Thriller title sequence

Out of the six possible opening sequences my favourite would have to be “Seven” because all factors such as mise en scene, music/sound, lighting, camera angles and editing that contribute to it are very good.

To begin with we are shown a lot of disturbing images in the mise en scene. In the sequence we see images of a man crossing out words in the bible which reveals to us that he believe that he is God. This makes audiences scared of what is going to happen in the film as this character is clearly deranged. Further on in the sequence we see the character taping nails together and then a case file with an image of how a person died which ironically is with nails in the head. This makes audiences realise that this character probably killed this person which makes us fear for any other characters that will be in this scene. As the opening sequence progresses we see more strange images such as when who we assume to be the same character is threading a needle and then sewing something to a body which has a message on it. This once again is disturbing and reveals that this character is just mental and will go to any lengths to get what he wants done, done.

Throughout the opening sequence audiences have to hear strange disturbing music which creates tension as it’s a fast paced non-diegetic electro sound with music distortion. The electro sound is strange for a thriller film which makes it seem like the film is going to be very scary and that the main character is most likely to be a bit psychotic if not then definitely insane. The music distortion in between makes it seem like the character is killing someone as then a case file is shown after and therefore we are scared of this character.

The lighting in this opening sequence is low key which means that there is a high contrast and this makes us as the audience focus upon different objects or other items shown which then makes us scared as these objects are strange and portray death.
The camera angles also add to this sequence to create tension and fear as most of the shots are close ups on the strange objects that the main character is killing people with or medium shots of the character making something that is strange i.e. the nails on the tape this makes more tension as we almost see him but we don’t.

Finally, the editing makes thriller opening good as the cuts are quick but the actions in the shot are slow. The quick cuts create pace and tension, which makes audiences scared as the character, is clearly very confident as they do their work slowly and carefully with precision and therefore raises the question “will he be caught?”

Overall all of these factors in one way create tension and fear which I like because it keeps you in suspense and every thriller should have this. However this opening also portrays a strange character that just kills in cold blood and I love a thriller movie to have a character that is positively mental because it’s more interesting and more psychological and this is why this opening was the best.