Walk on the Wild Side

Edward Dmytryk created a good example for a thriller opening in Walk on the wild side (1962)

It starts with a zoom in to an extreme close-up of a black cats face, with its eyes central. The animal itself is symbolic to evil and witchery which makes the audience feel uncomfortable as it appears the dark creature is looking at them. The shot fades to another ECU of the cats curious steps which is acompanied by the non-diagetic orchestral music changing from dramatic to blues style which could signify a black ally cat emphosising its creepy and sly movements. As the camera pans its movement from different angles at mid-shot it focuses on the animal not the location creating a mysterious element as the audience dont know the cats whereabouts or its intensions on its travels. This iconic factor is reinforced through editing of fades and the cameras tracking and panning the cats delicate steps weaving through the dim lit piping. The superstition of bad luck if a cat crosses your path is represented through the different angled shots of the subject apearing out from the darkness.

The parallel music follows the slow fades and builds up when the pace of the cuts increase creating suspence for the audience. This is re-inforced by the parallel music as it changes to loud fast and sharp brass playing as the fast jump cuts between the extreme close ups of the black cats face and the white cats face as they fight one another. The pace of the scene picks up and the focus is on the feud which is exaggerated by the close-ups of their sharp teeth. The colours black and white symbolise good vs evil, and the central shot of the white cat retreating, being marginalised to the left represents bad triumphing over good. This could be an indexical sign that later in the film the hero could loose the battle in the storyline.