The production ident for the Usual Suspects is Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
The opening titles are all in capital letter of a light blue/white. The titles fade in and out creating tension and a suspicious atmosphere for the audience. They also appear of the left hand side of the screen again meaning they are out of the audiences main eye line and focus placing the audience on edge.
The first shot is a close up of a character lighting a cigarette immediately having the audience take a dislike as we associate the character as 'bad' due to this habit as the 'good' never have these floors.
We are then introduced to the another character who again we feel wearily of due tot he fact that we don't see his face throughout the scene. The character is also dressed in a costume of a long black coat making him seem suspicious and unnerving which all adds to the tension of the thriller genre.
A medium shot of the character is then shown to the audience with the prop of a gun immediately signifying danger and violence strong themes within the genre of thriller. Without begin able to see the character's face, the audience also have no connection to him unlike the previous character meaning they will have more sympathy for the character begin shot.
The use of deep focus here forces the audience to look at the flames that are spreading making them panic
and feel the tension as they know someone is going to get hurt. The musical score also enhances this feeling as the pitch heightens while the tempo picks up dramatically heading for a climax.
Seeing the other 'villain' ,as the audience would now associate them with, fleeing from the murder scene makes the audience dislike the antagonist even more. As they cant see who it is they feel suspicious and want to know more helping the film become more thrilling for them. The use of low key lighting also adds to the mysterious elements of the opening.
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