‘AMERICAN PSYCHO’Opening Title Sequence and Opening

Scene Analysis

Genre Signifiers/Sound

Titles -The visual signs of the genre in the opening of American Psycho would be the constant use of red, in the consisting of close ups of food like raspberries or some kind of red liquid on a clean white background, due to the fact that red has the conversation of blood and murder, which are key conventions of the genre and are effectively shown constantly to stand out and reinforce this idea to the viewer mind plus The title sequence is quite low key, with almost everything being quite calm and steady, aside from the little connotations of violence and murder such as the knife and the drips of red liquid.

Sound- within the the opening scene of American Psycho the audience can hear slow pass, melodic no diegetic classical sound with a voice over of Batman which is used to represent the mental capability of Patrick Bateman, explaining himself as a professional, intellectual man however by the end of the description, the audience learn Patrick to be anything but normal and thus creates tension as to what will next be unveiled about Patrick. He seems emotionless and clinical; this is paired with the way Patrick lives and therefore results in showing the clean and artificial life that Patrick seems to be leading.

The sound at this point begins very quietly and softly and as the blood drops appear on the screen instant sounds are played adding a mysterious and suspicious approach to the credits. As the drops come onto the screen gradually quicker the sound becomes more intense. The drops then stop and orchestration/instrumental music is played. This sound is very fast-paced and high-pitched creating a sense of unease and build dramatic tension.

Sound – Within the opening of American psycho the audience acknowledge the film is within psychological genre as the pace of the music starts of slow and extremely jerky, emotionless and lacks any kind of order thus making the audience feel apprehensive which you could associate with the title of American ‘Psycho’, its sinister, cold and not enjoyable to listen to with sharp and shrill notes due to the conventional string music which is usually associated with thrillers, however as it progresses the audience can hear the non-diegetic sophisticated music thus gives a feeling of high class societies with classical music associated with fancy restaurants and the ballet almost as if it were done in an operatic style, showing the film will be about the social elite.

Sound – During the title sequence the audience can hear the sound of a knife quickly cutting into a piece of meat, the cut is heavy and quick into the soft piece of meat, signifying both visually and sounding to the audience of murder or someone getting stabbed hence being a clear genre signifier of psychological thriller plus suggesting that murder and stabbing will be a key element within this film

Use of Titles • During the title sequence of American Psycho the background is an off white, almost gray giving

the impression to the audience that the connotation of white which are purity and the innocence has been tainted.

• Within the title sequence of the opening of American Psycho the transition of the opening credits shows the text smoothly fading into the background – The visual text appears to be still but shaking, as if the text’s about to fall apart although is seemed well constructed which is connotative of Patrick Bateman personality which implies to the audience perhaps Batman seems as if he’s together and organized, but indeed may be falling apart such as loosing his grip of reality.

• As the titles appear on screen There is a hint of themes which is murder and death within the title sequence with drops of 'blood' dripping down from the screen as the text appears. The film’s titles of American Psycho is surrounded by sudden splatters of blood being quite messy whereas previously it had been in neat little drops and surrounded the title entirely therefore suggesting to the audience that Bateman has control over is urge to kill the slowly over the course of the film as happened during the duration of the titles, ends up losing control and get’s messy, not cleaning up after his murder victims.

• The credits being very simply, by the plain white background and the ordinary sans serif font style, this gives the impression of simplicity and smartness to the audience as everything looks very sleek and organised. The font style is bold and all the letters are capitalised giving a vivid sense of dominance to the movie and indicating to the audience that the characters and storyline are very masculine.

• During the title sequence of American Psycho when the main character's name appears in the credits, the importance of his name is signified by the slight change in the sound and the image of a knife on the screen suggesting to the audience that the character is dangerous. This alerts the audience because of the props used, making the audience acknowledge this part more. This part also confuses the audience as a knife usually connotes the idea of death/danger, whereas in this circumstance the knife is being used in cooking, which misleads the audience. As the knife aggressively cuts the meat on the screen the diegetic sound highlights it signifiance by making the sound exaggerated.

Patrick Bateman:• Bateman has very clear skin, slicked back neat hair and is in very good shape, toned and defined and quite

muscly. This implies to the audience that he is self-obsessed, and also a perfectionist. It also shows how much he cares about his appearance, and most importantly, himself suggesting that he is self absorbed.

• The only clothes he wears in the one of the opening scenes are a pair of white boxers, as it is showing his

morning routine. This connotes a few things. For example, it backs up his simplicity and drive for cleanliness and perfection. It also connotes the simplicity of his mind, in relation to the fact that he is a killer. Furthermore, it displays the plainness and boring personalities of the materialistic 80s Wall Street businessmen that this film documents.

