Taken - Pierre Morel

In the opening sequence of Taken, we are introduced to main character and some other characters that play important roles later on. First off, we see the titles in white on a black background, which is conventional as it has also been used in other thriller films. In the background we hear non-diegetic music which is sort of mysterious as we're not sure what is going on. We can then see a recording of a girl at her birthday party. This goes on for a minute or so where we see an older woman who is most likely to be her mother. At this point we think that these characters are connected to the main character. Next the recording cuts unexpectedly to a close up of the main character in the present. This cuts to a long shot of him sitting in a dark living room on his own. Holding a picture of the same girl. We realise that the girl in the recording is his daughter, althought we don't actually see him with his daughter in the recording. This opening is quite conventional as you sometimes watch someone's memories or a dream and that you see the present.
The camera then changes to a close up of the picture with the titles of the film 'Taken' next to it. This suggests that she is the one who is going to be taken. The next shot is of the same man walking into a shop where he is greeted with the words 'Hello, Mr Mills' this tells the audience the character's name. This is again conventional as we get to know something about one of the characters in the opening sequence. The shots throughout the dialogue are often high angle shots to make Mr Mills seem more powerful because he is wearing smarter clothes or because he has a higher authority. Mr Mills purchases a karaoke machine, probably for his daughter. As he wraps it he wraps it carefully, which suggests he is a perfectionist and cares for his daughter. Later on we see him at his daughter's party giving her the gift. We have now met another character and we also meet the mother who doesn't seem to get along with Mr Mills. This suggets they are divorced. This opening is conventional to other thrillers as it introduces us to our characters and tells us a bit about them without giving too much away so we want to watch more to find out.