Thriller title sequences

The main aim of an opening scene in any film is to capture the audience's attention. In a thriller opening, this is ideally combined with the tone of suspense in order for the audience to get a feel of the film and sort of expect what will come later. There are two title sequences which i particularly like and which grab my attention enough to make want to watch the whole film;


The stepfather.

this opening is about 5 minutes long; it takes quite a long time for the audience to actually know what is going on, i think this technique is very effective as the audience know something is wrong (the creepy music, the calm and very ordered way in which the protagonist goes about his daily tasks subconsciously let the audience know something isn't right) this builds tension and suspense right from the beginning of the movie and makes the part where the dead bodies are found even more shocking and scary. The camera shot where all of the murderer's shaving equipment is shown very neatly and precisely laid out- almost as if he has OCD- is very effective; as it is one of the first shots in the movie, it shows right from the beginning that there is something mentally wrong with this man. The combination of sound, editing(flashbacks of the murder) and camera shots used all effectively create suspense and grab the attention of the audience.

The taking of pelham 123.
The opening sequence of this movie seems to be directly connected to trains (perhaps to establish the sub-genre of the film right form the beginning) for example, the music used at the very beginning sounds like a train, and even the production/distribution company (Columbia) is filmed as if it's a train getting closer to the screen. I particularly like the way the cast/director/producer etc.'s names appear and disappear on the screen throughout the opening sequence with a thick black line (as if the names are passengers and the line is a train collecting or dropping them off) Editing is the main technique used in this sequence to grab the audience's attention and establish the recurring theme of trains and sub-genre (action thriller)


Both of these opening sequences inspire me as to what techniques i may use while making my own thriller opening; i will concentrate on the editing and titles to make it look as authentic as possible, and also maybe use intertextuality of the the camera shots and music in the style of the stepfather in order to create suspense in my opening.