The Birds

The opening sequence of the birds features binary opposition in the form of black and white silhouettes of crows frantically flying past the screen; the dark birds symbolising fear against the white purity of the background. This aimless flock of birds creates an uncomfortable feeling for the audience. To reinforce this it is matched with the parrallel sound of the squaking. The crows represent fear and death, this is iconic of the thriller genre. The titles are superimposed on top of this, in a cold blue font, the introduction is unwelcoming as the titles are pecked away.

The screen then fades into a city scene, the fade itself iconic of a thriller as this connotes mystery and slows the pace down. The ambience of a bustling city is used to establish a normal working day, a train wipes across the screen for the camera to pan whilst following the female character. The city buildings and high camera angle represent the lady to be insignificant to the scale of her surroundings. The pace is slow as few cuts are used to show her entering the bird store.