The basic plot of the film is A failed police negotiator turned small town cop, must save the lives of a family held hostage, which draws him into a much more dangerous situation.
I have analysed the first 1.24 mins of the title sequence of the clip below:
The first item which appears during the title sequence is text of the names of the film company's who made it - Miramax films and Stratus Film Company. The font appears to be in 3D, with a red base and a yellow shadow which makes it stand out from the black background. The same effect is used for the production company who appears next - Cheyenne Enterprises Production. As the third bit of text comes up you see a birds eye view of a city slowly fading in until the camera is directly above it. Whilst this is being shown, there is non-diegetic music playing which is quite menacing and may make the audience associate it with war because this type of music, with the drum beat has been featured in films involving ancient war. The background then fades out to black then soon after so does the text.
As it fades in from black you see a wall and a city skyline behind it. This looks animated which may distort the audiences view of the film as it will break conventions to mix animation and real life. On the wall is the directors name. This gives a good indication of which order to put people in. There are 3 colours which are used in this shot, which are red, black and a musky white. Red connotates blood, anger, war, hate, horror, and death, and the use of this colour in the opening sequence suggests that the film may involve the examples given that are associated with it. The black may suggest that the film will be quite dark and also makes the red stand out more. The musky white is mainly used for the director's name to make it stand out from the black background. This shot cuts in to a shot which is panning downwards to reveal the lead actor in the film - Bruce Willis. His name is in bloack capitals and stands out from the background.
The camera once again cuts, to what looks like a bird eye view of the city we saw in one of the first shots in the title sequence but this time is is zooming out from the street. As it is doing this you see the Hostage logo spinning slowly into view - the same colour scheme has been kept throughout the title sequence. The font for the hostage logo is in block capitals and each letter is "jagged" and could be interpreted as to being some sort of weapon for example on the "E" there could be three guns, this suggests that there will be violence in the film. Also ontop and below the writing there are two lines, this gives a sense of being trapped, just like a hostage would be. The font also looks 3D again due to there being a white shadow on it which makes it stand out more. Also whilst the title of the film is in view there are non-diegetic sounds of police sirens which suggests that this may be a crime thriller and we may be following the police whilst they solve some sort of mystery. This shot then dissolves into a shot where the camera pans downwards/backwards, spinning slowly, towards the ground still with the view of the sky. As this is happening a building comes into view which has another Actors name on it. The next cut is made to look like there is continuity between the shots how there is a very quick change to a vertical shot of a power cable pole, which then moves to a horizontal position so you can read the name. This title sequence is very different to any other I have looked at, as it has no acting in it. It is just all done as an animation which leaves you asking questions about further plot details. For example later on in the title sequence there is a shot of a bridge which has been taped off by police. Also there is shots of allies which make you feel suspicious.
Also unlike the other thrillers I have looked at, It gives you no real background to the film such as what caused the problem (I Am Legend) or the deaths of a character (Lucky Number Slevin). This film looks more like a Action thriller which is one of the many sub genre's of Thrillers. Such as Lucky number Slevin which is a Psycological Thriller.
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