Opening sequence analysis 33
- 2. The opening sequence is original and unique as it is not typical of an opening sequence. Throughout the whole sequence we watch from a point of view of a bullet.The crane shot is the first shot which is overlooking the factory, this shot shows the vast size of the factory and the scale of the production of bullets.The non diegetic soundtrack creates a positive feel and theme to start.The lighting in the factory is low key, this could be to show how sinister the birthplace of a bullet is, this is because the bullet could later go on to kill someone.The lighting remains of a low key while the bullet is in production but increases in brightness as it develops, this could represent the fact that the bullet is still in the womb at the beginning of the process which is dark and gloomy.The bullet is finally loaded into the gun, when the bullet leaves the gun we track the bullet on its journey until it reaches its target at which point slow motion allows for the audience to look the victim in the eye, almost creating a sense of guilt by the audience and the hopeless nature of the victim is represented.The lighting could also be representative of the places the bullet has visited while in production- from a dark factory to sunny Africa, the lighting gradually gets lighter.As the bullet rolls on the floor, the camera is made to feel like a real bullet as the person picks it up.The fact the only camera shot throughout is of point of view of the bullet almost frustrates the audience as they are unable to see anything or anyone either side or behind the bullet.The song is calm and relaxed and not the type you would use typically to associate with guns and bullets.The pace of the song matches the movement of the bullet and creates a sense of fluidity. http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/lord-of-war/
- 3. ZOMBIELAND The opening sequence instantly sets the genre of the film. We can infer the genre of the film is horror/thriller due to the gore and the blood.The man holding the camera in point of view is eaten by a zombie, the first person narrative displays the helplessness of the man and disorientation of him.The extreme close up of the zombie allows the audience to admire the brilliant make up used. Because of this we can tell straight away by the first few seconds that this is going to be a gory horror film. We also know from this first scene that this film is also going to be a comedy after the zombie looks in the camera, picks at his teeth in the reflection and burps.These two genre's contrast each other extremely, however in this opening they are conveyed together perfectly keeping a great balance between gore and comic effect. We can also tell from the narration that this is going to be a comedy when the soft voice of Jesse Isenberg narrates over scenes of people getting eaten alive by zombies. Lines like "It's amazing how things can go from bad, to total s**t storm" create comic effect as in a situation like this we would expect a survivor to sound panicked or scared. Alternatively the narrators voice is calm and soothing as if he has been doing this for years.The narrator does not decide to hide anything or hold back on information for us to find out later as horror films usually do to build suspense. Instead the audience is straight up told everything that has happened to the world and how the zombie infection has spread world wide. The narrator then tells us the rules to survive in zombie land in which for each rule we are shown an example of someone being horrifically killed by not following he's rules.The lighting used here is quite bright and colourful which shows conventions of a comedy rather than the traditional darkness of a horror.While this montage is happening Metallica plays in the background with "For whom the bell tolls".This song is a good match for the film as lyrics such as "take a look to the sky just before you die, its the last time you will" go well with the theme of death and destruction. http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/zombieland/
- 4. THE GODFATHER The pace of the opening is very slow.The movie begins with a black screen with music playing, the title of the movie is then slowly revealed on top of the black screen. The title having a puppet string above the “father” gives the impression of someone pulling strings and deceiving, which is what follows later in the film.The only colours used up to this point are black and white, not too striking, which fits with the slow paced calm opening. For the next three minutes of the film there is one shot from the same angle zooming out from a close up of a man’s face to an over the shoulder shot of another man, not yet revealed as the godfather. This reveal while the first man is telling a story of the daughter being mistreated makes it obvious that he is trying to get help from the godfather – who is already suggested to be an important and powerful figure through this man begging him for help.There is no music throughout this whole scene after the title and as a result the scene is very quiet.This is suggesting that they do not want anyone to hear, adding to the secrecy of the scene. The godfather is in shadow at this point, demonstrating the mysterious nature of his character.The lighting being low key at this point, creating many shadows fitting with the theme of crime throughout this film – this man clearly has a lot to hide.The man then walks out of shot and back into shot next to the godfather and whispers in his ear.They are both now in shadow, suggesting the enigmatic and dangerous request that he has asked of the godfather. It then cuts to a close up of the front of the godfather’s face. This is the first time in the film his face has been revealed and the dialogue now shifts from the first man to him.The focus is now on the godfather. It then cuts to a long shot of the room, where he is in centre of frame and has two men in the room with him as well as the first man.The Mis en Scene with