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Titling • A lot of thriller movies actually seem to forego the use of titles, with many choosing not to distract from getting straight into the action of the movie and waiting until later to show who made it. However, there are some, such as ‘Se7en’ on the left and ‘The Sixth Sense’ on the right, that choose to use titling in their openings for effect, albeit very different effects. • The titling in ‘Se7en’ was created by literally writing the names of people onto the pieces of film, thus creating the shaky and disorienting effect of them moving around and shaking as they do. This effect is unsettling and induces a fear in the viewer before the film has even properly begun. The font used creates the effect of someone having scrawled the names in a journal or diary, which links to the themes of the notebooks and note-taking that is present in the clips behind the text. The font highlights the idea that there is someone behind all of the things taking place on screen, a person with a certain style of handwriting, perhaps shown in this opening sequence. • Unlike ‘Se7en’, which specifically uses its titling and title sequence as a whole to induce a certain level of fear going into the film of what the audience is going to see, ‘The Sixth Sense’ chooses to place its titles on a plain black background. The font alludes to nothing, it is very plain and not very exciting, and the lack of anything going on in the background leaves the audience wondering exactly what they have come to see. And yet this seems to be exactly the point. While the audience watches these titles, they have no understanding of what will come next and therefore a mystery is created, as the audience has virtually no clue of what will happen. It provides an anticipation, especially when coupled with the music, that leaves the audience wanting more. The titling is front and centre, and there is nothing to distract the audience from the music, or the anticipation and expectation of what might possibly be heading their way after the credits have rolled.
Characterisation • There are several character conventions that we find in the thriller genre, from the unfortunate protagonist who gets dragged into all sorts of scrapes and dire situations, to the antagonists who are almost always one step ahead, seemingly in a position of inevitable victory over the protagonist. Sometimes thrillers conform to these conventions, like in ‘The Sixth Sense’ on the right, and sometimes they choose to subvert them entirely, like ‘Casino Royale’ on the left. • In ‘Casino Royale’, our expectations of what a thriller protagonist should be is turned on its head. Usually, for example, the protagonist would be a symbol for innocence in an otherwise corrupt and imperfect world, but in James Bond we have a character who has just as much blood on his hands. He is not an innocent, he is clearly a violent man, but one who fights for the side of justice (a convention this film does conform to). In addition, Bond is clearly the man with the power in every part of this scene. Even when the villain seemingly pulls a gun out on him, there is never any doubt that Bond is the one commanding the situation, he is the one with the power. This is shown through the dialogue, as well as the nonchalant body language used by bond during the scene. • ‘The Sixth Sense’ on the other hand seems to conform far more to the conventions of the genre, with the characters seemingly being innocents thrown into the confrontation with the murderer, and the protagonist being in an unusually weak position at the start of the movie. The characterisation of the protagonist is kept relatively simple, and we are left with what seems like a normal man, with a normal life, who is nothing special but is thrown into a confrontation with an enemy who’s characterisation is similarly limited in order to create a mystery around that character and what his motivations are and what his next move could potentially be. Of course by the end of the scene we know pretty much why he was there and why he did what he did, but we are left with our supposed protagonist shot, and the viewer is left with no idea of what could happen next, again creating an effective mystery surrounding the events and characters.
Sound • In the clips below, ‘Casino Royale’ on the left and ‘Se7en’ on the right, sound, especially music, is used to great effect in portraying the films tone and heightening the thrill we get from experiencing a scene. In thrillers it seems, music is paramount in showing the type of movie you want to make and to excite and keep the audience invested in a scene by using all their senses, combining sound and film to great effect. • In ‘Casino Royale’ music is used as well as speech, and while the speech is incredibly useful in the portrayal of the character of James Bond and making sure he is clearly a man who is in command of any situation and therefore subverting the conventions of the thriller genre, the music used is incredibly important in creating a real sense of excitement and thrill to the action sequences, as well as the more subtle battle of wits that takes place in Bond’s confrontation with the bent spy. The orchestral music makes sure to show that every punch in the fight is felt b y the audience, that every moment we are on the edge of our seat, waiting with bated breath to see what happens next. • The music in ‘Se7en’ is used to a similar effect in that it makes for a disorienting and frankly quite uncomfortable viewing experience. The music used is harsh and loud, and the high pitched scratches that are present on the track burn the ears and make the whole experience that little bit more unbearable. It is effective in its creation of a somewhat psychotic and other-worldly eeriness that, coupled with the imagery in the background, makes the viewer understand the kind of unsavoury characters we could potentially be dealing with in this film, especially in the last line ‘you get me closer to God’ which foreshadows both the themes of death and the motives of the killer, this being a film about a man who kills based on the seven deadly sins.
Mise-en-scene • The use of mise-en-scene is incredibly important for the thriller genre as a major feature of these films is to create a mystery for the audience to be engaged by. Mise-en-scene could be used in order to preserve the mystery, with few props and intelligent uses of lighting, or could be used to potentially provide clues as to what might be going on, and therefore is an important consideration for the makers of thriller movies. • The mise-en scene in ‘Open Grave’ is so important that pretty much the entire scene hangs on this element of the clip. The motivated lighting used is paramount to the preservation of the mystery and therefore the anticipation felt by the viewer as more of the scene is revealed by the flashes of lightning or the protagonist shining his lighter over a certain point. The lighting keeps the audience guessing and also creates a sense of fear of what might be discovered, which is helped by the addition of music and shot combinations that keep the scene very compact and intimate, making it very clear that the protagonist is alone in this place, and keeping the focus on the protagonist so as to withhold information about his situation, heightening the sense of mystery yet again. • In ‘Memento’ the sense of mystery is created in a slightly weird way. With the footage being played backwards the whole way through the opening, the audience have very little idea of what is going on, and with the mise-en-scene being so sparse, with very few props and seemingly general lighting and wardrobes, the viewer is left with little to no understanding of what has happened in this scene until it is finally played out in reverse. The use of the picture at the start of this opening is highly effective, as it opens up the mystery of what caused the scene we see within the photo, and why someone might have taken a photograph of such a violent and bloody scene, but then opens up even more mystery as we realise that the photograph is fading and we are seeing the events in reverse. There is so much left unknown by this sequence that the audience is left questioning what exactly they just saw, as it is so unconventional that it leaves us wanting answers.
