Simeon's Thriller Analysis (The Usual Suspects)

Simeon's Analysis

 

The Usual Suspects

In the first scene a man is sitting up against some boxes, and drops some lighted matches upon a trail of what seems to be flammable liquid. The camera tracks the trail of fire at eye-level to the flames giving us a sense of engagement. As the trail continues to flow along, bodies of men are illuminated, this creates suspense within the audience and makes us ask ourselves what happened.

 

The low lighting on the décor of the scene illustrates a dark mood and creates eeriness. The shot below is of the man named Kaiser who is about to take the life of the man slouching on the ground, further more the man on the ground know more then we do about this man as he states his name creating even more suspense. This makes the spectators ask questions such as 'Who is this dominant character? and will we see more of him?'

As the music heightens and the flames near what seem to be explosives, we are revealed the silhouette of Kaiser, but still we are denied his face. This builds emphasis on the secrecy we see developing on this character.

Finally the dramatic ending of this scene which ends with a flames bursting forth into the air is followed by a dissolve shot with three men all within the frame. The centre of focus is shown on a man with bright lighting shone onto his face, and the other two men have their backs to the audience, their outlined in black so we cannot identify them. This suggests a confession is being made and the décor further suggests that this is police business, indicating that the things may revolve around flashbacks which as the film progress', will give us more information on the events that involve Kaiser.