Hello Blog, today we are going to be talking about three film openings
from me and my group's chosen genre: Mystery/Thriller, I did some
research and looked around for good movies under this genre, I found a
renowned film director by the name David Fincher, he is responsible for
making two movies we will be going over in today's blog. Hope you enjoy
my analyses.
Film Opening #1: Gone Girl (2014)
Gone Girl's film opening durated just about 2 minutes. It begins with calming music and a close up shot of a woman laying her head on top of her husband's stomach. We can infer this is her husband because of the monologue used. He begins by talking about thinking of his wife and how he pictures "cracking her lovely skull", straight off the bat I am already unsettled, I'm thinking in my head "Whats gonna happen next?", "is she gonna die..." he continues by saying he wants unspool her brains. By this point we are still seeing the same shot of the woman, but she then decides to look up at her "husband". The monologue continues as he questions how and what you feel, and what you have done with each other. He talks with a second person point-of-view this further constitutes that unsettling vibe we got earlier. The following shots establish setting, we see the establishing shot with the title of the movie, the credits roll during these shots. These shots show the city/town they are living in, shots of buildings are shown, shots of houses. Then a medium shot of a man standing in front of a house, then you can infer its his house as he enters the house. The music stays playing all through out, after he enters the house, a shots cuts to him in a car, he then parks the car and enters a bar, the music stops and it marks the end to the film opening.
Film Opening #2: Shutter Island (2010)
The opening scene for Shutter Island begins with a black screen of credits and then the title of the movie. Ominous music plays in the background. The music cuts and we now hear the moving of water and we see a wide shot of a boat on ocean waters covered by a lot of fog, the setting is the Boston Harbor Islands in 1954. We then see a man on the boat by the name of Teddy, vomiting into the toilet from sea sickness, from a over the shoulder shot we see him talking into the mirror telling him to pull himself to pull it together. This scene right here is a bit edgy because he's talking to himself in a mirror, the movie being a psychological thriller symbolizes a character's inner self versus the psychological battle he faces. After an exchange of close and medium shots, he makes his way to the deck of the boat where his partner was. The colors outside have cool hues to them, these cool hues symbolize cold and unsettling emotions, which is what reflects the mind of the protagonist Teddy.
Film Opening #3: Knives Out (2019)
The opening scene for Knives Out begins with a black screen of credits and then the title of the movie. The first shot is a establishing shot of a mansion from a lower angle. There are two dogs playing outside the house. The atmosphere is very cold, the fog around the house, the cool hues, this establishing shot has a very cold vibe to it. The music that is played throughout the shot is non-diegetic, sounds playful which is ironic because the vibe the house gives off isn't. The following shot is a close-up shot of a coffee mug and food, the shot is focused on the mug everything else is blurred. The shots following this shot, all reflect mise-en-scene elements, almost all the shots are pieces of artwork or the set design, the artwork that is used is kind of unsettling, the faces made are kind of creepy, this further reinforces that mysterious vibe and suspenseful feeling of what's yet to come. The next shots are of a lady bringing up breakfast, to what seems to who could be the owner of the house. She enters a room and she greets him but hes not inside, a panoramic shot shifts to his bed and we don't see him. This seemed routine given the fact she greeted him even before entering the door. Because he's not in the room you can already presume something bad might happen. The next shots show her approaching another she thought he'd be in. The next shot is inside the room facing the door zooming out, she opens the door, and a zoom in into her face shows she's uneasy, the next shot is wide shot that zooms in to the killing of the man she was bringing the food too. This is the end of the film opening.
Citations:
Butler, D. L., Mattingley, J. B., Cunnington, R., & Suddendorf, T. (2012). Mirror, mirror on the wall, how does my brain recognize my image at all? PLoS ONE, 7(2), e31452. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4219253/ (PLOS)
Cherry, K. (2024, February 20). The color blue: Meaning and color psychology. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-color-psychology-of-blue-2795815 (Verywell Mind)
IMDb. (n.d.-a). Shutter Island (tt1130884). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/
IMDb. (n.d.-b). Knives Out (tt8946378). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/
[Uploader]. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khzdkne_fPc&t=72s
[Uploader]. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYZkEmKUAzo
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