Questions posed/narrative in Thrillers

The different types of questions posed about the narrative in Thrillers

In the opening of The Dark Knight, the first shot is that of a zooming shot on a building. This immediately makes the audience wonder of the importance of this building and why the camera is zooming in on it instead of using a wide angle to create an establishing shot. Then after the window is broken, the audience then ask why that is happening, what the intentions behind breaking the window is and the identity or type of person (e.g. criminal, civilian, police officer) who has broken the window.

Another question in the opening is when the shot of the back of a man on a street corner is shown and the camera is zooming in on them. The audience first of all want to know the identity of the person standing there, why they are standing there, what is in their bag, why they need a mask and what they are about to do.




In the opening of Lord of War, the first shot is a rising shot from the ground (filled with casings) upwards (to a man standing with his back towards the camera. This makes the audience question who the man is, what he is doing dressed as a businessman in a warzone, where exactly is the war setting and other context to the war setting like why the fighting is occurring.

After the audience see the creation and transportation of a bullet for a Kalashnikov, they question where it is going and who will use this bullet. The question about the fighting is asked again (as it links to the start of the opening) as the audience want to know why this fighting is occurring. The audience also question the importance of the bullet in this story and what role they play in Nicolas Cage's profession or interests.