THRILLER OPENINGS FOR LESSON 6

The following Thriller openings are intended for analysis in lesson 6. You need to study the content of the openings as well as producing a detailed analysis of the order, placing and timing of the titles themselves.

THE STEPFATHER (2009)

MARATHON MAN (1976)

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 (2009)

WHAT LIES BENEATH (2000)

MEMENTO (2000)

SUSPENSE CLIPS FOR LESSON 1

JAWS (1975)

KILLERS (2010)

WHAT LIES BENEATH (2000)

THE SHINING (1980)

INTERTEXTUALITY

Intertextuality is a term to describe the visual referencing between films. Quite literally, films 'borrow' from each other, and you may recognise certain camera angles, aspects of mise en scene, snippets of sound or methods of editing in some films that you have seen in others.

Below is the famous 'shower scene' from Psycho. Countless films have borrowed from this famous scene. See if you can spot the visual references in the clips that follow.

PSYCHO (1960)

SUCCUBUS (2010)

This is a student film that was inspired by Psycho. There are many intertextual references for you to spot.

THE STEPFATHER (2010)

WHAT LIES BENEATH CLIP 1 (2001)

FATAL ATTRACTION (1987)

WATCHING DOCUMENTARY

This is a fantastic half hour documentary about film title sequences. Here is a list of questions which you should answer and place on your blog. You can click on them to view more clearly.

WATCHING PART 1

WATCHING PART 2

THRILLER SUB-GENRES LESSON 2

Thrillers are commonly cross-genre movies. Here are some examples.

MOMENTO (2000)

Psychological Thriller

DEJA VU (2006)

Action Thriller

HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT (2002)

Romance Thriller

WHAT LIES BENEATH (2000)

Supernatural Thriller

ENEMY OF THE STATE (1998)

Political Thriller

A GREAT EXAMPLE OF A BAG SWAP

COLLATERAL (2004)

STRUCTURE OF OPENINGS LESSON 11

DISCRETE TITLE SEQUENCES

Discrete title sequences are separately edited sequences that stand apart from the film opening. They are stylised and heavily edited, and they support nearly all of the opening credits and film title.

SEVEN (1995)

ARLINGTON ROAD (1999)

ENEMY OF THE STATE (1998)

NARRATIVE FILM OPENING WITH TITLES

In some films the narrative starts immediately. We are introduced to locations, settings then characters. The key enigma may be introduced. However, running over this may be the titles. Here are some examples of a narrative opening with titles.

THE SHINING (1980)

PANIC ROOM (2002)

CREDITS OVER BLANK SCREEN

Some movies begin with titles rolling over a blank screen, often with sound effects or a sound track, before introducing image. the titles frequently continue to roll over the images.

DONNIE DARKO (2001)

DEAD CALM (1989)

FABULOUSLY STYLISED EDITING

Here are a couple of film openings that stand out because the editing is so stylised. This will take a very long time in post production if you wish to attempt anything similar so you need to be well planned!

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 (2009)

MEZRINE (2008)