Analysing Thriller Openings: "Friend Request" (2016)

The film begins with the title logos being displayed. However, the first ‘Warner Bros.’ logo is shown in grayscale as well as stopping just before completely shown and skipping back to the start of the animation. This gives the impression of a glitch and already begins to show the tense atmosphere that the film will have. The next logo, ‘Wiedemann & Berg’ shows in the same grayscale and is shown normally, interspersed with it getting big and out of focus before transitioning into the ‘Seven Pictures’ logo which does the same effect.

The black screen that follows has a fade in of the starting credits in red, a stark contrast against the black background. An establishing shot is faded in behind it of what seems to be a college, setting up the location for this movie. The next shot is a long shot of a college lecture room with students in it, clearly waiting for a lesson to begin, this all presents the idea that this is all very normal and domestic. The shot appears to focus on the professor as he enters the room, keeping him in the edge of the screen, yet drawing attention to him by having the loudest sound as the door clicking shut behind him.

It jumps to a shot of two friends sitting at their desk talking as the professor begins to speak. The position of the two girls on the screen, while low, clearly drawing attention to the pair as they at the foreground of the scene. There is no background music or noises which helps with the realism of the situation and makes the audience feel more like they’re in the room with the characters. The scene changes to an over the shoulder view of the professor from the two girls perspectives.

As the professor speaks, the camera changes to focus on the reactions of the two girls, slowly zooming in as they listen. There is a short jump back to the professor as he breaks the news of a student’s death to his class. A sudden close up of what we assume to be the main character shows her facial expressions clearly and precisely. This is to ensure that the audience know that she is upset and shocked at the news, her facial expression could also indicate that she knew the student well. The next few seconds are mid shots of the other students in the room and their reactions, while none of them seem as affected as the first girl.

There is a profile view of the main girl from the angle of her friend next to her as she turns to look at her with shock on her face. An over the shoulder view shows her friends reaction is similar to hers which suggests they know something the others don’t. The next shot is again of the first girls face, but it is obscured by her friends hair making her seem more suspicious as she shakes her head. This could suggest that the pair are hiding something that they don’t want anyone else knowing.

The shot changes back to the professor as a student of camera asks a question. The shot jumps to the girl who asked the question and the guilt on her face is evident at having asked, the professor, leaning against his desk, continues speaking as the angle changes to focus on different students around the room before focusing once again on the main girl at the centre of the room. There is a mid shot of her sitting at her desk and the camera slowly zooms in on her face, again emphasising the fact that this girl is heavily affected by this girl’s death. As the professor asks for students to step forward if they know anything about the girl’s death, the camera has a close up of the main girl's face, showing the nerves and guilt on her face. The professor’s voice gets more faded and distorted as the tense background music grows the closer we get to the girl’s face, suggesting that the girl isn’t paying attention to what is going on around her and that she’s lost in her own thoughts.

The screen fades to white along with a high pitched noise playing the background, effectively drowning out the rest of the noise in the scene. The noise cuts out with the beginnings of a sad, slow music as the film’s title comes on screen in bold navy blue lettering, looking blurred as though on a computer screen and making it another stark contrast to the white background. The words glitch into symbols briefly before fading off the screen.