Thriller - Signs

Signs
Director: M. Night Shyamalan, (2002)

For more of my research I have looked at more thriller opening sequences. We were shown this opening sequence within class time. The film stars Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. The film is about an incoming alien invasion.

In the opening sequence, it is just titles upon a background. The background is blue and around the edges it seems faded slightly. The text fades in and out and is in block capitals. The titles also seem to be in time with the beat of the music. The music is very fast paced, and is mainly strings. The song builds at the start, introducing very violent strings and then it fades. It is then introduced again, this time even more violent and in time with the titles coming up on the screen.

The use of blues and blacks within it gives it a mystery and a sense to the audience that it is unearthly, as it is using a bluish green colour. The titles also fade in and out, also in time with the music . The music builds tension and is very dramatic compared to other thrillers such as Se7en and The Usual Suspects which is more subtle in the way it represents the opening sequence.

Titles:

 Touchstone Pictures presents

A Blinding Edge Pictures/Kennedy/Marshall Production

Main Actors:

Mel Gibson

Joaquin Phoenix

SIGNS

Actors:

Cherry Jones

Rory Culkin

Abigail Breslin

Patricia Kalember

Casting by: Douglas Aibel

Music by: James Newton Howard

Visual Effects Supervisors:

Eric Brevig

Stefen Fangmeier

Costume Design: Ann Roth

Edited by: Barbara Tulliver A.C.E

Production Designer: Larry Fulton

Director of Photography: Tak Fujimoto A.S.C

Executive Producer: Kathleen Kennedy

Produced by:

Frank Marshall

Sam Mercer

Written, Produced and Directed by:

M. Night Shyamalan