Looking at Action/Thriller openings

       Taken 

The first shots we see are from an old video recording, this makes the opening personal because, it’s from a character past, so the order of narrative is starting in the past, but also it makes the start relatable because our parents did this for us when we were little. The titles are very subtle, this suggest that the directors didn't want your attention to be taken away from what it going on. Their transitions are fading in and out which creates a creepy effect because, they are almost ghost like. The music is non-diegetic but is contrapuntal because the footage of the little girl’s birthday is happy but the music makes it sad which gives the audience the effect that something bad has happened to the people in the footage in the present, that’s why the character is remembering it. Also the sound effects put into the music makes this scene seem like a flash back because the voices are distant. When the character wakes up the lighting in the is dark. When the title of the film comes up, it comes up next to a picture of a girl on a horse, this creates an enigma because we want to know why that picture of that girl is so important, however it could be taken as a clue that then girl will be “taken”. The pace in this opening is quite slow compared to other action/thriller films I have seen, but it doesn’t make you lose interest. This film opening was successful because we as an audience was hooked to what was going on, because you wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.

  In our film opening we would like to use the subtle titles because we want out audience fully engaged with what they are watching instead of their attention being focused on who’s in the film. 

The Dark Knight

In this film opening they have changed to colour of the Warner bros. Logo normally it’s a bright blue sky behind it but in this it’s dark and mysterious. Before the movie has even started the audience are already getting a feel to the film.  This opening doesn’t have any titles in it, this suggest that the makers wanted the audience’s attention to be focused fully on what was happening because it’s the most intriguing part. Also in the first few seconds of the opening it shows the audience where it will be taken, in this case the city. By showing the audience that it will be shot in the city makes it an action because people always relate the city to be exciting because something will always happen, if it was set in   a village people wouldn’t think that exciting and thrilling things will happen there. The costumes used in this film were very dark all the main characters involved were wearing black to show they were bad. Also they were all wearing masks which gave the sense of enigma because we wanted to know who they were. We think that this makes the audience more into the opening because it intrigues them. All the actors are men which show that something violent will happen because normally girls aren’t used when there are big fight scenes or action parts of a film.  The props used in the opening are guns which always suggest violence and harm which can always be linked to and action/thriller film.  I would like to use the location of the film because it will make our film more realistic and suitable for our genre, but the problem is that we will not be able to do it. This film opening was successful because even before it started the audience could guess that it was going to be. But also because of the masks and how they were robbing, it doesn’t make it a normal bank robbery which makes it interesting. 

  The matrix

In this film opening they have changed to colour of the Warner bros. Logo normally it’s a bright blue sky behind it but in this it’s dark and mysterious. Before the movie has even started the audience are already getting a feel to the film.  Again this film didn’t have any titles in at the start, which again could mean that the makers wanted our full attention on what was happening. The first time I watched the opening I was glued to the screen that I didn’t even notice that there weren’t any titles which could suggest that it could be points for the makers to put them in when the audience wasn’t going to notice them anyway. The sound behind the dialogue was non-diegetic and this built suspense which made the audience fully intrigued with the opening.  Before there was any action going on screen the short dialogue before it with the computer screen, foley was used to enhance the typing/computer sounds. Also the dialogue that was in that part portrayed to the audience that it would be a action because what they were saying were quite violent “we’re going to kill him” The costume though out the opening  all the actors were wearing black, to make them look mysterious. The police were wearing their uniform to show who they are, but it also makes the audience this that if the police were called it shows that this is an important case. The main prop that was used in the opening was a gun, this tells the audience that this will be an action film because there will be violence happening within the movie. The lighting in this was very dark and the only way what was happening was though the characters torches this helped give the audience a sense of what kind of movie this will be which is action. All the actors apart from one were men which could show that this is a male dominated opening, this is typical in an action thriller because the women are normally the ones that will need saving. The makeup used on the women was dark around the eyes makes her look quite evil, but also she had her hair slicked back could show her character type, which will be mean. The main camera shots were close ups, this is so you can see the characters facial expressions and how they are reacting to certain situations but also it builds tension in the scene.  The set was in abandoned apartments this made the situation scarier because you didn’t know what to expect.  The enigma created was who the men in the dark glasses and what was the woman were doing in the abandoned flats. The transitions between each shot were quick so the audience wasn’t distracted from the action. Lastly the pace of the opening was fast because there was so much going on. This opening was successful because it hooked the audience in and even before the movie starts you can tell it is going to be an action.

  Jack Reacher

Out of all the films that I have studied this is only the second film to have titles. For this film the titles are very subtle, however the title of the film is not obvious because it’s the same size and font as the titles of the actors, this could be used for not taking your attention away from what is happening. The lighting in the opening is dark because here we meet the antagonist. The main camera shots are extreme close ups and establishing shots, these two totally juxtaposed each other because the extreme close up was fast pace and tension would build but that would all go when the establishing shots were on because they were calm and slower pace than the other one. The main sound was non-diegetic because they built up tension plus there was no dialogue going on at this point and without the music it wouldn’t be as exciting. However the music just stops at a point in the opening and all you can hear is the antagonist breathing this is a foley sound because it was enhanced to make it louder which added more effect because the audience felt nervous because they weren’t quite sure to what was going to happen next. The enigma though out was who was this man and why is he shooting at random people.  The prop used in the opening was a gun, from looking at all the film openings they have all had a gun as a prop, this suggest that the gun as a prop is widely known as a genre signifier to tell the audience that they are watching an action film.  The pace of the film goes from slow to fast, which was successful because it’s quite a long opening which means that people might lose interest so by changing the pace they are keeping the audience’s attention.  Overall the opening was successful because even though it was a slow start it still kept the audience’s attention, which would be  hard to do.   

Action/thriller signifiers

Colours- dark colours like black and navy blue

Costume- Dark clothes, maybe a long trench coat, leather seems to be popular

Character types- Always have the antagonist and protagonist

Props- Guns and anything violent/ harmful

Settings- City

Music- That will create tension/suspense

Sound effects- Gun shots and car/plane/train noises

Plot lines- The antagonist does something harmful to the city/someone e.g. wanting to destroy it while the protagonist has to stop him and save everyone.