The Call - Opening Sequence

The first scenes of the film occupy the first 30 seconds of the trailer.

The Call is a crime-thriller about the abduction of a young girl, with a focus on the intensity of the work behind '911' calls. The most successful element surrounding the opening scenes, in my opinion, is its ability to make you feel tense and on edge, which is important for all film genres, as from that moment we are automatically fully engaged with the narrative. A second important convention of thriller films is character identification - when you can relate to, or empathise with a character. It is particularly important in order to get the audience involved in the movie's narrative.

In the shot above, the scene appears well-exposed which conveys low drama and normality. This effect is important as it juxtaposes with future scenes where the intensity and drama is illustrated with low-key lighting and chiaroscuro such as that in the shot below. Colour manipulation is another editing technique which can add to the element of drama in a shot, an example of this is the shot below where the colour blue dominates. The colour blue symbolises cold and is complementary to the colour orange which has been used on the phone in order to draw the audience's attention towards it - via the expression on the victim's face.

Low-Key lighting and colour manipulation add to the drama in this shot.

Typical character conventions are present in the opening sequence for The Call, such as: innocent victims - who are important for engaging for the more empathetic audience members; criminals - who are important for advancing the narrative; and the police - who are essential, in this movie particularly, for a narrative resolution. Dark themes are a common narrative convention among thriller films which are important for making the audience think and engage with the plot - in The Call, crime and kidnapping are two explored themes.

An example of two character conventions: police officer and innocent victim.

In the screenshot above, a relationship is introduced between the protagonist and on of the other officers. The introduction of relationships is important in thriller films, where characters endure a lot psychologically, in order to allow audience members to identify with characters and to develop the protagonist's  personality on screen to emphasise their current mental state, perhaps. When an audience can relate to a character, they receive audience when they succeed and loose ends are tied.

The screen-grab above is an example of a close-up shot of the protagonist's face which effectively conveys her fearful, panicked emotion allowing the audience to empathise, become tense and on-edge. Low-key lighting and chiaroscuro are two technical conventions which have also added to the tense mood and atmosphere of this shot.