Thriller Analysis 2

The other thriller opening I have chosen to research is GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese, 1991).

GoodFellas Opening - YouTube

GoodFellas varies from Hitchcock slightly in that although the titles are still shown, the film also jumps straight into the action. The titles are the first thing to be shown, white font on a black background, accompanied by the ambient sounds of cars driving at high speed. The titles themselves whoosh onto screen as if they are cars, almost passing out of shot again before snapping back to the centre of the screen. The first shot proper is, as the small title sequence suggested, the back of a car travelling rapidly down a road. It is visibly night-time, as the surroundings are cast in darkness. This fulfils the convention of a thriller and also creates tension as the audience It then cuts to inside the car and three men are shown; the driver, the front-seat passenger who is asleep, and the back-seat passenger. All three men appear to be smartly dressed. This is intercut with more title screens including one saying 'New York, 1970' which makes the setting and time period clear to the audience. The sequence also fits into other thriller conventions as it has violence later on in the sequence. It is also heavily suggested throughout the opening 2 minutes that the characters are gangsters of some sort, as they use profanities and violence.