Jess' Textual Analysis of "The Usual Suspects"

The opening of "The Usual Suspects" begins with fire and a male character setting a piece of card on fire with the use of a match to light his cigarette. The iconography of the fire and the dark setting of which looks like an abandoned warehouse, suit the thriller genre. There is a cut of the male character sitting on the floor (LS), he is wearing dark clothing and there is fire in the background, creating enigma.












The male character then drops the card which is still set on fire and we see it make a line of fire surrounding him. The camera tracks the movement of the fire and as it travels, dead bodies are revealed to us. This adds to the suspense and builds the tension for the spectator.










The only sound displayed is the on-screen diegetic sound of the flames and trickling liquid. The camera tilts up from the dead bodies to a low angle LS of what appears to be a male character, however there is restricted narration as his head is cut off in the frame - hiding his identity. This creates enigma as it leaves the spectator guessing what the purpose of the composition is. He is on top of some stairs therefore he is higher up than the character sitting on the floor, suggesting that he has more power over him. As the camera movement takes place, non-diegetic sound of violins start to play, giving a dramatic effect and creating a spooky atmosphere. We see that is also wearing dark clothing, implying that he is a villain.
















There is a CU of the first male character shown and his facial expression appears distressed and worn out, and his body language is lazy as he lowers his head half-heartedly, and there is smoke appearing around him as the fire continues to surround him. The reaction he has to the other male character suggests that it isn't a positive thing for him, creating mystery as we wonder what the situation is between them. There is a shot/reverse shot as the camera appears to be back onto the character whose face isn't visible in the frame, and the camera moves with him as he walks down the stairs is now eye level. The camera focuses on the lower part of his body as we watch him walk past a dead body without hesitation, reinforcing the thriller genre. He approaches the man sitting on the floor and stands in front of him, adding to the power he has over him. There is a CU of the male character sitting on the floor as there is a eyeline match of him looking up to see the other male character, and his facial expression looks defeated.












There is a cut to the other male character whose face we cannot see and his hand rises to light his cigarette where we think there is a chance that his face could be revealed, creating suspense however it isn't. There is a shot/reverse shot to the other character where he continues to look fed up and defeated. There is dialogue between the characters (on-screen diegetic sound) where the character with his face hidden says "Ready?". This creates enigma massively and prepares the spectator for something to happen, adding suspense and leaving them on the edge of their seat which is the aim for thriller movies. Suddenly, the character whose face is hidden has a prop which is a gun and it's now aware to the spectator how this is going to end. The character sitting on the floor closes his eyes and there is a POV shot of the gun facing him and there is a cut to the outside setting as the gun shot goes off (sound bridge), this builds tension and leaves the spectator guessing as you're unaware if he was killed or not.













The music (non-diegetic sound) stops as the gun shots go off, enhancing them and then start again building into a crescendo as there are a series of establishing shots. There is a silhouette of someone going down a ladder adds to the iconography of the thriller genre as its mysterious and the camera tracks the fire as it travels over the feet of a dead body - potentially the male character who was first shown. This adds to the enigma and leaves the spectator guessing as it could just be a random dead body as many were shown in other scenes. The lighting changes from dark to highly bright as the fire gets stronger and the flames get bigger. There is a dissolve as there is a flashback, giving us a better understanding of the story and there is a spotlight on the male character who is wearing black, implying that he is evil. This could suggest that he is the same character who's face wasn't revealed.