JP: Conventions of a Thriller Film Opening

Blade Runner (Scott, 1982)

What Generic Conventions are in this Clip?

• The first thing that I noticed about the opening sequence is the strong theme of religion. There are many close ups and long takes of religious drawings and carvings, creating an enigmatic feeling, especially when still images of Leonardo Da Vinci's work and other medical drawings flash across the screen.

• The dark lighting emphasizes the religious feel, as if it is shot inside a church. It also creates a mysterious and uneasy feel, as the darkness is usually used to show a fear of the unknown. This is then juxtaposed with the busy, industrial, futuristic-looking scene presented after the opening credits.

• Some of the drawings and carvings are very strange and puzzle the audience as to what they could mean or be portraying.

• The entire opening sequence is made up of mostly close ups of the strange carvings and drawings, with the camera slowly moving away, casting a shadow from one part of the drawing onto the rest. This could possible be representing the way that religion can overshadow humanity and human life can lose meaning when religion is concerned.

• After the slow, intriguing credits, an establishing extreme long shot is shown of a city with some flaming towers, like an industrial wasteland.

• There is some soft, futuristic music played in the background of the clip by a synthesizer, with a deep, mysterious sound rumbling in the background almost like a didgeridoo.

• Over the music, voices can be heard, slightly muffled, as though being heard through a radio or walkie-talkie, and this creates enigma codes and some of the words said over the radio are audible, and create a sense of puzzlement, because people want to know how to put them all together, Some examples of audible words are "science" and "criminal". Sometimes the streams of words degenerate to just whispers, as if whoever is talking is trying to be secretive in some way, thus reinforcing the enigmatic feeling.

• The long takes of the carvings and drawing, with slow fade transitions in between them create a calm atmosphere that is juxtaposed with sudden, temporary fast cutting rates of more exciting and interesting pictures, that are quite creepy and engage the audience even more.

• The whole slow scene is shot in black and white, creating a numbed sense about the opening, but it is contrasted with the sudden colourful outbursts.

• All the credits concerning people involved with the film are just in simple white font over the background, however the title of the film is presented in block capitals in a red font, which juxtaposes with the black and white theme that is evident and all the other typography.