Thursday 25 October 2007

Studying the opening of 'Point Blank'

I'm looking at the opening of Point Blank because I believe it is a classic thriller and has had a huge influence on all gangster revenge thrillers since, with it's fractured narrative and the whole urban jungle feel of the film.

Film opens with white block text over a bright red backdrop, giving a sense of impending violence. This then fades into a MCU shot of Walker (Lee Marvin), and the camera slowly zooms out. All of a sudden we hear two shots as the title of the film comes up and we see Walker falling to the ground in what we can only presume is some kind of cell. The lighting at this point is kept to a minimum with only a small amount of nayural light. the camera then goes to a close up of Walker lays on the ground, presumably dying, and hear his dying murmurs. the camera then turns to face the corner of the cell which Walker is staring into and then reverses to look back at him, as if he is thinking. We then hear the sounds of a party and quickly cut to a drunk looking Walker. From here on in we are shown everything that that has happened up to this point in the film, from Mal and Walkers first meeting, to the robbery in the jail, and to Walker's betrayal by his wife and Mal. All through this we keep cutting back to the suppossedly dying Walker, giving the impression he is contemplating his life before his death. Once the story has gone full circle, we hear Walker narrate a line and all of a sudden the camera tilts up with Walker from the floor and the titles begin to come up on the screen, while wind instrments play in the background.

I believe this opening is extremly effective as within 5 minutes the audience is hooked and want to know how Walker will get his revenge. As well as this we have been told about half an hours worth of film time in a sixth of the time, meaning there is more time in the film for the actual revenge part of the thriller as we have witnessed the build up. When it comes to making the opening of my thriller, doing a kind of montage like this would be a really interesting thing to do. Maybe I could even make the montage a group of random images, that then have relevance later on in the film.

I would really recommend that anyone who hasn't seen this film should seek it out.

1 comment:

LATYMERMEDIA said...

this is a really uesful analysis michael - what about your own ideas for an opening sequence? are they inspireed by this or any other openings?

ms b