Thriller Film Openings Holly Spitler

Gone girl -Begins with a close up of the actress’ face. -Then does many different establishing shots of different scenery. -Colors remain very dull. -Non- diegetic sounds include birds chirping, water flowing and wind. -Panorama of man standing in front of house as he talks about his wife. -Music is very deep and quiet.

Psycho -Begins with very fast common horror movie music. -Black and White. -Begins with an establishing shot of Phoenix Arizona. -Music stops and goes to an intimate couple discussing a plan to meet. -A different much calmer diegetic sound begins.

Serenity -Begins with establishing shot of the solar system. -Colors go from dark (space) to bright (class) then to very blue when a girl’s brain is being observed by several men. -Music is very calm until climax of man trying to rescue girl. -Angles vary normally staying mid to long shot. -Non-diegetic sounds include struggle of men, glass breaking and use of scientific technology.

Conclusion All three of the thriller films’ openings that I observed focused on very dark/dull colors. All three also included an establishing shot seeming to gain suspense of what would occur there. In both ‘Psycho’ and ‘Serenity,’ the music changed, either going from calm to intense or intense to calm. While, in ‘Gone girl’ the music remained the same throughout the opening scene. Also, ‘Psycho’ only consisted of discussion among two characters for a little and no form of talking in the first few minutes. While, ‘Serenity’ and ‘Gone Girl’ both had much talking in order to begin to describe the plot.