Research

Analysis on opening sequences of thriller films

I have decided to firstly analyse a Bollywood thriller. I chose this because it will be very different to a stereotypical Hollywood thriller film. Before I start my analysis I will need to think about what I should be looking out for. First of all, I will need to think about the music and sound and how it is used to create a tone in the opening sequence. I will then go onto camera and editing to see how the camera creates and establishes the location, setting and how the camera presents the different characters. I will then look at the mise-en-scene and see how the costumes, lighting etc are used to create a theme of thriller in the movie. Lastly, I will look at the title sequence and see if it creates and achieves suspense and also see if it creates a certain type of atmosphere before the movie has begun.

Gupt: The Hidden Truth. The film is a 1997 Bollywood mystery suspense thriller film, directed by Rajjv Rai. The film starred Bobby Deol, Manisha Koirala, Kajol, Peresh Rawal, Om Puri and Raj Babbar. It was one of the biggest successes of 1997.

Music/sound
The opening sequence begins with diegetic music. Firstly, it is very calm playing sound which is very traditional Indian music which comes across very formal and professional. However, it then makes a sudden contrast and you hear a scream which grabs the audiences attention straight away. It then plays sound which is upbeat but the sounds are very mysterious which results in creating a large suspense in the opening of the film. The director purposely did this to engage the audiences concentration as he has quickly made a fast and sudden change which establish the audiences attention. When the film starts, you hear a large amount of people protesting and shouting, you can also hear police cars. This already sets an ambiguous tone as the audience doesn't know what is going on. The sounds of the police cars are significant because it already denotes there is danger in the film.

Camera/editing
When the film begins there is over one hundred people protesting. The camera is shot a low angle to show they are dominant in the scene as there is so many of them. The camera is also is shot at an extreme long shot so the audience could see the amount of people that are protesting. The camera also continuously pans from left to right to also establish the location they are in and to also help the audience gain a more advanced insight on the amount of people who are there, protesting. This already creates suspense in the movie as the audience will start to ask themselves questions such as: why are they protesting? etc. The camera then tilts down to a close up of the police cars. This shows the audience a clear view that the police have arrived in the scene. However, because the police cars were parked underneath where the people protesting were standing, it makes the police seem less dominant as they were positioned below the people. Although, this could just be because there is a small amount of police compared to the people. The camera uses a lot of mid shots of the police to display their body gestures and language. It also shows their facial expression without getting uncomfortably close to them.

Mise-en-scene
The film opens up with natural sunlight, which helps display a realistic shot. The props such as the costume on the police officers is significant because it all looks very real which helps the film look and feel realistic to the audience which helps the plot and story line come across more believable. The setting is is quite restricted at first as the people are positioned outside a large building, but because there is so many people it is hard to see what the building looks like. The framing is very loose as the characters in film have the ability to move around protest. From what I could see, the building was very large and looked very heavily decorated with shapes in the walls and flowers. This juxtaposes with the characters and police cars as the building looked very feminine and pretty. Whereas, the police cars set an ominous tone within the scene, along with the police and the people protesting which creates a lot of negative signs. The director could have done this to try and show the audience that not everything in the scene and film are negative, to show the audience signs of hope.

Title sequence
The film opens up with the colors blue and gold. The colors create different signs such as stars. The blue is very significant because the film is a Indian-Hindu movie. The blue is representing a certain god called Krishna. This helps the audience gain a slightly better understanding on some aspects of the Hindu religion. The gold in the title sequence represents the wealth and extravagance of the Indian tradition and Hindu religion. After this, the picture then fades to black and then goes on to showing a picture of two Hindu gods which are called Brahma and Vishnu. Using these two gods in the title sequence is important because they are both very well known gods within the religion and they also share a special relationship which then results in appealing to the audience as they are more likely to be interested. The title then goes on to  present their title, key production and cast members. There is a shadow of a lady dancing continuously whilst the cast members names show up. The dancing shadow lady is significant because you cannot view or see what she looks like which creates suspense and mystery. Also, her body is very thin and how a stereotypical “sexy” women would look like. This is important because they have used this lady to engage the audience as her shadow looks very inviting. The cast members name come up in sans serif in an orange text color. The orange is very bright which is noticeable for the audience. The color of the font contrasts with the deep blue background which helps the cast members name stand out more. The sans serif font the text is in also helps the audience notice and acknowledge the names that are shown. Also, a gold coin is shown throughout the title sequence, it is moves across the screen, from left to right and up and down. The gold coin is important because it is in an old historic Hindu story. Including the gold coin helps the reader engage into the title sequence. The title sequence achieves a mysterious tone and atmosphere because of the colors and shapes they have used throughout it.

Screen shots of the opening of the film:

Overall, I feel as if I have completed this task well. I had to carefully look into what tone the music creates, what the camera is establishing, what the mise-en-scene means in the film and how the title sequence creates suspense. However, I do not know much about the Hindu religion which is why I struggled slightly as I did not understand some of the signs and words which were said in the film. I tried to look up what they meant, such as the gods etc which did help me gain a better understanding and knowledge of the film and religion but did not help me enough as I feel as if my analysis of the film could be better. Although, I have learnt a lot about how Bollywood thrillers create suspense. The music plays a big part in the opening of this thriller as when I heard a scream it engaged me into the film. Also, when the sound was playing it sounded very mysterious which built up to a mysterious and ambiguous tone being created. I now know that when I come to making my opening sequence I will have to think about the music I am putting into my film as I want it to create the same effect and engage the audience. In addition to this, I learnt how the camera uses long shots and pans across from left to right to establish the location and setting. When it comes to making my movie I want to practice doing this so I can establish the location where I am setting my film.