Our opening film sequence, which falls into the genre of 'Thriller', shows a rape victim telling her story to a police camera, as evidence. It follows her short journey up the path towards her flat, up the stairs, and into the hallway, where she is brutally attacked from behind. The sequence ends on an ambiguous note – the audience is aware that the rapist has not yet been found, this being the reason for which she is giving evidence, but does not know what happened immediately after the rape. I like the ambiguity with which we have ended on – it means we haven’t given too much away, the audience WANT to know what is going to happen to the rapist/his victim, and how the narrative will unfold.
Sub Genre
The sub-genre of our film opening sequence is a crime thriller, and follows most of the conventions of this, for example the seemingly ordinary location at first, which turns out to be more sinister than it seems, creating a false sense of security, the climactic music, and the holding back of the ‘evil’ characters full identities. It's a niche sub-genre, with a similarly niche target audience.
Anpther example of crime thriller :
Seven, produced in 1995 and starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman.
Some of the other conventions we followed, in terms of the sequence itself as opposed to the narrative, include:
- Titles equally spread throughout sequence
- Music seems to build up a sense of suspicion
- Holding back information
- Introducing main characters
Georgia Gerstein, our rape victim. Outgoing, socialite, likes to go out and have a good time etc.
Deniz Nisancioglu, the rapist. Dark, shady, full identity/appearance never revealed.
- Setting the location
-Introducing the narrative without giving too much away
Despite following all of these conventions however, it is set slightly apart from your average crime thriller in some ways. Although yes, it does follow the convetion of the female as the victim and the male as the dominant, evil character, the story is told through the perception of the female, something rarely seen in crime thrillers. The audience know this at once as it begins with our victim, Georgia, speaking directly to the camera, so they aware from the very first couple of seconds that the clips they are about to see are told directly from her own memory and perception.
Our opening sequence also challenges theories such as Todorov's, which states that all films start with a happy 'status-quo', an equlibrium of events where everything is as it should be, for example in films such as Legally Blonde. 'The Safehouse' however, begins with a disequilibrium, as the victim is looking back on a scary time. Even in the flashbacks shown, there is no 'happy status-quo', as she is drunk, after a night out, and being followed.
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