Today in our lesson, we watched thriller openings so we could write an essay on Insomnia and Fargo.
Analyse the opening of a thriller you have recently seen, what conventions does it use to engage the viewer.
There are many devices used in both thrillers "Insomnia" and "Fargo", such as music, lettering, credits, images, colour and camera shots.
The music in Insomnia is very sinister and is a mellow deep sound, which creates a tense atmosphere. The music is non-diagetic so it is a soundtrack on top of the film. There are elongated notes which make the surroundings look more isolated. The feel of the music makes the viewers feel like something is going on and they want to find out. The music is like an enigma in the opening sequence of the film, and this is most probably solved at the end of the movie. However the music in Fargo is strong beat, as a lot of drums are used. The music is classical because it may indicate to respect the dead, as at the very start the background is black and the text is white so it stands out, but clearly states the movie being a true story. So due to respect they made their music quite classical. The music changes when the car drives onto the road and it turns more heroic. This could suggest that the Protagonist may be driving the car.
The lettering-credits in Insomnia are quite simple but give a chilling feel to the film, they simply mirror the film as the background is white and looks quite isolated which blurs back into the credits. The text is simple, it looks as it is "Ariel Bold". The ghostly imprint makes the viewer feel quite uneasy as it is a very bland but sophisticated look. The text goes blurry and then clear then blurry again. This suggests the enigma again and may consist a theme throughout the whole film. The lettering is placed centre screen, this may suggest that is quite important. When watching the 3 minutes of the film opening the important scene, where the blood is being scrubbed off, there is no credits being used in this scene, and where there is an establishing shot of the landscape, for example when the plane is flying over the mountains, this suggests that as nothing is happening through out the scene. This may suggest that there cannot be 2 things on the screen at the same time, as it may confuse the viewer and lose the plot of the film. However in Fargo, this has happened but used in a clever way, where you can only see tiny amounts of movement, where a car is coming towards the screen but it is quite faint, and there is text on the screen at the same time, so it shows that something is happening but not so important yet.
The images in Insomnia are also simple but question the viewer over and over again, for example when they show a red screen which look to be some sort of organism, it questions the viewer to find out what is going on, what this screen is and why is this the only thing in red? Also the landscape is a very isolated area, this shows the viewer the kind of atmosphere that is going to be in the film, and as a thriller it may show how no one can here your cry for help! Also in Fargo there is an isolated feel and atmosphere, only snow. Both directors may have chose snow to suggest the pathetic fallacy of characters later on in the film? In Insomnia there is a part where there is a close up of rubbing blood, this is voyeurism and we are not supposed to see this man rubbing blood off his sleeve as the camera is outside of the room. The man is wearing a white shirt which makes the red a brilliant contrast, but as it is a white shirt it questions the viewers, this man looks like a respectable man. It's an ordinary place, but an extraordinary thing happening. Also there is a blur of red and the audience already know that it is blood, but then there is zoom on the blood just in case some viewers don't know what the "red" really is. Then there is a extreme close up of a man's eyes, he looks very tired, but already has the audience on his side. Hence this is where the title "Insomnia" comes from.
The colour in Insomnia is very black and white,this is the style of Film Noir this connotes emptiness and isolation, the only actual colour that comes up is red. Red connotes many things such as danger, threat and death. All of these are main conventions in a thriller, and the director has made it very clear from the beginning that it is a thriller. The red once again suggests that there is going to be danger, and is like a tease of what is coming up next. The black and white gives a chilli feeling to the viewer and prepares them, but also is very unexpected at the same time. The colours in Fargo are also very similar, however they still only use black, white and blue, showing the chill and icy feeling of the atmosphere. They make the viewer feel alone and abandoned.
The camera shots in Insomnia vary but all contrast and blend into one another. The blur makes the viewer curious of what's happening and why it is blurring, also it evoke that there is secrets to be revealed but not just yet. The zoom in on the man's eyes makes the viewer once again ask more questions, "why is this man so tired?" "why does he look so depressed?". The establishing shot shows what the atmosphere is like and is also like a tease of what's going to be happening later in the thriller. The camera shots draw in the viewer by making the viewer ask questions, this makes them want to watch more and attracts them to complete watching the film, and slowly as the film goes on the questions get answered. In Insomnia there is establishing shots and long shots of a car, this also makes the viewer ask questions such as, "who's driving this car?", also the car is the only car driving along this long road, where does this road take you too? Where is the car going? The camera shots have been cleverly used to draw the viewer in so all their questions can be answered.
In conclusion all these devices make both thrillers very icy and chilly, this connotes that it makes the viewer want to continue watching so all their questions can be answered. They give a small insight of the plot and nothing else, it shows that anything can happen and everything is very unexpected.
