Thriller Opening 2 - Sin City- Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez 2005 (Romantic Thriller)

Camera
The director uses mainly mid-shots and close ups in the opening of Sin City in order to help the audience relate to the characters. The camera zooms in on characters faces when they are talking to each other also, showing that they are becoming closer. A typical convention of a romantic thriller, is having a relationship that is confusing and complex and having one of the people within the relationship being murdered. The close-up camera shots helped to show this by making it clear that there is a connection between the male and female character in this title sequence. The director also made it imperceptible that he was going to kill her, as he used a close up of the two of them smiling at each other to portray that they have a good relationship and are happy with each other and then all the audience hears is a gunshot which completely contradicts what has just been shown. This keeps the audience engaged and gripped as they want to find out more about what is going to happen.


Editing
The speed of editing is slow in the opening sequence, which creates a relaxed atmosphere and represents a sensual atmosphere between the man and woman, it shows that they are linked in some way and are having a relationship as their movements appear calm and leisurely. This is a juxtaposition to the incident that later takes place in the scene -where the woman is shot by her supposed lover. This effect is used in order to build up tension and create suspense to keep the audience engaged and interested by keeping them unsuspecting and in the dark about what is about to happen in the upcoming scene. By having a relaxed and calm atmosphere it makes the audience unsuspecting and unaware that anything bad is about to take place. This creates more of a sudden shock when the man shoots the woman, adding mystery to this thriller. The slow pace editing helps with the typical romantic thriller as it builds tension between the two characters and the atmosphere around them. They are in a tranquil, silent and secluded area, which looks onto a view of the city. This makes the opening more mysterious and unsuspicious.

Also in the editing the director cleverly uses a combination of colour such as; red, white and black throughout the opening extract. The setting is mainly in monotones, such black and white, with a hint of grey, therefore allowing the red to be used in order to show importance. Another example of using colour to highlight and signify importance is when the woman’s eyes light up in green when the man is talking about them and looking into them. The red is symbolic of passion and love, whereas the green is symbolic of envy and evil.

During the opening scenes black and white images of people have been used to help the audience closely identify who the main characters are and the reaction of the two characters and how the narrative will develop throughout the film. A bright light is used behind the two main characters as the man walks into the scene to talk to the woman, the director has used this to emphasize where the action is taking place and to light up the scene to show contrasts between the dark surrounds and the two people. This could represent that when they are together they “light each other up.” It has also been used to set the scene and allow the audience to identify the setting and connect to the lights that are around the location, which are the building and the city.


Sound
The only music used in the opening of Sin City is a diegetic sound of a saxophone in the background which we could say could have been used for a variety of different reasons. Firstly because it creates a calm, slow and romantic sort of atmosphere through the use of the jazz tones that is reinforced by the two people coming together; we could say that it is used to set the scene and emphasize the sensual atmosphere between the man and woman. We could also assume that it is coming from a party as both the man and woman are dressed very formal and posh so we could assume that they have just walked away from a party out onto a balcony. The sound is also used to establish the location, which is America. This is reinforced by the spoken dialogue of the American accents that both characters have. As the sound of the background music slowly fades it mirrors the narrative of what the man is feeling. When the music is loud it shows how he is close to her and as it fades away it shows the audience how he is letting go of her slowly and is pulling himself away from her and the feelings he has from her.

Non-digetic sound is also used in the form of spoken dialogue by the male protagonist. The director has used this in order to set the scene, create a certain atmosphere and so that we see the narrative from his perspective. It shows that he is in control and it is him who is telling the story. The non-diegetic sound of the male characters thoughts instantly captures the audience’s attention and helps them to relate to his character.

Diegetic sound is also used for thunder and rain which is a typical convention in thrillers to create tension and build mystery by setting the scene. Similarly diegetic sound of his footsteps is used to make it seem like he is creeping up on her. The diegetic sound of the lighter being lit and the small tick sound it makes adds the setting of the scene and reinforces the idea that they are in a peaceful and quiet place. The sounds of the thunder and rain appear before he is to shoot the women could suggest that the director is trying to show that something bad is about to happen. This creates suspense and mystery.

Sound is a huge part in this title sequence as it is used to establish that this film is a romantic thriller. It uses narration to help the audience to connect to the male character, symbolizing that he is most important.


Mise-en-scene
The women character is wearing a bright red dress and red lipstick, whilst the rest of the scene is set in black and white. The red connotes meanings of danger, love, passion and blood, which is symbolic towards the end of the extract. The fact that it is set in black and white could suggest that it is a memory, By the woman’s dress and lips being red it could represent she is the mans lover, but then later on when she is shot it could represent blood. Signifiers of her death include her shivering at the beginning of the extract to show she is weak and venerable and her black make up on her nails and eyes. Both the characters in the scene are wearing very formal, posh and sophisticated clothes which could suggest that they have come form a part or dinner etc and it seems that they are the only people that are moving in the scene and the surroundings. Therefore the director has used this to focus the attention of the scene rather than the location/setting of the film, which soon becomes clear by the uses of the characters American accents and also becomes comprehensible towards the end when a long shot when panning and tracking camera shots are used to establish the setting and location.


Special Effects
CGI and animation is used throughout the opening extract with the intention of building tension and also to develop the narrative of the story. The director has used this to freeze certain images to help the audience to connect with them.


Titles
No text appears in this opening title sequence, instead the narrative of the story starts straight away in the form of the male character expressing his thoughts and feelings to verify the type of film it is and immediately attracts the audience into relating to the characters.
By having the film start with a memory and getting straight to the narrative it immediately engages the audience as they know they have to watch it in order to understand and relate to the rest of the upcoming film. By characters all ready being introduced and a murder taking place this immediately creating confusion and suspense, this builds the narrative. This is a cleaver idea as most films start with the production teams names and the company that has produced it etc coming in and out of the opening scene, whereas this director has got straight to the story instead which straight away introduces the story and creates the suspense and mystery.