ANALYSIS OF THE OPENING SEQUENCE OF THE USUAL SUSPECTS

The opening scene of the usual suspects allows us to see the characterisation, genre and narrative. The character the audience see on screen the most is Keeton, who is killed within he first few minutes. Keeton’s camera time is three times as long as the other characters which hints to the audience that a lot of the film time will be focused on him.  The audience firstly learn that all the men apart from Verbal Klempt seem to have past experience with the police, hence the title ‘the usual suspects’. For example both Hackney and Mc Mannus both have 5 armed police to arrest them which indicate their possible aggression. However Keimpt believes he is innocent. When the audience first see Kiempt the camera angle goes upwards from his feet towards his limped leg, to a medium close up of his angelic face. Furthermore due to his limped leg the audience presume his innocence. However this camera shot reminds the audience of the opening scene when they first meet the killer, which creates a mood of suspicion for the audience. Lastly, the audience learn about the different social background of the suspects. For example the audience sees Mc Mannus’s grotty bedsit which shows that he isn’t likely to be the ring leader. Whereas Keeton is very respected by the police as the audience see him in a posh restaurant having a business meeting.


At the very beginning of the film there is a mellow serious non-diegetic sound in order to set the scene for a dramatic and suspicion film for the audience. The silence of the opening scene builds up suspense and tension as the audience meets the anonymous killer. When the killer’s name is announced by Keeton 'I can't feel my legs Keyser', the sound of the music changes in order to indicate the importance of this character, the killer. Again, the music stops before and after the shooting of the gun, the change of sound is once again used to highlight the important moment to the audience. The music also changes when the different characters are introduced to the audience in order to represent their characterisation. When Keeton is introduced in the posh restaurant, classical music is played to present the idea that he is high within society. When both Hockney and Mc Mannus are introduced a machine gun, fast pace sound is played to represent the aggression and darkness of these 'bad men!' When Del Toro is introduced a jazzy fun sound is played which is more playful in order to represent his playful personality. 

Due to the murder in the opening scene the audience recognise this film as being a heist with a mystery. The slow pace of the opening scene builds up the tension and suspense. The rest of the film is to work out the murder, which is drived by the tension and suspense from the opening scene.