"Sicario" was released in 2015 by Lionsgate. Directed by Denis Villenueve, the film's main cast include Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin and Victor Garber.
In this thriller opening sequence, we see a team of FBI agents break into a house in Chandler, Arizona looking for hostages and shoot two individuals to death. In doing so they discover something very sinister; Multiple bodies are hidden inside the walls. The agents continue to search the house before one of the agents finds something that sets off an explosion. The scene ends with shot of a bloody arm without a body attached to it. The opening makes it clear that this is a thriller movie by following several of the conventions of this genre. This includes the fact that there is a very suspenseful tone, which is emphasised by the use of a parallel non-diegetic soundtrack creating a dark tone. Furthermore, the opening follows a group of investigators who are dealing with murder which is a common thriller convention. We expect that the rest of the film will follow an investigation into who is behind these individuals and why this has occurred.
Due to this film being a thriller, we know that the target audience is a mature audience as this is quite intense subject matter for a young audience to view. Due to the representation of both genders in the opening sequence, I believe that this film is attempting to target all genders. We are introduced to a range of characters. Firstly, we are introduced to a large group of FBI investigators. We also witness two individuals inside the house that the FBI team are investigating, but we gain no insight into their characters as they are shot dead almost immediately after the audience first witnesses them. From the opening it appears that the protagonist is a female FBI agent, who appears most often and is captured in a variety of close-up shots which suggest that she is important to the story line.
One of the key moments is when the agents are inside an unknown vehicle approaching their destination. The characters have serious expressions on their faces which suggests that they are dealing with a serious situation. This is emphasised by the use of a non-diegetic soundtrack with a suspenseful tone and the lack of lighting which creates a fearful tone. This causes the audience to experience high anticipation as to what might happen next. This is disrupted as the vehicle begins to speed up. The pleonastic sound effect of the vehicle crashing through the house, disrupts the anticipation as the FBI agents enter the house which appears to be an abandoned property being temporarily used. This is suggested by the prop of a car seat being used as a chair and the walls which are only partially parted. The man is shot and told to get down on his hands and knees. The tense tone suddenly switches to an action scene. It takes only a minute to do so which is effective as it draws the audience into the plot line before they might potentially lose interest.
In the next scene, the FBI raid the house. Short shots are edited in quick succession and hand-held camera is used to mirror the action. This is followed by some longer shots that create suspense as the audience wonders what might be found in the next room. Finally, the main female agent enters a room and quickly shoots the man standing in the room dead. Shortly after, a man standing in the back of the room spots a large hole in the whole. At this point, the Diegetic soundtrack plays again and becomes louder. It creates an eerie tone as the camera moves closer with the hole occupying the entire frame. The agents begin tearing the wall apart to reveal dead bodies wrapped in plastic behind it. This pulls in the audience, urging them to continue to watch to find out why these bodies have been put there and who is behind it.
Following the horrific discovery, one of the agents is urged to step outside. Outside, a close up shot shows a man fiddling with a locked trap door with his hands and feet. An eyeline match shows the distressed agent watching this. The soundtrack continues to build up, causing tensions to rise once again and a voice can be heard shouting, alerting others to the trapped door. As the main female agent steps outside to investigate. The shed blows up suddenly and is set on fire which is emphasised by a pleonastic sound effect. This shocks the audience, acting as a jump-scare that makes them anxious to continue watching. The mise-en-scene of a bloody arm lying on the ground adds to the frightening atmosphere.
I believe this is a successful thriller opening as it creates a suspenseful and compelling storyline without revealing too much. In addition, though we get an insight into the character's job, there is still a lot about the individual characters for the audience to learn.
Directed by Christopher Nolan, "Dunkirk" was released by Warner Brothers in 2017. Its main cast include Fionn Whitehead, Damien Bonnard, Aneurin Barnard and Lee Armstrong.
