Research Into a Thriller opening scene

 Extraction (2020)

Studio:

Director: Sam Hargrave

Main cast: Chris Hemsworth, Byron Lerum

This opening scene starts off by setting the location, we get some context from this as the city looks very battered and there is smoke and dust everywhere. This shows a theme of destruction and lack of care, which we expect to be carried through into the rest of the film. We then see the smoke of what looks like a car crash, or a bomb, on a bridge. This further more presents destruction and as we move closer we can begin to see what is happening and get a sense of what will happen in the rest of the film. The first character we are introduced to we see carrying a gun and covered in open wounds. This immediately adds to the narrative and tells us that there will be a lot of violence later on. We can tell he is a main character, either protagonist or antagonist. He looks like he is looking out for someone and he is in danger. From Chris Hemsworth's character we can tell that the film might be about a chase between two groups of people or one other person. We can tell that they are enemies from the violence between them and therefore the narrative of the rest of the film we expect there to be a rivalry and some sense of good and bad. 

The other people we see afterwards have hats on and we never see their face, therefore the audience does not feel connected to them, whereas the other man we can see his whole head and his facial expressions. This presents him more as the protagonist as it seems like he has nothing to hide.

The genre of thriller is set up from the amount of blood and gore we see, for example when someone gets shot you see them crawling across the road leaving a trail of blood. This is typical for a thriller as thrillers are usually about violence and blood. 

A key scene I think that used camera very effectively was the first part when it was panning over the city and then panned to the bridge to suddenly reveal the action. 
The camera generally in this is quite unsteady handheld shots, this helps present the nerve-wracking feelings this man is feeling when he knows there are people near that he is in danger from. 

The editing in the scene where the people are shooting each other presents how quickly everything is happening as there are very short quick cuts backwards and forwards. It then contrasts to the next part when the man is injured and there are long cuts, which shows how slowly time is going as he is in danger of death. 

The soundtrack at the beginning is very tense and has drums that increase in pace, creating fear and tension. It is very uncomfortable and makes the audience on-edge. 

In conclusion I think that this opening scene does not give too much of the narrative away, however begins to introduce it well. Therefore I think it is quite successful.