Music

After our research into thriller opening sequences, we had a discussion with our class mates about the different elements of them and how they are key to making a successful opening sequence. We decided that music used in the opening sequence really helps to emphasise the narrative and create an effective tense atmosphere for the audience. We decided that if the music is chosen cleverly, it can help to tell the narrative, or can incorporate the title of your film. 

After some discussion and brainstorming with my group, we decided that the song we would use at the very beginning of our opening sequence would be ‘Jealousy’ by Frankie Miller. We chose this song as the lyrics link very closely with the narrative of our thriller film. The narrative of our thriller is: Josh & Jasmine (me) are in a relationship, however, Hannah is extremely jealous as she wants to be with Josh. It all leads to a horrific end for Jasmine, after Josh and Hannah’s plan to get rid of her, so that they can be together, is successful.

Of course, the name of our film is ‘Jealousy’ so that was incorporated impeccably with the song. The lyrics ‘I blame you, but it’s really me’ reflects the reason behind the jealousy in our piece, and helps to tell the storyline. Additionally, “I love you more, than you love me” reflects the relationship between two of the characters in our thriller. Although the song we have chosen is not stereotypical of a thriller film, we did this intentionally. This is because we wanted something that was unusual, that helped to grab the attention of the audience. Additionally, we felt that having the music help to explain our narrative to the audience would create lots of enigma codes, as the audience would wonder ‘who is jealous of who?’, ‘why did they jealousy start?’, etc. 

We then decided that once the mood of the opening had obviously changed, that we needed music that was a lot more sinister and eerie. Therefore, when Jazz’s body is shown for the first time, we decided we would use non-diegetic strings. This is a stereotypical music choice of a thriller opening as it helps to create fear and tension in the audience. We spent a while searching through different pieces of music, until we finally found one that we were happy with: ‘G321 - Thriller Opening 

Music’.