The Usual Suspects analysis

In the the opening scene of "The Usual Suspects", the audience first see darkness which gives us a sense of mystery. This darkness is directly contrasted by a match being lit and we are then introduced to the first character, who is smoking. The next cut we see is a panning shot of a gas can dripping. This gives the audience the impression of danger.

When the first character drops his lighter to allow the fire to spread, we are introduced to the second character who appears to be an antagonist as he puts out the fire with his urine, this leads the audience to believe that he is destroying hope. The camera then pans upwards to reveal his silhouette within the shadows, This leads us to believe that he is a mysterious character with an unknown identity. Whilst the second character walks toward the first character, the camera only tracks his feet leaving the antagonist to remain faceless adding to his obscurity. A low camera angle is used to show the antagonist (however hi face is still not shown) which makes him seem powerful, this is contrasted with the high camera angle used to show the first character, this makes him seem inferior to the antagonist.

After the first character and the antagonist finish talking, the antagonist raises gun gun in  the characters direction, leaving the audience in suspense, it then cuts to a long shot of the boat that the characters are on, and the audience hear a gun shot without seeing anything. The audience then see the antagonist setting the boat on fire and leaving the scene which leaves the audience wanting to watch more so that they can discover the background of the scene.

Similarities and differences of Bourne Ultimatum and The Usual Suspects

One difference between these two opening sequences is the fact that in Bourne Ultimatum  the camera shots are hand held which creates a hectic atmosphere and emphasises the fact that the character is being rushed or is in an uncomfortable situation. However, the opening sequence for The Usual Suspects use more static shots to show that both character were calm, although low cameras were used on the second character to show that he is the authority figure, this was also emphasised from the fact that the first character was looking                      

up at the second character. In this particular shot from The Usual Suspects, the second character appears to obstruct the shot even though the camera is focused on the first character. This shows the second characters dominance.




In the opening sequence of Bourne Ultimatum, the first character constantly has flash-backs which appear blurred and suggest that the characters memories are unclear yet very similar to his current situation.

Both of these opening sequences use dark shadows to create mystery. For example, in The Usual Suspects, dark shadows are used to hide the identity of the second character and it also makes him appear in control and important.
In the Bourne Ultimatum, dark shadows are used when the main character is hiding from police. This shows he want to be hidden.

Silence of the lamb

In "Silence of the lamb", the audience are immediately aware that the genre of the film is a thriller due to the dark foggy setting at the beginning. It is also set in the woods which has connotations of abandoned and secluded which is expected from a thriller genre.
When we are first introduced to the female character, the audience is led to believe that she is a victim, this is because of the way the camera tracks her from behind which suggests she is being chased. the camera then tracks her feet to show her speeding up which creates suspense and fear however, we as an audience soon learn that she is in fact doing an assault curse. The first clue the audience were given was the fact that she climbed the rope which was very physical and leads us to believe the she is an atypical female character because of her physical ability. We then see the badge on her jumper that says "FBI", this shows that she is not a victim at all but a very active and strong character. The female character is then given a name (Sterlin) by a male FBI member, this makes her appear as less of a disposable character and enables the audience to form a relationship with her.