Thriller Project (Part 1) | Research (Section 1) | The Usual Suspects

Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer) is a neo noir crime thriller. The first scene opens in medias res on a boat in the middle of the night. The plot of the film is about what has happened on the boat. This short opening sequence is set up to pull the audience into the story and grab their attention. It not only moves us forward along the story's plot line but is also littered with clues that foretell and foreshadow crucial occurrences later on.

Clip Analysis

At the start of Usual Suspects, it is an extreme close up of a pack of match sticks being lit which then cuts to a man, who is sat on the floor, holding the match sticks while looking worn out. This makes the viewers interested in why the man is worn out. He lights his cigarette with the matches and the scene then cuts to what looks like an oil barrel that is spilling out oil onto the floor. It then cuts back to the man who then drops the pack of lit matches onto the floor which ignites a line of oil. There is then a series of cuts of the fire going down the line of oil, one of which passes a body on the floor which makes the view intrigued as to how the person died. There is then a final cut of the fire moving to which some liquid appears from the top of the screen and lands on the un-lit oil. The fire then reaches the liquid and stops making the viewer wonder where the liquid is coming from. The camera then pans up to show a man peeing over a balcony onto the oil. The lighting is dark so the viewers cannot tell who the man is. This then cuts to the man walking down a set of stairs from the balcony. It looks like they are on a boat. This is also implied before this scene when the credits are shown as the camera is panning across some water. I am not commenting on this however as I could not find a YouTube clip with this on. Once the unknown man is on the deck, he walks towards the first man, he goes past the body laying on the floor. Once he gets to the first man, he gets out a lighter and puts it off screen as the camera is showing a body shot without his head, implying he is lighting a cigarette. The first man looks up at him and then shows disappointment as he lets out a sigh. This makes the audience realise that the lighter has lit up the unknowns man face and the person on the floor recognises him. The unknown man then says 'How you doin' Keaton' to which Keaton sniggers and replies 'I can't feel my legs'. This makes the viewers even more intrigued as to who Keaton is, why his legs hurt, how he knows the unknown man etc. Keaton then answers one of the questions by saying 'Keyser'. You later find out in the movie why this is so significant. Keyser then asks 'Ready?' as he puts the lighter into his pocket. Keaton then asks 'What time is it?' to which Keyser looks at his wrist watch and replies '12:30'. This makes the audience wonder why the time is significant. Keyser then pulls out a gun, walks up to Keaton and then there is a cut to the top of the boat and you can hear two gun shots go off. This is when the first two minutes end.

Credits

Like I said earlier, before this scene the title credits are shown. This includes people such as the Main Actors, Director, Music Composer, Film Company etc. These are shown on top of a video of a lake. The camera is panning across the lake which gives the viewer a small amount of information about where the scene is taking place. The opening scene is very plain but effective with showing the viewer all the main people that were part of making the film.

Editing

The editing within this opening scene consist of mainly straight cuts, often cutting from dialogue to an action-match or close-up. The straight cuts help the viewer to understand what is going on in the scene without being distracted by more complicated cuts. It also helps to build tension as straight cuts are straight to the point and keep the user immersed within the scene. Action matches are used to keep the scene flowing from one cut to another by keeping the action that's happening on screen in sync between each cut. An example of an action match being used in this scene is when the fire is running across the floor, when the fire goes off screen on one shot it cuts and  goes to another shot that has the fire entering the screen to show that this shot is a continuation of the previous shot. Slow motion was added in pre-production towards the end of the scene and after the first two minutes. When Keyser is walking away he drops his cigarette which lands and sets the oil on fire again which then leads to the ship blowing up. Slow motion is used when he drops the cigarette because it makes the viewer focus on what is happening and it gives them time to realise the significance of the cigarette being dropped and helps them to link that to the reason the ship blew up.

Sound

The sound plays an important role in establishing the genre; within the opening sequence as the slow music begins to build, the tension increases as the camera continues to follow the fire. The producer added in fire sounds in pre-production to emphasise the danger of it. The gun shot would also have been added in pre-production as it would give a much clearer sound. When the camera tilts up and the viewers get to see Keyser for the first time, this is when the music first starts. The music is a scored track consisting of string instruments. It sounds like it uses low pitch chellos and synchronises with what the viewer sees. For example, the music is a very low pitch when Keyser is talking to emphasise his authority and strength and then it rises to crescendos when you hear the gun shots and when they boat sets on fire to raise the suspense and creates a climatic scene.