Opening scene conventions - psychological thriller research

In order to get a better understanding of the main conventions of the opening of a psychological thriller, I'm going to conduct general research into the genre in terms of narrative, character types, film language and intended effect.

- Production company logo

This informs the audience who the film was produced by and what kind of style of narrative to expect. Sometimes the production company logo can be altered in order to suit the genre.

-Opening credits

This lists the most important people involved within the film, including: directors, cameramen, writers and key actors. The film title will usually come before the first scene. Things to portray the genre could be font, size and colour of text, for example, the colour red holds connotations of blood, violence and evil.

-Establishing the genre

In order to establish the genre there are several commonly known and recognised conventions, such as: low lighting, isolated locations, canted angles to provoke confusion and fear, sudden sounds to create tension, slow editing can help build suspense.

-Music/sound effects

Music and sound are vital within an opening scene, they mirror both the theme and genre. Music can create tension and suspense by building pace, both things that can captivate an audience. In thrillers, non-diegetic sounds (a sound that characters can't hear. For example, the narratives commentary, mood music and sound effects) tend to be used to unease the audience.