Structures of Thriller Openings

                                 A narrative opening with the titles running throughout
                                               

The is  usually use of an eerie soundtrack in the opening to indicate that the film is a thriller, it is also often shot in immensly remote locations, for example, the shining is in a remote and secluded location but it also has a very large hotel in the middle of no where which straight away seems weird and unusual to viewers. The opening also take viewers straight into the movie, in The Shining, the camera is tracking the yellow car suggesting that there is obviously some significance to do with the people in it. The title sequence is often also apart of the mise en scene as it is running through the opening scene, this is seen in the the opening of the panic room as the titles were apart of the buildings, ideally there is no effects except titles.

                                                                   The Shining opening

                                                           The Panic Room opening

                                                           A Discrete Title Sequence 

Films which use discrete title sequences do not have narrative voiceovers, and often do not introduce key characters. Instead, they use music to reflect the film's mood and often includes fast paced editing. Discrete title sequences have the credit titles running over the beginning of the film, with images and action taking place in the background. They are usually themed as political espionage and have a ton of action and camera jump shots, this is seen in films like Enemy of the State and Arlington Road which also include Non-diegetic sound such as Gun shots, police radio and helicopters. All this is done to establish what kind of genre the film might be or what the film is about. Sometimes there is also no production company present in the opening. There is usually a manipulation of time (fast and slow), sometimes moving handheld cameras are used for effect and there could be overlapping images through opacity change.


                                                       Enemy of The State Opening

Titles over a blank screen followed by narrative opening

In this type of opening, credits are simply presented over a black screen, it includes a soundtrack and uses fonts to often convey the genre of the film. The contrast of colour, as in white writing over a black screen is very subtle but powerful because it stands out.