Conventions of Thriller Film openings

The opening of the film is the directors shot to introduce the film but also to grab the attention of the audience so that they want to continue watching. 

The opening must:

Set the scene - this is important as for the audience if confirms when it was set i.e. what time period and the location - where it was set. The audience knows what is going on and can interpret elements from the film.


The Title must be shown so that the audience know what film they're watching but also the names of the actors so that we know who is in it - they get an understanding of the type of film from typecast actors.

Introduce the lead character so that the audience know who the film is about and may discover something about them and what is going on, the environment they are currently in.


Using Todorovs theory - how there is firstly an equilibrium where everything is okay for it then to be disrupted by an event usually involving the villain, the hero then goes on a quest to resolve the equilibrium and then in the end the equilibrium is restored to how it once was or as close to -  it should show the equilibrium and how things are so that we then begin to think to ourselves how this could then be disrupted. In the Dark Knight we see the Joker disrupt the equilibrium by blowing up the hospital.

Some music should be played in the opening credits because this goes along with setting the scene, it provides music to accompany tension, it can go along with the time period therefore it is important that it is in the first bit of film that we see.