Dorian Gray is a corrupt young man who somehow keeps his youthful beauty eternall, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.
At the start of the movie Dorian Grays name is in capital letters, but it doesn’t look bold. The title of his name looks as if its parts of the painting which links to the movie.
The opening credits also show parts of his face. In this shot we see his eye, as if he’s looking at the audience and staring at maybe their purity, as we know he’s not the perfect man that everyone may think he is.
As we are brought into the medium shot of him looking at something below him, the screen fades into him like the dissolving credits which links to the fact that he is the painting.
The lighting in this film is very dark and as we know, darkness connotes with death, sadness or even loss, which connects with what he’s doing as he’s taking someone’s life and is not a good person himself. The non-diegetic sound of the eerie music creates tension and an unbalanced feeling to the audience, as they don’t know what’s coming next.
He looks up in this shot as we he in the background the flapping of bird’s wings. This is a common omen of a thriller film and foreshadows that something bad may happen which gradually going into the movie we see is going to happen.
As he kills the person, there are very fast up beat shots which links to how suddenly the person may have died and how viscously the person may have died as well.
He then starts to sniff the cloth that he wipes the blood of himself with. This may represent that he deprives pureness as he’s not straight up with everything he says to people and what he’s done and the person he killed may have been guiltless and innocent.
There’s an establishing shot of the place Dorian Gray is going to dump the trunk of the dead persons body. The Mise-en-scene of the shot is very dark, musky and the lack of lighting makes this shot tense as the audience may find it hard to establish where he actual is and ca only see that he’s near a river.
There’s a shot of him near a fence of spikes. He looks quite small in this shot compared to the stakes. The sakes could substitute for the knife that he’s killed the person with and could foreshadow what may happen to him in the future and maybe one day, the people he’s lied to may relies what he’s trying to cover up and try to kill him as a result to all the secrets…
As the trunk drops into the water it’s very exaggerated but may show that although he thinks that he’s hidden his wrong dead well, it may not really be gone and may haunt him later on.
Sian Elias
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF OPENING SEQUENCE
The first frame of this film shows the title of the film in the center. The title is not brought up by any specific effect it just appears onto the screen which adds to the tension as you can just see a man sinking to the depths of what you presume is an ocean. The title appears just as the man is about to be sucked into a vacuum in the sand at the bottom of the ocean. The title helps to explain what is happening as it starts to evoke imagery in our head of this man falling from the sky. The music at this point is very slow as it lets the camera do the explaining. The camera shot that helps us to understand this particular point of the film is a wide shot.
The second frame of my nine frame analysis shows a board that looks like James Bond in the center of the shot. The shot for this shot is again a wide shot which allows us to see the board but also other boards similar to this one floating around. The board appears to have gun shots in it which already makes us realize that guns will be involved in the film. It also makes us come to terms with James Bonds injuries. The music at this point is still slow paced which allows the camerawork to do the explaining of the story just like the first frame. We start to think of James Bond as being a target.
This shot follows on from the last frame as it is a close up of one of the shots that the board of James Bond received. The close up allows us to see the shot in closer proximity and solidifies our thoughts of “was it a bullet in the board”. We see blood to ooze out of the board which adds to genre of it being a crime thriller.
The fourth frame shows a women with a title coming with the persons name who plays that women in the film (Naomie Harris). The shot type is a close up so we can see that the women is attractive, which makes us start to think if she has a role in “James Bonds death”. This creates tension which is added to by the music which has now picked up pace, not dramatically but is at a faster tempo then it was before. Just from this frame we start to realise that this women plays an important role in the film, whether it is as an allay of James Bond or an enemy of his.
The next frame shows what looks like a cemetery with guns and knifes falling down. This adds to the genre as we automatically identify these kinds of weapons as being associated with crime thrillers. The shot is a wide shot which allows us to see more than one of the weapons which means that they will play a consistent part in the film. The music at this point of the opening sequence has fastened as we can nearly ell what the story of the film is going to be about.
The next shot shows what looks like James Bonds eyes surrounded by a red mist which indicates blood. From this we can associate the persons who’s eyes we can see with the blood that is being shown. This again adds to the genre of the film as we link blood with the genre which is a crime thriller. At this point the titles come up but the titles are a white colour so that it stands out and is seeable by the audience that is viewing.
Next we see a frame with James Bond surrounded by shadows which appear to be holding guns. There are four shadows and they are at different corners so James Bond cannot defend himself against all of them. This highlights the fact that James Bond has many enemies in the film and will need help to defeat them. It also shows us that James Bond is up against something that he may even not be able to overcome. The music at this point is a fast pace which is suited to the frames that are being showed.
The next frame shows what blood in the ocean that we previously saw James Bond falling in. This shows us that there will be a lot of killing in the film and once again it also represents the genre of the film. The quantity of the blood relates to the amount of killing that will be done as that blood cannot just be from one person only.
This frame shows James Bonds board that we previously saw in another frame. This time however the frame is burning and not pouring out blood. Burning may relate to James Bond actual be burnt or it may have ties to the women that was previously shown, as it may have a metaphoric meaning of her burning his feelings. This shows that this film will include a romantic side to it as well. The blood and fire add to the genre of the film as it becomes more clear as the opening sequence goes on.
Laura Rojas
Here there are two textual opening sequence analysis' that will help us to identify different parts of a thriller opening that are used by real media products. The films that I will be doing the textual opening sequence analysis' on is James Bond Skyfall and Dorian Grey.
