THE MACHINIST (2004), VINTAGE POINT & WHAT LIES BENEATH

why do i think they are good?

Here are 3 thriller opening sequences and explanation for why i think they are good thriller openings.

PHYSCOLOGICAL THRILLER

SUPERNATURAL THRILLER

POLITICAL THRILLER - VINTAGE POINT

The opening sequence to Vintage point starts of with a creative title. i like the way we have been introduced to the film. we starts of with lots of establishing shots, such as birds eye view and panning shot inorder to introduce the setting, which in away is effective as it easily help the audience feel part of the setting and engages them.

the sound is very confusing it unbalances with what the audience sees, there are more then one non diagetic voice over when we see the establishing shots. the music at the begning of the clip gives the film a sort of tense atmosphere connoting that this is a thriller and something is goin to happen unexpectedly.

Cinematography is used to show that this thriller. The first shot we see is a long shot of the back of a women sitting on a bench in a train/ tube station and I denote she is alone at this station. This creates a sense a suspense by theatre of the mind as it gets the audience thinking someone may be behind her about to approach as the director moves from a long shot to a close up by zooming in. The long shot doesn’t introduce her character straight away, which keeps the audience wanting to know who is much more which builds a tense atmosphere for them.
Mid shot of moving train. Long shot of the back of a character sitting down, in front of a stationary train. Camera zooms into character- but her face not yet seen. Camera switches quickly from behind to in front. Camera then zooms into her face- portraying her fear.
The shot lead to a flashback which uses another long shot of a room with a coffin in the centre. I denote this is a flashback as someone cannot be in to location and a fade is used. This gives the audience an idea of what the story is going to be about and enable them to decode the enigma codes shown. Near to the end, another long shot is shown, portraying the main protagonist and the man outside and all of a sudden then birds fly up and into a black screen. This is a cheap surprise shocking the audience.
A list of other cinematography used
Mid shot
Low angle
twi shot
Shot reverse shot o
Several long shots
Panning
Zooming

Sound is also used to signify it’s a thriller genre. The diagetic sound of the train creates slight tension by the screeching sound. The sound of the rain works effectively and doesn’t really need any music to support it and there were no sound effects used.

the editing or the opening sequence consisted of a mixture of slow and fast pace editing is used throughout the opening title sequence of this film, which effectively builds up the tension and suspense. I think the train coming at the beginning creates a cheap surprise, even though it is expected it will always make the audience jump.

and finally the mise en scene also shows this clip as a conventional thriller. This train plays a significant role in the clip as it works with the titles. The framing of the clip shows the facial expressions of the women which tells the audience allot about the protagonists emotions and feeling. The lighting within the mise en scene is mostly dark however the bright electric lighting makes the room look lighter which creates an atmosphere and is conventional as thrillers always use dark lighting causing lots of tense scenes and suspense scenes.