A thriller is a film genre that gives a tense performance, leaving the audience on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens next. I have picked Drive, The Shining and The Da Vinci Code to review for my three thrillers.
Drive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG8dp6UsluE
The first scene opens with Ryan Gosling playing as mysterious but innocent looking man. There is a clear indication that his character is highly skilled at his job due to a good use of props, dark setting and the serious tone on the phone. The job is kept from the audience, however from the serious tone, strict rules, setting and a tense, repetitive music beat in the background we suspect that his job is not legal.
One of the well known quotes, for those who have seen the film is immediately cast into the first scene:
"If I drive for you, you give me a time and a place. I give you a
five-minute window, anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours
no matter what. I don't sit in while you're running it down; I don't
carry a gun... I drive. "
This quote gives an immediate suspicion towards the character, leaving us on the edge of our seats wondering what is going to follow.
The scene gives an amazing, mysterious beginning to the story, introducing the main character as a serious, handsome, secretive and slightly weird driver. The scene finished with the phone being left behind to avoid being tracked, and the camera fixed on the dark city also leaving the audience wondering where the character is going.
The choice of actor, Ryan Gosling, would attract a lot of views after his previous "romance" films, however fans should be ready for a completely different style of acting as he plays a cold, twisted and mysterious man in this film.
The opening scene overall, leaves the audience thrilled and striving to carry on watching as they are left gasping for more from the mystery man.
The Shining:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgCejsyS0t8
The scene opens in an obvious distant setting, a place that you wouldn't find many people, near the mountain sides. To many eyes the scenery by of the huge river by the mountain side would give an immediate judgment of a nice holiday. However, the director, Stanley Kubrick, plays dark and thrilling background music, forcing the audience to automatically predict a bad ending.
The camera angles in this scene are amazing, from long shot to show the dark scenery ahead, to birds eye view to follow the car indicating that the driver is a key character to the film.
The key feature that makes this opening scene very thrilling is the music played, a beautiful scenery in the distance and yet it is made dark and gloomy by the screeching, strange music. If you set the opening scene on mute and played a cheerful song; you would assume the movie is a family or Rom-com going on holiday, however the dark music played warns the audience of the thrills about to come... Jack Nicholson.
The scene ends with a massive, dull and grey hotel, the music becoming more tense as the audience looks upon the setting of the film. The screeching of the woman in the music becomes louder as the scene comes to an end, closing in on the hotel.
The hotel is a perfect stereotype for a thriller, the building is massive, gloomy, grey, old fashioned and in the middle of nowhere.
Overall, the setting and music give the audience a huge thrill, leaving them wanting to know more and carry on watching the film.
The Da Vinci Code
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkTRcdmiYJQ
The scene opens in a large and dark art museum, (The Louvre) with an elderly man being chased by a mysterious hooded figure carrying a gun. The elderly man is the grandmaster of the priory of Sion (an order you will discover throughout the film), and the hooded figure who belongs to the Opieous Dai (another religious order you'll discover throughout the film).
Ron Howard sets the opening scene in a dark and gloomy museum, this gives a full thrilling effect towards the chase sequence in the film. The grandmaster also gives a frightful act of suspense as he is running for his life, breathing heavily, panicking etc... also giving the full thriller effect to keep the audience interested.
The scene ends with the grandmaster being shot, gasping for life as the hooded figure ironically escapes the museum. The grandmaster was supposed to meet up with the symbologist and main character Dr Robert Langden who is played by the all famous Tom Hanks. Therefor the grandmaster, struggling to walk, starts to leave clues and trails of blood so Robert Langden could discover his death.
Overall Ron Howard sets up a brilliant thriller story, with a dark and detective style of an opening scene, ending the scene at a short cliff hanger with Robert Langden's speech.
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