The narrative presented to us is one whereby French and British armies have been driven to the sea by the enemy and are trapped at Dunkirk. The soldiers wander around looking for water and cigarettes when suddenly a shot is fired and they are sent running. All but one of the soldiers is shot dead, and the survivor runs for safety, eventually finding protection with a group of French soldiers behind sand bags. However, he is only here briefly before he leaves and runs to the beach to join large crowds of soldiers there. From this, we might expect the film to follow the journey of this British and French troops fighting at Dunkirk. Since the opening focusses particularly on one young, British soldier, the audience might expect the opening to focus on his story and whether he is able to survive in the end.
From the opening, the target audience could be for anyone interested in this battle. However, the subject matter is very dark, meaning that this film is most likely meant for a mature audience, and not for children. The diegetic sound effect of guns and the non-diegetic parallel soundtrack help to create the harrowing tone of the opening. From the very first shot, it is clear that the film can be categorised as a war film. This is made clear by the army uniform costumes worn armed with guns as their props which establishes these characters as soldiers. Throughout the opening, the film follows many of the conventions of a war film. As well as the text that appears on the screen mentioning the British and French armies awaiting their fate, conventions of war films are used in other ways to show that this is a war film. Firstly, multiple gun shots can be seen and heard which cause lots of destruction as we see the soldiers shot dead and the a gate battered from the impact of the shots. It is also very clear that the soldiers are fearful as they can be seen running for safety as gun shots are fired. Furthermore, the young man whose story we follow can be seen panting with worried expressions on his face which shows that the characters are experiencing fear. The audience also witnesses camaraderie when the French soldiers take in the young British soldier, which is another key convention of the war genre
Although multiple characters are introduced, many of them are killed within the first minute and we mainly follow one character, the young British soldier that finds safety with the French troops. The opening scene establishes this character as someone who is fearful and lacks experience as a soldier. We can see this when he struggles to handle his gun and breathes heavily indicating panic. Additionally, the character displays worried facial expressions throughout, emphasising his fear which suggests he is inexperienced. We are briefly introduced to French soldiers who allow the young British soldier to find safety behind the sand bags. However, their body language and facial expressions appear quite hostile which communicates the level of distrust and suspicion that occurs during a war.
The first scene focusses on indicating the desperateness of the soldiers. The use of props is important in emphasising that the Germans are currently in the lead. German propaganda showers down from the sky which is followed by a close-up shot of one of the posters which is held in the hands of a soldier and states: "we surround you", suggesting that the soldiers are close to a defeat. The sky appears almost colourless perhaps which connotes dreariness and a lack of joy, perhaps emphasising the mood that the war has brought upon the soldiers. There is then a close up shot of one of the soldiers attempting to drink water from a hose-pipe outside a house in the street. This close-up shot shows that in this moment, the soldiers are so worn-down and desperate that they are struggling even to find the necessity of water. This is emphasised by the use of a close-up shot in which a soldier attempts to use a burnt out cigarette found in ash try by a window. This shows his hopeless state as he is attempting to make use of things that are clearly already used. The hand-held shot used suggests that the state of the war is unsteady just as the movement of the camera is.
Another key moment is when the young British soldier is granted refuge with a group of French soldiers. Diegetic dialogue is used in which the soldier states: "I'm English, Anglais". This is the only point in which dialogue is used. This emphasises that the atmosphere is very tense and so there is almost no time for conversation. The soldiers must be careful with what they say. Furthermore, the action of him running towards the sand bags shows how there is not a moment to spare or any time to experience relief as he must carry on in his journey for survival.
After briefly finding protection with the French soldiers, they begin firing shots and the young soldier runs at speed and arrives at a beach where large crowds of troops have amassed. A long shot is used to emphasise the dramatic scale, highlighting the quantity of troops needed. A close up. A mid shot is used to focus back again on the young soldier. This is a very dramatic moment as we have just witnessed a snap shot into his tumultuous experience, and we are shown that this is the experience of just one of the masses of soldiers who are sure to have experienced the same fear that he has.
I believe that this is a successful opening as it clearly establishes the genre of the film as a war film. Though just three minutes long, the opening captures the audience interest as to where the soldier's journey will take him, and how the rest of this moment of the war will unfold. It also gives a clear insight into the miserable atmosphere of the war which is sure to have a very moving effect on the audience.
