What do directors seek to establish in the opening of thrillers? (not finished)

During the opening of any movie, (no matter the: genre, style, type) every opening has to be interesting. It has to catch the viewers eye and make them went to find out what the character is about, or intrigued by what may happen with the couple etc. This is achieved in many different ways, however, focusing on the genre of thrillers? We see a rather different approach from say a romantic comedy. As thrillers are known for their exciting plots, complex story lines and in some cases exhilarating scenes, the opening of the movie is crucial in order to keep the viewers interested so that they can see the thrill unravel as the movie progresses. 

In the diagram below we see a colour code of how different thrillers establish different aspects for the opening of their movie, these aspects are: Establish the character, establish the themes, establish the location, establish the tone/mood, establish the plot and establish the genre. By using whichever one of these for the opening of the movie it also sets the theme for the rest of the movie.

On the right side we have a list of thrillers that I have mapped out against the diagram. As an example, the film I am going to use is China Town. This is represented with the orange line against the diagram. As we can see, being established within the opening of this movie more so than anything else is genre and plot. Then what seems equally matched we see tone/mood and location next on the scale and last but not least character and then theme. These are solely my opinion however from the outset of the movie we get a strong feel for the noir genre due to the different aspects being shown and already in the first few minutes we are introduced to an investigation opening the plot to the viewers. 

In comparison to China Town we have The Third Man. Now, where China Town lacks, The Third Man seems to gain. For, rather than establishing genre and plot it focuses more on theme and location and tone/mood. In some ways this is more effective in the means that in the opening we are introduced to an enigma about the movie as a whole. As we are given a snippet of what the movie will contain, however willing us to watch on as we want to figure out what the plot may/may not be. 

Example from a movie

The example that I am going to be using is that of Se7en. The director of this movie is called David Fincher and within this opening he plays close attention to introducing the characters and identifying their roles within the movie. As we can see in the graph above, Se7en is represented with the coloured line of biro blue. From a completely personal point of view, I have chosen to analytically put the three very highest as: establish the character, tone/mood and location. Leaving the lowest two as: establishing genre and plot.

The reasons for choosing the scale in which what was established are these. For a first, within the first few minutes of the film we are introduced to the main character, Detective Summerset (Morgan Freeman). We are introduced to a very lonely character, living alone in a simple apartment however in his line of work constantly being faced with danger. The phrase 'being surrounded by a group of people, yet feeling like you have no one' comes to mind. Everything about the way this character is presented is: controlled, precise, ordered, smart. This can be taken from the location in which he's shown, for everything in his house is perfectly in place, no mess. This is a very stereotypical view of any investigator however we are given the sense it's some what pushed further with this detective. In contrast to this old, stereotypical quite dated character near the end of the opening we are also introduced to quite a modern character. Dressed in quite a casual suit and with youth on his side, we are shown the up to date version of what investigators look and act like. By the way the young character interacts with Detective Sommerset we can only assume that he will play a big part in the movie.

In reference to the tone/mood of the opening already we can see a very serious side to the movie. From the tone of the characters voices, the way in which they act around each other and the situations they are faced with. From the very start where we see the seriousness of the murder case, with a dead, bloody body laying on the floor, quite a brutal tone is being set for the rest of the movie. With long, lingering shots we are left for seconds to really take in what is going on in the scene. This enables the shots to be more dramatic and really stick in our minds as to what is happening. In a scene where Detective Sommerset is sitting on his bed in the dark, he sets off a ticking counter to fall asleep to. We are then welcomed to a slow zoom, slowly focusing onto his face to end with a close up. This is portraying the mood as very miserable, lonely and making us feel very empathetic about his life.


Another Movie Example
Another movie I am going to use as an example is a thriller, with the sub genre of psychological. The movie I am referring to is 'The Cube' not a very recent film, made in 1997 however it holds a most intriguing opening. The rough guideline to what the movie is about is:

'Six Strangers awaken from their daily lives to find themselves trapped in a surreal prison - a seemingly endless maze of interlocking cubical chambers armed with lethal booby traps. None of these people knows why or how they were imprisoned... But it soon emerges that each of them has a skill that could contribute to their escape. Who created this diabolical maze, and why? There are unanswered questions on every side, whilst personality conflicts and struggles for power emerge as the tension rises. But one thing is crystal clear: unless they can learn to co-operate to work out the secrets of this deadly trap, none of them has very
 long to live.'

Below, we have the first 4 minutes of the film in which we are then taken to the title. The first thing we see is the eye of someone. An extreme close up to show the rather important action of someone waking up and seeming very disorientated. Already, we can see that whoever this person is isn't use to where they're being, setting a location and identifying the character. Just like se7en we are introduced to our first character straight away, although this one doesn't  last as long as Morgan Freeman. We see him laying down, very disorientated in unnatural surroundings and dressed in plain grey. From this we can sense that he may be some sort of convict? Or that he's been drugged and left in this place. As the story progresses my first thought of a convict is soon proven wrong.

The brightness of the location and the surrealism that shines through is one to make us think. It doesn't offer much for the sub genre neither does it tell us much about the theme or plot. However as the character starts to walk around and look into these hatches that seem to be doors, we are led into identical rooms as this however different colours. This is giving us a sense that it's some sort of maze with identical rooms surrounding each other. In the last room, we are welcomed to his untimely death, and in a rather gruesome way too. This helps us to establish the plot, as we are intrigues into uncovering that in order to survive the characters must find which rooms are safe and which may not be.