What do directors seek to establish in the opening of thrillers? Unfinished

The opening of a thriller is very important as the director needs to immediately entice the viewer so they will continue to watch the rest of the film, there are a few techniques used by these directors that are common in many thriller openings  These can be as simple as introducing the main character in fine detail, but still leaving more to be revealed, leaving a sense of enigma. Or by developing what the story or plot of the film is so that the viewer wants to continue and find out what will happen and how it will end. Lots of the techniques are based around leaving the viewer not knowing the full picture, so that their questions are answered.

A great example of this would be in the opening of Se7en, Morgan Freeman's character Detective Lt. William Somerset, we see that he is a very organised and neat man from the state of his apartment and the alignment of his personal belongings like his pen. It is all in order and this tells us a bit about what he is like. But it is not just the character the director is trying to introduce, it is also things like the plot, genre and theme. The first thing we hear before we even see anything is the sound of police sirens in the distance, we can assume that this film has something to do with crime (genre, theme) and also it tells us about the location, possibly a run down area, or a crime ridden city. In just a few seconds so much has already been hinted at that can be developed on later, capturing the viewer and making then want to watch more.

Other films done by different directors may focus on other areas with there opening. For example Rise of the foot soldier looks much more at the character and the plot of the film. We see Carlton grow up and his job and business (of sorts) develop. It is important to do this in this film as it is important to know who everyone is and their involvement, not all films are like this where other characters aren't important and we don't need to know who everyone is. Different films require different bits to be established from the beginning.