Essay 2 - Conventions of a thriller genre

Conventions of the thriller genre, analysis of 2 thriller openings

We have decided to analyse two film openings, these are from the films; Collateral and City of God. These two were chosen particularly because of their similarity to our film in terms of genre and plot. Especially Collateral due to the spontaneous storyline and how innocent people become involved in situations.

To begin with the conventions of the thriller genre, particularly the sub-genre of action thriller are made clear in the openings of Collateral through the camera shat and angles, sound, editing and mise en scene.

The opening of this film begins to conform the conventions of the thriller genre initially, the mise en scene of the opening; the setting for this film is in Los Angeles. Thrillers are often set in large cities; also the main character appears to be a cab driver, this simple and ordinary profession is also typical of the genre. The recurring theme of juxtaposition – unusual things happening to ordinary people is typical of the thriller genre and this ordinary job combined with the slow paced editing of the opening sequence creates and calm mood which is going to be contrasted with something chaotic later on in the film. This comes in the form of an unknown character who offers a lot of money to be driven around all night - this in itself could be considered the out of the ordinary occurrence. 

This mystery character appears to be an assassin - the inclusion of this profession or theme of organised crime is also a convention of a thriller. The clothes and props used by this character are that of a bussiness man, he is wearing an expensive suit, looks well groomed and carrys a briefcase. The clothes, props and look of Tom Cruise's character make him appear stong and powerful, another convention of the typical "bag guy" character in a thriller film, this creates a large contrast with the clothes and props of Jamie Foxx's character - the cab driver. He wears casual clothes, wears glasses - a prop that give a sense of vulnerability to his character contrasting with the powerful character of Tom Cruise. This direct contrast between the good and bad characters is typical of any film let alone a thriller. 
In the film; City of god, there are many elements that are typical of the thriller genre. This film falling under the sub-genre of action thriller. The sound in the opening seconds of the film alone portray the contrast between the calm (the non-diegetic sound of the background music) and the high tempo (the diegetic sound of a knife being sharpened on a rock). The contrasting sound combined with the flashes of video on the screen  furthers the idea of contrast and juxtaposition in the thriller genre. This initial portrayal of contrast between calm, everyday environments and violent, shocking events foreshadows to the viewer that the film is a thriller as they have been shocked within the first few seconds of the movie. The inclusion of knives in the opening few seconds of the film also introduce the idea of violence and crime to the film very early on - another typical convention of a thriller.

The editing in the opening scene of City of God is very fast paced, it contains elements of montage editing all focused around the killing and preparation of chickens, this shows the viewer a theme of death and violence and combined with the fast paced non-diegetic  background music creates an intense atmosphere for the start of the film and gives the viewer the feeling that the film is building up toward a climax.
The chase scene where the chicken is being pursued through the favela by the group of kids is a take on the typical convention of the "chase scene". The inclusion of this scene in the film shows an almost cliched convention of the thriller or action-thriller movie.
The setting of this film opening; in a favela - is also typical of a thriller, the favela seems to be the place where the bad guys live in. It is typical because the evil characters are often portrayed as living in lower class and run down areas.