As the opening begins the blurry image of a book appears, via hard cut, above the book, the faintest shape of hands turning the smooth pages. Who is this person? What is so important about this book? The close-up shot and intense blur greatly convey the film's core premise of mystery. In the bottom right, "New line cinema presents" is what can be seen. The text seems to "shatter" as the same text is layered over but distorted. This can resemble someone's mind, shattered and distorted. Again, keeping with the themes of the film, a mad killer carrying out horrific crimes.
In the opening, the editors use close-ups in order to create an uncomfortable scene. There is a scene in the opening, where the audience is shown an unnervingly close shot of these dirty hands holding a razor, almost lovingly. This would probe the audience's imagination, like how the book would, keeping them engaged. Also, to reinforce the uncomfortable atmosphere, the producers use sound. While Morgan Freeman's name appears, the jarring noise of friction on tight strings.
There is a clear use of mise-en-scene in the opening, the audience is shown photographs and newspaper cut-outs. This creates the idea that this is someone overlooking evidence, playing with idea that this is a mystery film. The grisly images that the audience is shown, reflects the fact this will be a much darker take on detective stories.
I enjoyed reading this as you respond very thoughtfully and with real engagement. You make it clear how successful an opening it is.
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