Inspiration: Past Thriller Projects

Under the Gun



I think that the Mise-en-Scene and Cinematography in this opening sequence is particularly good. The colour in it appears as if it used to be so vibrant and saturated, and it's not that now it's cold with blue/grey tones, it's just that it's faded and become so much less passionate. The lighting also creates suspicion from the audience, the shadows and dark corners seem very sinister, connoting something very illegal/underground etc. The Mise-en-Scene as a whole creates the sense of past glamour/the darker side of glamour - the glamour connoted by the suit, cards, crystal glasses, but it's all dragged down by the grimey ashtrays and tiny box room. The cinematography is full of tight frames, the use of CUs and MCUs and low angles shows the panic of the male character and the disgust and passion/feistiness of the female. It also shows how to-close-for-comfort the tiny room is, and how intimidating the male lead is.

Exposure



I think the continuity in this opening sequence is by far the best because it follows all of the rules.
It has lots of brilliant matches on action - for example when he bursts through his bedroom door
It had dissolve transitions to slow the pace down and to heighten emotion
It also has a fade to black at the end of the clip which conventional symbolises the passing of time, so possibly the opening sequence is in a separate time frame to the next part of the film.
It increases realism with loud diegetic sounds like the running water, keys rattling etc
The pace is fast at the beginning which a little unconventional but it balances this out by slowing it down after a minute or so.