Lost Highway (David Lynch 1997)

I have viewed the introduction to the thriller film The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 1999) and have taken notes on the conventions used within the introduction, here is my analysis.

The opening shots are of the road in front of a speeding car driving in the middle of the road. The audience can tell the car is speeding by the road moving very quickly underneath the car and the camera shaking a noticeable amount. As the car is in the middle of the road, it suggests that the driver has no reason to stop for anything that gets in their way. The darkness ahead of the car portrays an unknown path ahead of the driver. This creates the questions: "What is going to happen to the driver?", "Where is the driver going?" and "Why is he driving so fast?" - The convention of creating questions for the audience is typical of a thriller film.

The music in the opening shot is very exciting and fast paced. This creates the thought of something action packed about to happen in the film. The long take of this scene create a lot of tension which conveys the question "What is going to happen?" to the audience, both tension and creation of questions are common conventions for thriller films.

The opening credits seem to fly into screen. This could symbolise the anticipation of the audience, possibly them expecting something else to happen simultaneously to break up the tension. The long take instead continues, creating more and more tension as the film goes along.

A very low lit close up of somebody smoking a cigarette is seen as someone is heard at the door. The man smoking ignores it, as if he were expecting someone he did not want to see. This creates questions such as: "Who is at the door?", "Why is this man not answering the door?". The use of quiet growling sound in the background slowly becoming louder creates tension as to what is going to happen, what is the person at the door going to do? The use of low lighting also portrays the question "Who is this person?", "Who is Dick Murrant?" and "Why is Dick Murrant dead?".

The frequent use of the creation of questions and mysterious characters throughout the introduction to Lost Highway proves that its use of the codes and conventions of the thriller theme are accurate and very well done, making this introduction gripping and interesting, which is what a good thriller should be.

· http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iDUaDgzRiFE