'Double Indemnity' (Wilder,1944,US)

The title of the film and the opening credits is what immediately gives the audience a hint that this film is going to be a thriller. We know this as the titles appear over the dark shadow of a man limping, on crutches.We automatically ask : 'who is this man ?' and 'why is he injured?'. By holding on to vital information and making the audience ask questions , the job of a thriller is done by leaving the audience wanting to watch more so the answers can be revealed. The large , white capital letters are a title font we have seen in many thriller genres.I believe that this is a very effective way of showing the audience the title as it is very plain and not informative. As the man walks closer and closer the the camera , his shadow takes more and more of the shot over and once his shadow is taken over by the camera , it cuts to the first shot. As he walks towards the screen the soundtrack gets louder and peaks which adds to the suspension. The music which accompanies the car as it speeds down the road adds to the pace of the frantic car.

The setting and location is revealed to us as a car races down a main road , leaving our attention on the sign labelled 'Los Angeles'. Our attention is taken to this as the positioning of the sign is at the front of the shot but slightly left. From this we know that the location that the film is taken place in is a busy urban area. We are told where exactly the film is taking place and do not need to think too much about it. Once knowing this our attention focuses on the car speeding down the road. We ask ourselves 'Why are they in such a rush?' and 'who is it that is driving the car?'. If we were not to ask questions we wouldn't feel the need to watch any more of the film as we wouldn't be left guessing , 'what's going to happen next?'.

From the way that the man has his arm positioned inside his coat we can tell that he has been injured , a gun shot wound maybe. The style of the costume lets us know the era , the wide rimmed hat that he wears lets us know the film takes place some time in the 1940's.

The opening sets up the rest as the story as we are told straight away with the title 'Double Indemnity' that the film is going to be about an insurance payout. Another way in which we are given an insight to the films storyline in when the male enters the building and the lettering on the door reads : ' Pacific all risk insurance C.O'.