the support of these two men suggests his superiority, he is clearly in charge. After this it cuts to a mid-shot of the godfather sitting down stroking a cat, giving the impression that he is comfortable in this situation, reinforcing his superiority.The opening scene ends with a close up of the man kissing the godfather’s hand, and the godfather escorting him out.This demonstrates the respect that the godfather expects and is used to, reinforcing his superiority.The opening scene ends with a close up of the man kissing the godfather’s hand, and the godfather escorting him out.This demonstrates the respect that the godfather expects and is used to, reinforcing his superiority. Through the slow pace of editing, the opulent Mis en Scene and the actions of the godfather and the men around him, the godfather is introduced as a mysterious and dangerous character that demands respect, and you do not want to be one of his enemies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2PobklvATU
- 5. TAKEN The use of the black background could relate to various things; it could represent danger, death and mystery.This relates back to the name of the film 'taken' the black background represents mystery and fear, the white text that has been used could represent innocence also including a little bit of hope which may relate to the type of the film.The text represents this as there is a large section of black screen and a small amount of white texts this shows there's more danger and mystery than there is hope and innocence within this film. After the black screen the film opens to an unprofessional, low quality video which notifies the audience it is a home made video, this is to capture memories.This first thing you see is a birthday hat and various birthday decorations this relates to the setting and what is happening within the scene. The use of high key lighting relates to the mood that the people in the home made video feel. The use of diegetic sound which consists of a mother and daughter laughing also relates to the fact that the people in this scene are happy and joyful.Their facial expressions also relate to this as it consists of smiling and just the fact that there mood relates to the way they present there emotions and facial expressions. The different scenes jump to various different things this includes when the scene jumps to someone holding a birthday cake which has a candle on it this shows the viewers the ages of the girl whose birthday is it, this highlights the fact that the girl is vulnerable. The way they have used the candle to represent vulnerability is to emphasis how her dad has seen the little girl at that vulnerable age and still see's her as his little girl when she's grown up later in the film. From the home made video the camera shot jumps to the male character ( Liam Nesson who plays Brian Mills) waking up jumpily as if he had woken up from a dream, the use of close up shows the facial expression of the man which shows he's confused, tired and maybe upset with what he just woke up from, the camera then slowly zooms out to show the character is alone, there is no one else in the room.The use of low key lighting may relate to how the character feels he turns on the light which could be related to the fact that there may be a little bit of hope within the film, the light is close to him and it lights up half of him this can suggest that there could be a little bit of hope within his character. http://vimeo.com/56923072
- 6. DIRTY HARRY At the very beginning of the film, we are shown a stone plaque which has the names of several men carved into it and significant dates adjacent to them, the camera zooms in on the short statement on the plaque stating “In Tribute to the police officers of San Francisco who gave their lives in the line of duty”, the camera technique of wiping is then used to show the whole list of all the men and dates gradually which we eventually recognise as the names of cops and the dates of which they died sacrificing their life through duty, we know this through the authentic writing on the stone and use of ideological music and the– respectful and chiming music and the image of the police badge displayed behind. Whilst the list of men’s names is being shown, slightly faded as an overlapping image is a golden star-shaped police badge stating “San Francisco Police”, this tells the audience that the genre of the film is going to be cop-thriller. From seeing the list of men’s names and determining that they are the names of men that have sacrificed their lives through doing their job, we are able to predict that within the rest of the film, that there will be a hero and perhaps an anti-hero too and maybe someone will end up sacrificing their life or being killed. we are taken to a location at which we can see a very attractive young woman in a yellow bathing suit swimming through the end of a sniper-scope; this is effective in establishing that there is a crime about to happen and forecasts a negative sequence of events throughout the film. Suspense is held by a tension-building score which keeps the audience on edge. This image is then zoomed out so that we can the back of a man looking into the sniper scope and in the background we see a busy, bustling city however we are drawn to the sight of a pool which seems to be on the top floor of a hotel which would mean that the woman had access to the penthouse hotel suite and facilities making her reasonably well-off. The image of the city is definitely authentic and believable because there is also diegetic sound of traffic and people combined with intensifying music. Cross-cutting is then used to show the end of the sniper scope and the criminals head behind it however we are not given the opportunity to see the face of the criminal which leaves the audience in suspense and makes them want to keep watching so that they can establish what his reasons are for being behind such a crime. http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/dirty-harry/