• The voice over of Patrick is used to represent the mental capability of Patrick, explaining himself as a professional, intellectual man however by the end of the description, the audience learn Patrick to be anything but normal and thus creates tension as to what will next be unveiled about Patrick. He seems emotionless and clinical; this is paired with the where Patrick lives and therefore results in showing the clean and artificial life that Patrick seems to be leading. 

• Masks are often used to hide the identities of killers, and the use of this mask within American Psycho foreshadows that Bateman is a killer, and also foreshadows Batemans split personalities. It also simply further emphasizes the care that Bateman takes over himself.

• As he peels it off, he has a very serious face. This also connotes peeling someone’s face off, and his almost non-existent reaction shows how comfortable he is with it, connoting how sadistic he is.

• After peeling the mask off, he looks exactly the same. This connotes that, although he has separate personalities, both sides of him look, aesthetically, the same, making it difficult to distinguish the difference between his two personalities.

• When he performs his ‘stomach crunches 'and ‘Beauty treatment’ , he appears to know what he’s doing showing it’s a regular thing. This shows how seriously he takes his appearance, which further backs up his self-importance.

• Again, during his ‘stomach crunches’, his narrative voice boasts: ‘I can do a thousand now.’ The way in which he says it makes him seem very proud and again shows how self-obsessed he is.

• Almost everything Bale does is very calm and collected. He always seems in control, not in a hurry to be getting up. He knows his extensive routine off by heart, connoting that it’s a daily thing, which, once again, backs up his self-importance.

• He has a serious looking face throughout the whole OTS, which connotes how seriously he takes his routine, and also makes the viewer question whether he has anything to smile about.

• He speaks with a well-spoken American accent with correct pronunciations. He doesn’t use slang or anything, making him seem of a higher class.

• We're then first alerted to the main character Patrick's psychopathic tendencies. As he pays for his drink in a nightclub, he waits until the bar tender is out of ear shot and states "You're a f***ing ugly bitch. I want to stab you to death, then play around with your blood." He then carries on as if nothing's happened suggesting to the audience that Patrick is anything but normal and thus creates tension as to what will next be unveiled about Patrick

REPRSENTATION

CINEMATOGRAPHY/MISE EN SCENEAfter the title sequence, the camera focuses on the food which viewed from an aerial angle and not much focus on the actual people, as the camera is mainly panning over the food as if to highlight the extravagance of all the extremely small priced gourmet dishes therefore suggesting the the audience that social class and status will play a vital role within the narrative

Here there is a mid-shot of the waiter tracking him as he passes by fellow customers. Following there is a close up the waiters hand serving food but not his face therefore implying to the audience that the waiter is of no significant to the spectator plus presenting the level of his status which connotes that he is below the customers of the high end restaurant.

This following close-up presented from an high angle is of a hand slowly cutting a gourmet desert in black glove which are associated and have the connotation of elegance and death in which are lined with the Sophisticated restaurant but also that American psycho is very social class orientated.The gloves also exaggerate Patrick’s self-obsessed, calm and put together lifestyle suggesting to the audience that hygiene is extremely important to him in which juxtapose with the white plate with the connotation of innocents and purity with messy splattered red liquid which has a connotation of blood and death which therefore implying to the audience that Patrick has control over is urge to kill the slowly over the course of the film.

• The first shot is a tracking shot which slowly moves into Patrick Bateman’s apartment’s living room. This is a sort of establishing shot of his home. Also, the slowness and smoothness reflects the impression that the viewer gets of Patrick being a calm and orderly individual.

• Another tracking shot, but this time it slowly moves into Patrick’s bedroom. In a way, it’s still a part of the first shot, as it is still establishes the setting. The bleakness of the apartment is an clear representation to Patrick’s calm, plane and put together life style. One element of this shot in which juxtaposes against Bateman’s calm and put together lifestyle would be the unmade bed thus suggest to the audience that Bateman is out of source ,distorted and not within his normal state of mind thus foreshadowing the later revelation of Batemans split personality.

• This is done simply manner to show that it is the morning, and that Patrick has just woken up plus for the audience to get a insatiate into Batemans norms.

• We're then first alerted to the main character Patrick's psychopathic tendencies. As he pays for his drink in a nightclub, he waits until the bar tender is out of ear shot and states "You're a f***ing ugly bitch. I want to stab you to death, then play around with your blood." He then carries on as if nothing's happened suggesting to the audience that Patrick is anything but normal and thus creates tension as to what will next be unveiled about Patrick

• This static long shot shows Patrick for the first time, from behind in his boxers, walking into his bathroom. Art is hung on the wall to suggest to the audience that he is cultured and intelligent.

