves questions very early on it is very effective as thrillers don’t give all the information early on it is realised slowly throughout the film; and the editing which was used was effective to doing this as it didn’t give a lot of information away. During my 2 minute opening I would like to consider opening with a shot like this as it shows the setting very early on without giving to much information away about what is going on in the film and is very effective to adding suspension to the film.