Sin City

Sin City Introduction:


Sin City, directed by Robert Rodriguez is a conventional thriller film in the sense that it follows a majority of the codes and conventions of the thriller genre. The opening sequence starts with an establishing ELS of a cityscape to set the scene, a city being conventional to the thriller genre. The director has also decided to use city sounds such as car horns to create an ambience for the film, this thus heightens the audience's sense of verisimilitude. Other non-diegetic sounds are used such as thunder to signify a sinister situation; this is reinforced with the rain to bring forth the iconic aspect of stormy weather. Slow paced non-diegetic classical music is used to create a sombre score. Rodriguez has chosen this music because it slows the pace of the film down, a slow pace being iconic to thriller openings as it creates a sense of mystery. To reinforce this Robert Rodriguez has minimalized the amount of cuts used as this further draws out the opening.

The sequence is in black and white with low key lighting to create shadows and mystery; these are conventions of the thriller genre. However the director also uses the colour red to suggest further meaning. The lady's dress and her lipstick is red, this signifies passion and danger because her lips are seen to be seductive but her open backed dress shows her vulnerability thus suggesting danger in the future. The use of refined colour is iconic to thrillers openings because it creates a sense of mystery.

A long shot is used to centralise the female character as she enters the frame in a elegant red dress on the rooftop. This is followed by a mid shot showing her looking out on the city whilst a man approaches her from behind. The fact that the lady is holding her arms whilst leaning on the balcony signifies her to be frail, however it could also denotes she is cold. The man in the black and white suite is typical to the thriller genre much like a "James Bond" type character. Close ups are used to show her accepting a cigarette, another used to show the man lighting it; none the less smoking is typical to the thriller genre as a whole because it connotes a "cool" atmosphere. After the man shoots the lady, the gun can be seen as an iconic aspect of thriller genres and further suggests Sin City to be a crime based thriller.