Sin City

Sin City

The opening of Sin City instantly presents the genre before and image is projected on the screen. There is a sound bridge which includes car horns and police sirens, this helps reinforce the thriller genre beautifully and helps represent the location. The non-diegetic sounds of a sleazy jazz music which also connotes rundown 1940’s New York, a stereotypical thriller location. The film comfortably slides into a wide establishing shot from a black fade; this shot connotes the female characters loneliness and isolation within society. The wide open space also shows the female’s vulnerability in a society corrupt with sex, drugs and crime.

The immense amount of chiaroscuro lighting helps form an enigma on the male characters face with the use of shadow; this exquisitely follows the general convention of having an enigmatic character to create mystery and suspense. This use of shadow is similar to that in Carol Reed's A Third Man. 

  The poetic narrative helps emphasise the intellectual nature of the thriller genre, also the use of narrative helps the audience engage with the male character like Billie in Essex Boys. There is a variety of shots which are stretched out for a very long time; this was done to show a likeness to Carol Reed’s A Third Man which is one of the most iconic thrillers of its time. The use of long shots helps the audience engage with the piece whereas with jump cutting it feels too rushed.

The use of extra-long cigarettes, Zipo lighters and silencer guns helps reinforce the genre at a basic level and also gives a sense of elegance and class. There are effects which are added during the edit which also show that the film is a comic styled piece, examples of this is the use of black and white with subtle colours coming through, which gives the film a Marvel comic feel. At the end of the opening there is a extreme crane shot where the camera rises revealing that the male character is submerged in a gritty looking city. “I will cash her check in the morning.” This is the last sentence spoken by the male character, this shows the corrupt money driven society we live in, in other words he is summing up a life to mere money.