Running Scared film opening analysis
This film opening is about 6mins long and it establishes typical thriller characters, setting and narrative.
“Running scared” starts off with a man carrying a small boy to his car and racing off (these are presumably the main characters); this is shown in slow motion (which is common in thrillers) before they race off,. It also shows that they are in a race against time to get help which is important in establishing the suspense that thrillers require. The main character Joey (Paul Walker) is all banged up and the small boy is covered in blood which implies that he’s been shot. This presents an enigma because you don’t know what’s happened and how they were both hurt, and you want to keep watching to find. They race off trying to get somewhere, presumably to get help. You see the main character drops a gun into the car before he gets in, which could mean that the boy was shot. It is set in New York
Then it goes back to the beginning which started 18 hours before (flashbacks being another feature of thriller narratives). It starts off with the man we saw at the beginning (Paul Walker) with his boss Tommy (Johnny Messner) and associate Sal (Michael Cudlitz) involved in some sort of exchange (probably a drug deal); we see all of the men carrying guns, which is the most common and most iconographic weapon in thrillers. It also shows that this is a crime thriller because the main character is a criminal. Then it’s interrupted by 3 masked men with shotguns.
The camera shots of the 3 men are from a low angle to make them seem more powerful. They try to steal the money and drugs but the men fight back and it turns into a shootout where most of the men end up dead including 2 of the masked men. This sort of action set piece is common in thrillers. As soon as the 3 masked men burst in, the editing becomes very fast paced and the camera is moving very fast to show the expressions on everyone’s faces. The 3 men tell everyone to lie on the floor and slide their guns under the bed. The camera angle is at floor level and is moving around the room showing all the criminals sliding their gun under the bed.
As it turns out, the men that were trying to steal the drugs and money were cops. The opening of “Running Scared” is very important because the shootout between the crooked cops and the main character and his friends is most likely connected to what happens 18 hours after. In the beginning, you are shown the end and start, which makes the audience want to see what happens next. This kind of opening is not very common but it is shown in a lot of thrillers. Crooked cops are very common thriller characters because villains in thrillers are usually more powerful than the hero’s and cops have the law on their side and they use this to manipulate people and get their way.
When the main character and his boss realise they’re cops, they take the money and drugs (more key elements of thriller narratives) and run out of the apartment. Then there is a shot of them in a car, getting away from the shootout. The main character’s boss hands him the guns used in the shooting of the dirty cops and tells him to get rid of them. The audience will assume that something will go wrong before the main character can get rid of the guns (which it always does in thrillers).
In the opening, it has already set out the narrative which is where the main character (Paul Walker), his boss (Johnny Messner) and associate (Michael Cudlitz) killed 2 crooked cops which resulted with the main character and a boy being hurt. This is quite a common narrative for thrillers where a criminal is being chased by a dirty cop for something illegal (in this case money). The opening has established most of the main characters and how they are involved except for the boy.
The music in the background is very faint and some people might not hear it because this film gets straight to the point and the sound that you hear the most from the beginning is the sound of gunshots.
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