• This shot is also static, and shows, from another angle (adding to realism and reducing boredom) Patrick approaching the toilet. We see another framed photo, and also see his shadow approaching the toilet to join him; connoting the split personalities early on.• This shot is an associated point

of view medium close up. We see Patrick’s looks at his reflection in this framed poster, the illustration of a girl appears to be looking at him. This foreshadows his paranoia, which develops in the film; he slowly starts to think he is being noticed and watched, and that he won’t get away with the killings.

• This is another POV, in which Patrick reaches into his fridge for his ice pack. We see no junk food, giving us an image of his healthy lifestyle and also obsession with himself and his image

• This is a medium shot of Patrick placing the mask on. The mask connotes the hidden identity and also foreshadows Patricks split personality .

• This is a wide shot of Patrick doing his stomach crunches, while still wearing the mask. This furthers the idea that the audience is already given of his healthy lifestyle, and unhealthy self-obsession.

• This is a medium shot of Patrick during the same workout, still wearing the mask. This has the same function as the last shot.

• This is a medium-long shot of Patrick in the shower, from behind. We see more of his physique here, backing up his health obsession.

• This is a close up of Patrick grabbing one of his many lotions and balms that he lists in the narrative, again indicative of his self-obsessed lifestyle.

• This is a close up of Patrick grabbing one of his many lotions and balms that he lists in the narrative, again indicative of his self-obsessed lifestyle.

Although the scene is not a very typical one of the thriller genre, it is still very effective. It shows a relatively normal looking man displaying an almost psychotic morning routine. The music is also very soft and relaxing creating a strange contrast.

MISE-EN-SCENELOCATIONS: Patrick Bateman’s apartment • Patrick Bateman’s apartment is mainly white, and quite clean yet empty

looking. This could be connoting a blank canvas, emphasizing the emptiness and blandness of the social materialism of 80s American businessmen .

• There are many mirrors within Patrick Batemans apartment, connoting the fact that Bateman (Christian Bale) has different personalities, although only one appearance.

• Patrick Bateman’s apartment has some pieces of art work which clearly connote to the spectator that Bateman’s is an extremely intelligent man but also suggest that Bateman’s is of a higher class as famous art is usually associated with rich and cultured.

LIGHTING:• All the lighting is natural sunlight, coming through open windows. This

connotes several things; one, Bateman’s cleanliness and artistic purity, and two, that a light is being shone on him yet he is still roaming free and killing, backing up the element of hiding in plain sight

Narrative The equilibrium begins the audience are introduced initially to around 4-5 well dressed men, who are obviously in a position of power. This is highlighted by the reaction of the men when their bill arrives, Bryce (One of the supporting cast) is quoted saying 'Speaking of reasonable, only $570". The men are all in obvious positions of wealth, as they all throw down their platinum cards in order to pay for the bill.

Todorov Narrative Theory /Equilibrium

Binary Oppositions

There are also various binary oppositions in this opening (Levi-Strauss) some include

Rich Vs. Poor

Normal Vs. Insanity

Upper class Vs. Working class

Titles Sequence• 00.03/00.14-Institutional Logo (Lion Gates Productions)

• 00.21/00.23-Instsitional company (Lion Gates Film Presents)

• 00.25/00.29- Producer

• 00.32/00.37-Associate Producers

• 00.38/00.44-Director (Mark Harron)

• 00.47/00.52- Title of the film (American Psycho)

• 1.00/1.05- Highest Grossing Actor –Lead Role(Christian Bale)

• 1.05/2.07- co Starring Actors such as (Jared Leto and Josh Lucas)

• 2.19/2.23- Casting by (Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Smith and Kerry Barden

• 2.33/2.37- Costume Designer by (Isis Mussenden)

• 2.44/2.48- Production Designer (Gideon Ponte)

• 2.59/3.03- Music Supervisors (Barry Cole & Christopher Covert)

• 3.07/3.11- Music By (John Cale)

• 3.15/3.19- Editor (Andrew Marcus)

• 3.23/3.27- Director of Photography (Andrzej Sekula)

Relevance To My Opening After analyzing American Psycho directed by Mark Harron, I began extracting inspiration from the opening and how codes and conventions of a psychological thriller have been followed during the title sequence and opening scene. Firstly one element which I found to be fascinating and would like to emulate within my own film opening would be the way music has been used to suggest an element of mystery, suspense but also imply significant and importance of a character to the audience during the title sequence . Another factor from the opening scene of American Psycho in which I found extremely interesting and would like to embed something somewhat similar to my own film opening would be the use of cinematography and how it clearly portrayed class, wealth and status. lastly one more element from American Psycho which I consider to embed within my own film would be the use of a voice over to represent the mental capability of my character.