Laura Rojas
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In the opening sequence of insidious, there are many aspects of the thriller genre, which foreshadow that something bad is going to happen. As soon as the credits start to show, the background is completely dark which connotes unknowing and brings up the emotion of fear. The writing is in red, which signifies blood, violence and death; it can also signify the idea of evil. The font of the writing is not bold and is quite sharp, this could portray the idea of people getting hurt, and maybe death because the sharp look can portray weapons such as knifes. Then a light is bought up however, it does not light up the darkness of the background, and this could portray the idea of helplessness, as the darkness/evil is too strong for something good to destroy it. Then a little boy is shown in a dark room sleeping peacefully in his bed, this connote innocence being destroyed by evil, because innocence is portrayed through the little boy as children reflect the idea of being helpless and innocent. And evil is portrayed though the dark room, the darkness could connote the idea of the little boy being trapped by evil and surrounded by mysterious shadows around the house, which are also shown. Shadows connote mystery and adds more tension to the scene as the audience are left questioning what the shadow is of. Shadows are also used to represent the inner darkness and hidden identity.
It then carries on into the next room, which is completely dark apart from a lit candle being held by something mysterious and scary. The lit candle could portray the start of something bad happening because behind is something scary, which isn’t fully shown so it leaves the audience with, questions about what it is. After this the title of the film come up, the colour is red, which signifies death and evil. The font of the title is not bold, and some of the ends of letter look like horns which links to the devil, this connotes evil and supernatural bad things happening. Other ends of letters are also quite sharp which portrays weapons such as knifes, this connotes death and blood. Then the next scenes are in black and white which portrays a creepier and dark atmosphere, this brings up more tension as it is also used to show more shadows. In other scenes the texts, are again still red however when it fades away it becomes quite blurry, this could portray the idea of the unknown and confusion which the characters may be experiencing. There are also many other omens of the thriller genre used, such as a clock, this connotes race against time, it portrays the idea of time running out and that the characters are in a rush to get things sorted out and get rid of all the evil things around them happening before it gets too late, this keeps the audience excited and at the edge of their seat, which also creates more tension. Another omen used is the baby crib, this connotes innocence and happiness as children are seen innocent and they are known to bring happiness to people around them, however the scene is dark which can signify the idea of innocence and happiness being destroyed by the evil around the house. It then shows a family picture, with everyone smiling this also connotes happiness being destroyed by evil as the rest of the room is dark. POV shots are also used, this makes the situation seem more realistic as it allows the audience to be bought into the scene see what any of the other characters would be seeing.
Marija Gustainyte
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These still frames from the opening sequence of Intruder (2014) have many codes and conventions of thriller films.
The first still frame denotes an eye, which is cracked with blood also beginning to appear. The blood connotes death and danger and that the character is witnessing something violent. Additionally, the cracks go through the eye, which may signify a loss of vision. The crack causes a gap in the eye that is black, this connotes darkness and that the character cannot bear to witness what is happening and would rather not see. The opening credits are written in block capitals, which gives them a hardened image. On the other hand, they are written in a small, white font, this draws the attention away from the credits, as they seem insignificant so the audience focuses on the film.
In the second image, there is a figure that appears to be emerging from the ground; this connotes something paranormal because it is like they are returning from their grave. Plus, there are a large amount of grey clouds and fog in the scene; this is a pathetic fallacy, which simplifies that something bad is going to happen, due to the bad weather and atmosphere. The character is small compared to the image, which connotes vulnerability and fear. Also, there is a city in the background; the character is a large distance from the city, which connotes that there has been a problem in society, which has led to people being separated or sent away, similar to a prison.
The third image denotes a spiralling staircase. It connotes that the problem is never-ending. This is a graphic match, as it also resembles an eye, like the one in the first still frame. This signifies that someone is watching them, but they’re not aware that they are being watched, as it is not obvious without paying a large amount of attention to it.
In the fourth image there is a clenched fist, which is breaking off into small pieces, this connotes confusion because the character does not know whether to be angry or not. On the other hand, it may connote that the character’s anger towards someone has destroyed them. As part of the hand is missing, it connotes a loss of identity.
The fifth image denotes a statue of an angel in a forest. The angel connotes support and guidance as well as innocence as they are well known for helping people.
The sixth still frame from the opening scene is of a face which is cracked and pieces are breaking off, this connotes a loss of identity. Additionally, you cannot see the whole of the character’s face, as they are hidden it connotes mystery as you don’t know who it is. The broken pieces are fading into the darkness, this connotes that something impure has had an impact on the character. This is similar to the seventh still frame, which also shows a face that is cracked, but another face is coming out from the child. The child connotes innocence whilst the face appearing from her head is old and is frowning slightly, which simplifies to impurity. This may also signify that the child is possessed as there are other beings in her mind or that her thoughts are not innocent.
The final image from the opening sequence of intruders is of a smoky background with the title on top of it. The smoke connotes something hidden because you cannot see through it as well as fire, which further connotes to death and danger. The title has a small amount of fire on it, this connotes that the characters are not safe and the title name ‘Intruders’ shows that the intruder is putting them in danger.
All of the images are dull and dark which can be associated with death and danger. Also, the images do not appear to link with each other, which connotes that there are going to be several plot twists in the film, these are very common in thriller films.
Amy Miller