Thriller openings - Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Claire

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo –

The opening shot is of houses and trees covered in snow, it’s a fade from black start so the lighting is dark then brightens up, and the colours are dull and basic. It’s a panning shot to show you what else is around. You can see from the few houses it’s a remote place. There’s the ambient wind sound, a slow soundtrack of ‘ooohs’ then a sound bridge of a phone ringing before it cuts to the house. I think they done this to create mystery and suspense.

ELS of the house from an eye level angle 

It changed to a shot of the man picking up the phone. The lighting is only coming from on very obvious place the rest of the place is very dark and shadowed. The colours are very dull and neutral, lots of white, black and grey. It’s a MS and it’s at a slight high angle. I think they done this to make the importance of the phone call stand out.

After this shot there is a few of Shot Reverse shots, but the people are in different places, there’s a sound bridge over while the two are talking on the phone and you get random shots of them talking. Both places have dark lighting, dull and dark colouring, which sets a depressing atmosphere. Their costumes are basic, one is in a simple Woolley jumper with a zip and a t-shirt, the other have a blazer and shirt on from what you can see. The first man is at his home, while the second is at what looks like an office/study room.  The first man has MS shots, whereas the other man has CU and BCU shots. The first man is at eyelevel and the second is from high angles, and his face is never shown. I think this is done to create enigma and to make the audience more engaged, make them feel the atmosphere, the power within the scene. 

 

 

 

As the second man leaves the room it goes to a shot of this picture and frame on the table he was standing next to. This picture from is all that is show for the rest of the short clip. With a soundtrack, and then a fade to black. I think they done this to show what the two men were talking about on the phone and the importance of this picture.