Film Opening Techniques & Elements in Mystery Genre Films (Research)

The opening scene: the most important, crucial, and fundamental minutes for deciding the fate of our story. It establishes the tone, mood, and characters. It can't be wasted in in superfluous visual and techniques, because in a world full of short attention spans these minutes decide if the audience is going to hear the whole story.

Hook the audience: The ideal goal is to engage the audience right away specially as apprentices with a low-budget, and unknown actors, we need to transform our weaknesses into advantages.

Establish the World: In the mystery genre this is done through different opening scene styles, but here are the most utilize ones based on the resources such as Ranidance.org and StudioBinder, and more. These openings are:

Voiceover Setup: The character tells the story in their perspective and own voice.

What is it: The films open with narration from a character or a causal agent of the story, usually offering backstory, reflection, or thematic setup (story's meaning)

Why it works: It quickly introduces the world and situation without much detail. This can be very useful because we want to engage the audience in these two minutes and it allows us to create mystery and intrigue, since the audience's initial thoughts would be driven by the narrator's perspective, which can allow us to introduce a plot twist later on, creating suspense about whether the narrator was the good guy, the bad guy, the object (causal agent), or none of the above.

How to use it: It is suggested that the voiceover be used appropriately, not only to provide information or facts, but also to reveal character perspective—and leave the rest to our audience. It's important to be subtle and avoid overdoing it or giving too many details, as this would spoil the mystery. Ideally, this perspective should evolve and change throughout the story; however, in the case of just an opening, it's important to keep it consistent and use rhetorical questions to engage the audience, creating an echo in our audience thoughts.

Why it appeals to me as an editor? This style of opening sequence really appeals to me because I can play with transitions and create confusion.  For example, I could use shots from the cinematographer that focus on a specific character and make people believe that this character is the narrator when they're not, which creates suspense and a desire to find out who this mysterious narrator is.  It's also a more direct approach because breaking the fourth wall creates a more immediate connection with the audience.  Furthermore, depending on what I want to edit—that is, what I decide to show at a specific moment in the narrative—I can create juxtaposition. For instance, I could take the audio that the director recorded with the villain's voice, showing him saying that what they're seeing is an injustice, but then I could edit it to a scene where a police officer is saving people. I can play with the audience POV and expectations. And I think this will be a good option for our Production since we can introduce the story in a coherent way, however the risk would be that if it's not edited properly the audio will lack attractiveness, and we get the risk of also telling the while story in the opening scene, even do still a good option to edit and do cinematography since actors don't need to learn a script they can read it which will save time of shooting the same shot repeatedly.

Media Production Example:

Goodfellas (1990)

In this opening scene, we can see a very clear example of voiceover, where the narrator is the boy who will surely be the main character of this film. But how do we know that? Even though he only talks about Jimmy "The Gent," we can agree that he talks about him as a role model. We infer this because, through his narration, he provides facts about what this character does. However, the most interesting thing is that he shows us his opinion; the illegal activities and stealing that Jimmy did didn't seem bad to him because, in the end, he gave money to everyone and was very generous, but above all, because he evoked respect among people. This gives us the expectation that Henry (the narrator boy) wants to follow in his footsteps.

Editing: In this scene, we can see the editing work. When the boy is narrating and mentions Jimmy's name and the respect he evokes, we see Jimmy being introduced, entering the scene when his name is mentioned. Later, we see the boy's face, and we infer that it's him because when he starts to say "I...", he's there. But beyond that, we see his lips closed almost all the time; he doesn't say anything, and this makes us understand that what we are hearing in the narration are his thoughts. But also, every time he mentions something interesting about Jimmy, he proves it with the visuals, for example, "he gives money to the man who opened the door," and then proceeds to show him taking out bills and giving them to the man; is incredible how editing at the right moment can introduce characters.

Mise-en-scène: Furthermore, the scene creates mystery through what we can see: the place where they are is rather dimly lighted, only men in rough but formal clothing that makes them look like "gangsters," a place of gambling and money, where a boy shouldn't supposedly be, and we know this because Henry's clothes are more common compared to the adults there. With small details that are intentional, we can analyze and shape perspectives.

