"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.
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