1. Conventions of a
Movie Opening
In a thriller

2.  The purpose of a film opening is to entice to continue to
invest themselves in the plot of the film
 The opening should establish it’s genre and sub-genre
clearly.
 They should set up for the appearance of the main
characters, the film’s main landscape and general tone.
 With thrillers, this can be done in many creative and eerie
ways
Panning
landscape
Pictorial
Narration
Title
Sequence
Flashback/
forward
Action

3.  Thriller film openings tend to follow similar plot lines such
as:
A normal, serene situation is produced but something is
‘off’ By doing this, they are establishing the normal
status quo which is going to be drastically changed and
distorted which is at the centre of the plot.
Or, a drastically abnormal situation such as spies or
aliens
 The length of thriller film openings are difficult to
measure as they tend to dissolve into the plot of the film.
The only way to tell is to note when the credits stop.