Sound: This scene, make an exchange and combination between the narration (non-diegetic sound) which is stronger than the dialogues in the scene (diegetic sound), with the purpose of emphasizing the contrast between Henry's consciousness and reactions, but also to clarify he is the protagonists, while the diegetic sound stand in the back to make the narration real, chaotic, logic to compress auditory space.

Cinematography: Semi-wide shots are used especially when Jimmy gives a lot of effort to visualize his control and power, there are also subtle dollies and pans to show Jimmy's reaction with his hands and also keeping the focus on the hotspots while Henry and another character occupy mid-range spaces but leaving some distance between Jimmy and them to show respect and not create tension (this follows the rule of thirds.)

Intrigue: A style that captivates and confuses us, but leaves us on the edge of our seats, wanting to see more.

What it is: An opening scene that begins with a strange, inexplicable, or unusual situation, image, or sound that immediately raises questions.

Why it works: As humans, curiosity is inevitable and a weakness for many, so it's one of the most powerful advantages. If something seems out of place and beyond our understanding, the audience is drawn in.  Furthermore, they want to prove that their initial assumptions are correct to feel smarter, and this is perfect because they'll want to stay and solve not just a part of the puzzle, but the whole thing. Who wouldn't accept a challenge?

How to use it: It is recommended to use it strategically, starting with a question, without explanation or details, in order to create ambiguity, tension, suspense, intrigue, and mystery. The goal is to create and atmosphere full of doubts and unanswered questions, it is imperative to do it in a progressive way to let the question round in the mind of the audience, before introducing a new one.

-It also works for thrillers, sci-fic and horror movies.

Why it appeals to me as an editor? This type of opening catches my attention, because although it can be complicated to understand, it's interesting. For example, with editing, I can create intrigue; a match cut could show the correlation between two objects or reactions, but it would confuse the audience since it transports them to a different, unexpected place, which can raise questions. Or I could start with a montage to show the passage of time without showing the initial event, but instead starting directly with the next one, or use an eyeline match, which can show us the correlation between what the character sees. In some cases, this can lead us to wonder why they are looking at something, and if we cut to suspenseful music or a profound silence, it can create the illusion of fear, and the audience begins to connect the pieces little by little, slowly solving the mystery.

I think this would be a good idea that we could implement in our story since it naturally creates suspense and can help us avoid the mistake of intentionally trying to tell the entire story in the opening scene.

Media Production Example:

Donnie Darko (2001)

In this opening scene, we can appreciate a clear example of intrigue through:

Cinematography - as it begins with a panoramic shot showing the remote mountains in the early morning and somewhat dark (Mise-en-scène), which, when combined with the lack of dialogue, helps avoid editing errors. Sound - it includes sounds of nature, which is intended to immerse us in the environment and makes it seem mysterious, especially since we only see one place and try to adapt to the surroundings, until we move on to the introduction of the character Donnie, the boy lying down who apparently fell off his bicycle. This was an intelligent decision because you start to wonder: who is he? Why is he alone? Why, if he apparently fell, doesn't he groan or express pain, but simply continues? Extending the silence creates more questions, and we switch to seeing the boy's point of view, where more questions arise: where is he going?

Furthermore, we see that the camera moves slowly, creating a sense of mystery and tension as it pans around the area, setting the tone for the scene.

Then the camera tracks and pans selectively to show Donnie's journey to his neighborhood.

And most importantly for me, the editing, using an approach of long establishing shots, creates a continuity of events that maintains the narrative logic. Also, the use of cuts between Donnie's perspective and the surrounding environment (road, bikes) suddenly hints at a vulnerability, which could foreshadow the contrast between a calm suburban setting (happy people walking in pajamas = peace, this is Mise-en-scène and happy music (sound)). The audience might sense that something is about to happen.

Takeaways & Lessons: I've learned much more about how certain opening styles can be more specific and work better in a particular genre. I've gained a better understanding of the options I have for creating that sense of mystery, and I now have a foundation to build upon. I've clarified my doubts about how to create tension without forcing it and how to maintain narrative logic. Depending on the decisions we make as a production team, we can implement ideas where we can use this type of openings to meet our goals and be specific about what we want the audience to feel and understand.