I watched the opening sequence to two Thrillers; The Others (2001 Alejandro Amenabar), and Memento (2000 Christopher Nolan). The Others, is a story about a mother (Nicole Kidman) and her two children set in a large creepy mansion. Strange things start to happen in the house, when the maids and cook etc disappear. The children then start to see ghosts. But are they ghosts? Memento is about Leonard (Guy Pearce) seeking revenge on the man who murdered his wife. The twist however is Leonard can’t remember any new memories after 15 minutes, his only memories are those previous and including the night his wife died. Both films include typical conventions of a thriller, below are the conventions I found in both opening sequences.
The Others:
- Low naturalistic lighting creates gives the mansion a dominant scary feeling.
- Lots of Shadow, makes the setting seem creepy. (In the film, the two children are allergic to excessive light, this is another reason for the dim settings)
- Quick camera angle changes derives sense of panic
- Quick cuts derive sense of panic
- Creepy non-dietetic chimes make you jump and help you to understand the characters state of panic
- Fast paced music engineered to create panic
Memento:
Chronological work - the order of events are mixed up in order to keep you thinking.
Use of Flashback – keeps the viewer thinking and derives suspense
Features a typical “hard” man, whom is familiar to danger
Low naturalistic light derives eerie feeling
Use of black and white – distinguish different time periods and also derives eerie feeling and suspense
Sudden non-diegetic chimes create suspense
Violent resolution to film – Typical convention of a physiological thriller
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