North By Northwest - Opening Credits Analysis

Using Grip Equipment

Marnie opening

The music is loud and the pace is increasing, the sounds are non diegetic and there are many high pitched sounds which create an uncomfortable uneasy feeling. The high pitched sounds almost sound like screams.

The music begins to die out then begins again suddenly when the 'Marnie' title appears. The film is also a book so a page turning effect is used in the opening credits, with the cast and crew featured on these pages.

1st Scene -

 The establishing shot is silent with the sound of heeled footsteps walking. The establishing shot is a woman carrying a bright bag, the shot is very close up and eye level, as the woman walks away from the camera the yellow bag is still being focussed on which gives us the impression that the bag is a significant feature. 

The woman carries on walking and the camera is still in the same place, from the surroundings we can see she is on a train station platform. The surroundings are all very neutral and plain colours making the bag stand out even more, maintaining the attention.

2nd Scene - 

 This scene cuts straight from the first scene to a close up shot of a man shouting 'Robbed!' at the camera, he is poiting at a safe to show where the money was and then says how much money there was in there. The cut straight to this scene makes us think that the stolen cash is in the yellow bag as it is still fresh in our minds as the main object. 

The man then says 'That girl did it. Marian Holland. Thats the girl. Marian Holland.' the repetition of her name is done to help the viewer remember it for later on in the film when we will meet Marian. He is asked by a policeman to describe the woman, Marian and he describes her extremely precisely including very personal information such as measurements which immediatley makes us think that he has had some sort of relationship with this woman and that he has quite possibly been played for his money and then she has left him.  At this Point Mr Rutland a tall overpowering figure appears on the shot and Mr Strat approaches him. Mr Rutland's stance and body language indicates that he is of importance and that he is higher than Mr Strat because of the visual hierachy.

They discuss the robbery and then Rutland realises that Mr Strat has been taken for a mug. Mr Rutland describes Marian as "the one with legs" which is degrading her and dehumanises her. Mr Strat describes her as a 'Witch' because he thought she was nice but actually was just after his money. The camera then pans towards Rutlands face as he is realises something significant.

3rd Scene - 

Calm Music starts up again as soon as scene starts. Another close up shot of yellow clutch symbolises significance again and mirrors the shot earlier.  

We notice she is in a hotel as a bellboy is carrying her luggage down a hallway as if they are approaching a room. Hitchcock makes an appearance as Marian exits the hallway as he does in many of his films. 

4th Scene -

Music starts calmly and we have a long shot of her in her room with suitcases of new clothes, she opens the significant yellow bag to reveal all the stolen money and empties it into her suitcase, we then go to a close up of her opening her purse and pulling out an I.D card.  

with multiple ID cards being shown which tells the viewer that she has many different identities and that she may of committed fraud before. We then go to a close up of a sink full of water and hair dye as she recolours her hair to mask her old identity. The music pace suddenly increases into a romantic fairytale-esque sound as she reveals her face for the first time for a few split seconds. 

5th Scene - 

The fifth scence cuts to a medium shot of her body walking through a busy area with luggage bags and lots of people, the music dies out and we heard the sounds of the train station immediately making us think she is now going to go on the run. 

she locks all her luggage into a locker at the station and then cut to a close up of the floor where she strangely drops her key into a griddle drain and kicks it in.

Storyboard for preliminary task

This is the storyboard of our continuity excersise. This was also the original idea however we changed it slightly.

Fonts

By using watchthetitles.com and viewing thriller openings I studied the fonts used. I then went on dafont.com and tried to match the fonts as closely as I could. Bomber TV matches the Lost Highway, Eva font matches Eva and Aristotle punk matches Vantage Point.

Ongoing Popularity Of Thrillers

 WHAT LIES BENEATH 

The wife of a university research scientist believes that her lakeside Vermont home is haunted by a ghost - or that she's losing her mind.

THE BOURNE IDENTITY

A man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and without memory, then races to elude assassins and recover from amnesia.

MINORITY REPORT 

In a future where a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes, an officer from that unit is himself accused of a future murder.

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY

When Jason Bourne is framed for a botched CIA operation he is forced to take up his former life as a trained assassin to survive.

SNAKES ON A PLANE 
An FBI agent takes on a plane full of deadly and poisonous snakes, deliberately released to kill a witness being flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles to testify against a mob boss.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO 
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for forty years by Lisbeth Salander, a young computer hacker.
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN 
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
GONE BABY GONE 
Two Boston area detectives investigate a little girl's kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally. Based on the Dennis Lehane novel.
V FOR VENDETTA

A shadowy freedom fighter known only as "V" uses guerrilla tactics to fight against his terrorist, totalitarian society. Upon rescuing a girl from the secret police, he also finds his best chance at having an ally.

Continuity Excercise