Ideas for Thriller Opening Sequence

4 ideas for Thriller Opening Sequence

1)   ANARCHY

Film Plot: Anarchy follows a young, reckless police negotiator who has to react quickly to a rapidly deteriorating situation in the heart of a busy English city, where he must attempt to stop a group of suicide bombers from causing chaos and anarchy.

Opening Sequence Plot: We begin with the terrorist leader coordinating the bombers across the city. Then cut to the police negotiator rushing to his car with a colleague driving towards an unknown location with sirens on. Follow the policeman for the journey but its edited to seem very quick. Action shot of them running out of the car. Then focus on 1 terrorist, who is  unsure that he wants to do it. Close ups of eyes, hands on the trigger, then to finish, the terrorist quickly pulls the trigger upon arrival of the negotiator.

2)   *SIGNING OFF*

Film Plot: Signing off follows a middle-aged woman who is last to leave her office every night. This time round, she has an unexpected visitor and her life will turn upside down.

Opening Sequence Plot: Start with woman just finishing a long piece of work on a desktop computer. Pan shot of dark office to show she is only person there.  Woman turns off remaining lights etc to show that this is her normal routine. But have her react to one light, which is turned off already, but is never turned off before she leaves, to signify that she is not alone and she knows it. She then calls out, but no response, so carries on walking towards the elevator. Close up of her pressing the lift button, then she turns around one final time. Mid shot of her as lift doors opening and we see a dark, shadowy figure in the elevator waiting for her, then fade to black to leave suspense.

3)   Cracked

Film Plot: Cracked is about a man who is taking part in a harsh lie detector test because of his late wife’s death. The questioner doesn’t believe he is telling the truth. Is he playing the machine? Or is he fighting for Justice for his wife?

Opening Sequence Plot: First shot immediately put into interviewing room, seeing a mid shot of the staring face of the interviewer. Silence for a few seconds, then interviewer asks why the man being interviewed is lying. Cut to shot of man with many patches on his head, showing it’s a lie detector test. Panicking, man says he isn’t lying, then show close up of sweat dripping down his face.  Then shoot a load of random objects like a loud clock, the steam coming out of a coffee mug, and a fly buzzing round a room. No dialogue needed as building tension. Then the interviewers ask why the man killed his wife. No response, then interviewee walks out. As he is leaving, man says that he didn’t kill her, but a small beep goes off, signifying that it might be a lie.

4)   HAZARDOUS

Film Plot: Hazardous follows a scientist who works for the Centre of Disease Control (CDC). When working on a cure for a deadly disease, he seems to have found the answer to his problems. But this may seem fatal in the upcoming days.

Opening Sequence Plot: Do a tracking shot, following a normally dressed man into a laboratory. No dialogue, but classical music playing in background on a stereo, showing it’s a normal day. Man puts on safety HAZMAT suit, and then a close up of the helmet being put on. Close up of hand typing in code for another locked room.  We follow the man in, and he does some chemistry things with some test tubes.  He then drops the test tube onto the floor and it shatters, and the man panics and runs to the door. Alarms going off, music stops, and we see a close up of the terrified man, who then shuts his eyes and falls to the ground. Close up of alarm for a few seconds to help emphasise danger and damage this could cause.