RESEARCH- Amercian Psycho (2000)

I have chosen to do my thriller opening analysis on American Psycho, as I think the opening to this film, similar to most thriller films, is very vague and mysterious and this opening creates slight suspense due to how vague it is. The one thing this opening lacked unlike most other thriller openings, is the opening credits, although I don't think the opening credits would have complimented the mysteriousness of this scene.

The clip starts off with non digetic sound of classical piano music which is very soft and also creates a sad mood, which contrasts with the light scenery in the man's (Patrick Bateman) apartment. This sad tone to the music foreshadows the content of Patrick Bateman's character later on in the film. His voice then comes in over the music, and he is describing his life briefly in a very monotone unenthusiastic voice. The audience instantly gets an idea of his mysterious nature through the use of camera work. There is a close up of his face in the reflection of Les Miserables poster which means 'The Miserable' in French. I thought this was very clever as it again subtly foreshadows his character. The camera also zooms into his face slowly which creates an air of edgyness while he's talking.

I think what also creates the air of mysteriousness in this opening scene is the subtle humour that the film uses. For example his daily routine in the morning appears to be quite comical and weird, but the fact that it is quite weird makes the opening maintain its suspense, like most thriller films do.

The most commonly used shots in this opening scene are close ups and medium shots. I think these are used to help the audience vaguely establish the character through use of body language, facial expressions and scenery. The editing is also very fast and snappy which suits the odd vibe of the scene.

When he starts going into further detail about the confusion of his own character, the classical piano music seems to change to a more scary kind of tone, which shows another side of his character as oppose to his mysterious edgy character shown previously in the clip. This is accompanied by a close up, showing his face to be very straight and emotionless. After this, the music drops even deeper and becomes even more scarier, as he says, "I simply am not there".