We have chosen to analyse 'Arlington Road', and 'The Usual Suspects', as part of our genre analysis.
'The Usual Suspect'
The audience is shown an empty back screen, with non-diegetic music starting after about three seconds, as the very beginning of this film. The music is slow paced, eerie orchestral music; which straight away connotates mystery and darkness to the viewer. This type of music is typical of genre thriller. The titles are simple block capitals that slowly fade in fade out, they are light blue which ensures stand out but give a bold and effective effect, that doesn't distract from the main element, the music. Already by the point, it is clear to the audience that the tone of the film would be very dark and sinister, and its genre is 'Thriller'.
In the background we see a vile on light reflected on water moving across the screen, as the titles continue. More and more viles of light appear, again moving, this effect is an example of Barthe's theory of enigma,despite the music pushing the audience to assume that 'evil' is happening, the audience do not know what is causing the light. This is the only thing we see in the title sequence, the fact that we only see this effect and darkness; in itself could suggest that the film has a very dark narrative.
Towards the end of the title sequence, there is a black screen shot in which the time and place of the film is set, heightening the audiences understanding at the start of the film.
In the next chronological shot we suddenly see a close up of several matches being lit; this effect is sudden and is a stark contrast to the slow, dark sequence beforehand. This suggests there might be an element of shock and suspense in the film, stereotypical to a thriller. We as an audience associate fire with danger, suggesting a theme of fire recurring in this film. The Diegtic sound of the matches is also used to set the scene, the non diegetic music is faded out, this clearly shows the audience that we are now into the narrative.
The character shown is wearing dark clothing, and looks scruffy which re-enforces the common theme of darkness and evil; typically in thrillers an 'evil' character is often dressed in dark clothing to make them look sinister.
Arlington Road's opening titles begin with a man shouting about a young boy as he makes his way down a hospital corridor with a blood-stained white shirt looking angry but not dangerous. Instead of a stereotypical creepy character opening the film, we are presented with this ordinary looking man, who shows concern for the boy. It is the missing information of how he got blood on his shirt, who is this unknown boy, what exactly happened here? that establish the genre as a thriller. We are left with the man shouting at the nurse, 'I don't know his name!', which then heightens the mystery surrounding this character, and shows the clever use of Barthe's theory of enigma code. We as the audience, just like the man, want to know his name and his story.
The titles then take the more traditional sinister, creepy turn that you would expect from a thriller film. The white picket-fence that most people would normally see on ideal perfect neighbourhoods in America, is in the harsh colours black and red, colours we would associate with danger, violence and blood. The camera effects used throughout help to create an mood for the film, and take everyday neighbourhood objects, and turn them into spooky, unnatural things. These shots again show what would be an ordinary looking neighbourhood, but in black and white ; however the black and white roles have also been reversed, normally with this effect, the sky would be white and the house black, but by turning this on its head, its creates a rather spooky, scary shot. Again making every-day scenes of American life fit within the thriller genre. 
Shots of children are used repeatedly throughout this opening sequence, suggesting to the audience that young children might be a theme that occurs within the film. However the young children are not shown as happy, smiling or joyfully skipping around but instead as dark, and creepy. The effects of the camera make them appear this way. At one point we are shown close up shots of little girls running looking back at the person holding the camera, and then it cuts to a shot of two empty swings moving, as if someone has just been playing on the swing and then they were taken or snatched. This also used Barthe's theory of engima code, we ask ourselves why is the swing empty? Who are these children? What is there purpose? The empty swing especially re-enforces the idea, that something is lurking, waiting to take 'our' children, the things we hold most precious to us.
The scene with the man in the hospital uses both non-diegetic and diegetic music; the non diegetic music of the surrounding hospital makes it more realistic, whereas the rising of tempo in the diegetic music allows tension to build. Non-diegetic music is very stereotypical of 'Thriller' genre films, as it can unnerve the audience and help introduce them to the genre. The diegetic music used for the rest of the sequence is very creepy, unnerving and at times uncomfortable to listen too, the audience can clearly connate that this film isn't going to be a cheerful chick flick, but a sinister and dark film.
The titles are all in black and white, and sometimes, like in this example change from black and white, reflecting perhaps, how quickly people can change from one thing to another, or something not always being as it seems. The simple colouring of the titles doesn't distract from the background images, however they still make enough impact to be noticed by the viewer. The font is very bold and square, there are no round edges to suggest playfulness, but only the blunt straight lines, conatating harsh elements to the storyline, which we as an audience expect, considering this genre.
