Opening Sequence - Kiss Me Deadly

Kiss Me Deadly – Opening Sequence
The title of the film:
The title of the film is called ‘Kiss Me Deadly’, and we first see the title appear on the screen after we see a girl running and stopping a car to get in, and after that we have a personal view of the car driving along the road. As before the title is central in the screen but this time the credits are rolling down so you almost read it as it comes on the screen.

How the setting/location is revealed:
The audience gets to see a long shot of a woman running down a road and we assume that it’s a road due to cars passing her and how there are markings on the road for the cars. Also, the shot could suggest that this road is a motorway as cars are driving past fast and that it’s in the middle of nowhere surrounded by grass/fields.

Costumes/props:
When the woman first appears on the screen we see that she is quite young with very short hair, and the only thing that she is wearing is a lightly coloured trench coat and also she isn’t wearing any shoes maybe telling the viewer that she is running away from something in a panic. Also, the man in the car looks very formal and upper class, and the viewer suggests this by his car, as it looks like a top of the range car and very sporty.

Camera work/editing:
During the opening sequence there are many different shots and angles used effectively. Firstly, the unusual usage of the mid shot works very well as it shows a woman’s legs running barefoot, and this makes the viewer question at what has happened to her and why is she running, is she in any trouble. Also, ‘shot, reverse, shot’ is used to show the male and female characters just looking at each other.

Title and font style:
As before like in other thriller opening sequences the viewer sees the usage of big, bold traditional font styles. And these simple texts are always centred into the screen. Also, I believe that this type of font and title doesn’t give away much information about the film making the viewer have to watch on.

How the opening sets the story:
The story is set in a car of man and he has picked up the woman who was running away from something, and when they come to police stop the audience find out that the woman has run away from an insinuation, and that the man has now lied to the police to help this woman. This works well as the viewer finds out some information about the plot but not a lot is given away, making the viewer watch on.

How does it suggest that it’s a thriller:
The opening sequence could suggest that this film is a thriller, by the usage of the quick cuts of different shots, for example mid-shot of legs cutting to a mid-shot of the woman’s upper body and then cutting to a long shot of the woman running. Also, in the opening there is a lot of shadowing making it very creepy for the viewer.

The characters introduced:
In the opening sequence the audience meets two characters, a male and a female. The female is first seen running away in panic making the reader question at what is wrong and why is she running. Secondly, we meet the male who is stopped by the woman who is trying to escape discomfort, and he is seen as a powerful person sitting up right and owning an expensive car.

Special effects:
In ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ I feel that there are no real special effects, maybe it could be because of it being made in the 50s, and also I feel it works well with no special effects as it makes the events look more realistic.