Thriller Comparisons

Thriller comparisons

The DaVinci code (Ron Howard) The opening sequence has slow music which builds up to a climax when the DaVinci code title comes into shot; the title has a blue tinge to it. There are also fast cuts showing a man running it goes from mid shot to long shot as the camera tracks him while he is running through the shadows. There is also a long shot showing a man stalking the man who is running it is in the shadows so the identity of the man is a mystery which builds suspense for the audience. Whilst they are running past the camera there are what look like distressed paintings which matches the feelings of the man running past the painting. We are then introduced to the villain after we see a close up of a gun which then moves to his face as he removes his mask. We then see the man take the shot from a low angle and we also see the man on the floor looking up at the gun.

 

Silence of the lambs (Jonathan Demme) At the start of silence of the lambs there is a long shot of a woman coming over a hill which gradually moves into a mid-shot. There is low music in the background coming from string instruments. The lady is running and the audience don’t know why there is a slight emphasis on the woman’s breathing which makes me feel as though she has something on her mind that is making her more tired than usual. We then see a establishing shot of a dull grey big building which tells me that this place or scene will be negative because of the connotations that go with the colour grey. We then see the woman creeping round corners as if she is expecting something or someone to be on the other side of the corner but there isn’t anyone and then a blurry figure comes into the background as he starts to talk he comes into shot.

 

Strangers on a train (Alfred Hitchcock) The start has background music that is high pitch and stop start which builds tension. The first shot we see is the back of a man’s head it then moves to people talking in a room the man talking then drops his pipe in anger. The next part shows a man walking and being followed by a woman she then stops and talks to someone and then after that we see a shadow of a man in a hat at the top of a stairwell in the distance, It then gets built up with the music.

 

Eyes wide shut (Stanley Kubrick) Mid shot of a man with a long shot of a man following him, the music in the background is piano notes from both ends of the piano also the sound of footsteps is emphasised to show the pace that he is walking. The man then gets jumpy as he tries to get a taxi and gets more and more jumpy as he keeps getting rejected by those in the taxis.​

Similarity's/Differences

Has low music played with mostly string instruments which is similar to Silence of the lambs it builds suspense and then the climax to the music comes when the title appears on the screen.
The beginning shots of the characters running in both the DaVinci code and silence of the lambs are similar. But the difference is one is running from a stalker the other is running on assault course.


The DaVinci code is similar to the start of eyes wide shut because the opening scene shows the characters being stalked by another person in the opening sequence.
The differences to the 4 clips are that each clip has different instruments making the music at the start but it all sound or creates the same effect upon the audience that are watching.