Director Case Study

Quentin Tarantino

Tarantino is an American film director and was born in 1963. He has directed many popular thriller films such as Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Death Proof and Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino is known for his famous collaborations of styles combing into one, such as Sonny Chiba-style Kung Fu and spaghetti western to create Kill Bill. He has been nominated for 7 oscars and won one for 'Best Original Screenplay'.

David Fincher

Another famous thriller director is David who is an American director also. His most famous work includes 'Panic Room' and 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'. He is also for his directing and filming of many music videos Fincher and has achieved a 'Academy Award' for his famous film 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button'.

Panic Room

In the beginning of the opening sequence, it shows the Columbia production with an eerie wind sound effect to express the point that the film is a thriller. It also builds up to the actual opening titles showing the film producers and cast. The titles are faded in from a black screen to show New York City from a high angle. The camera moves forward to make the audience feel like they are looking down at the city and can see everything. While this is happening, slow deep strings are being played in the background to  build tension and curiosity for the audience, 'Columbia Pictures' is also shown in the sky in a silver stone font. This can represent security which is the role of a panic room and also it blends with the city. The transitions between each scene is basically a quick cut, each title has its own angle which are written near buildings. When the 'Panic Room' title appears, a deep string is played to express that it is the main title and highlight of the credits. Sounds of the city are also edited into the music to show natural surround which includes car horns and car passes.

Se7en

In this opening sequence, the music being played in background is very eerie as it consists of high choirs and a dark drum beat. This scary music makes the opening sequence very chilling and expresses that the film is a thriller. Many sound effects such as door creaks and tape recordings are used to make the music disturbing for the viewer.

 There are no digetic sounds as all of the music has been edited into the film and no dialogue is present from any characters, there is however vocals added in to the music.

The transitions in the opening sequence are very fast which makes the scene fast paced, this also creates tension and suspense for the audience. 

Fight Club

In this opening sequence, the camera is zooming out from a person and starts right at their genes. The opening is set in a dark and gritty atmosphere with adrenaline pumping music being played in the background. The music is also in sync with the titles as they suddenly appear and then soon fade away in a smoke effect, they are written in a luminous blue which is stands out and shows contrast against the dark background. Towards the end of the opening sequence, the camera completely zooms out from 'within the person' and shows a helpless man sweating in a chair with a gun pointed towards his mouth.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

This opening sequence is both disturbing and yet interesting. It shows many clips of objects in the form of black ink, this represents the 'tattoo'. The clips mainly focus on a woman covered in ink or made of ink, she is seen emerging from a sea of ink and also shows many electric plugs resembling snakes covered in ink. Every scene is set in a dark setting and the only contrast from this is fire, matches falling down to the ground and a type of glorious bird that seems to be on fire as it flies upwards. The music that is being played in the background is very insane which matches the scenes. This makes the viewer confused and yet intrigued.