My detailed analysis of the opening sequence for 'James Bond Casino Royale'

1. Casino Royale Opening Analysis
The opening starts with the camera looking down the barrel of a gun at James Bond
(Daniel Craig). James Bond then fires at the camera. He is dressed in a suit but covered
in dirt and the suit is ragged and messed up. This has common conventions of film noir
as he is well dressed in a suit. The fact that his suit is covered in filth suggests that he
has recently been involved in an encounter with an enemy. This is another convention
of a film noir, as they tend to have a lot of gun-based action.
The framing of this shot is exquisite as it is clearly a long shot of James Bond (007)
capturing his full costume and pose. His pose shows that even though he was caught off
guard he is still ready to fight and pull the trigger first. The music, which comes after the
gunshot, juxtaposes the film noir genre, as it is a signature theme for James Bond rather
than music that is normally used in a film noir.
The opening then switches to animation with the different card houses circling around –
Club, Spade, Heart, and Diamond. In the middle of the circling card houses is the name of
the film, ‘Casino Royale’.
This has common conventions as it alludes to what the film is about without revealing
too much. It also connotes gambling and addiction, which are common themes in film
noirs and helps to establish genre from the very start of the film just through the title
screen. This screen also helps to establish the setting of the film, in a casino, which is a
very common setting for a film noir.
After this shot the title scene changes to Bond standing on a blue tube filled with the
symbol for club. The shot zooms out to reveal a Jack face card and that is a considerable

2. size larger than Bond.
Both Bond and the Jack are facing and aiming a gun in the same direction. This suggests
that Bond is the anti-hero and an underdog as the Jack is still under the kings rule and is
not perfect enough to be the king as he will come from a different backstory to the king
and not be related to royalty. This is effective as it is suggesting that Bond is the Jack as
he works for someone else and he has a troubled backstory just like any other anti-hero
in a film noir. The music, that was chosen as the theme for this movie, goes against
common noir conventions but is very effective at setting the mood and atmosphere for
the movie as it uses the lyrics ‘By the merciless eyes I've deceived?’ This line in the song
does follow conventions of the noir genre, as noir films tend to have deceitful characters
that get in the way of the hero. It is also effective for this film, as people tend to lie and
be very deceitful during poker games, like the one in this film.
The title sequence then becomes primarily animated with several different animated
guns firing at each other with bullets, which are the symbol for heart and the smoke is
the symbol for club.
This is effective as it tells the audience that the casino game isn’t just a simple gambling
addiction or game to play but is in fact a life or death situation and a game that people
are willing to kill other people over. This idea foreshadows a scene later on in the film
when the main antagonist poisons James Bond to try and kill him so that he cannot
compete in the poker match, again emphasising the idea that this poker game is a lifer
or death situation.

3. After this shot, the bullet Bond fired near the start of the title sequence finds its way to
one of his enemies and as it hits them they explode into the heart symbol for the card
house.
This
express gambling addiction as it suggests that gambling is a way of life for some people
by giving it the idea of being basically someone’s life as the explode into the card
symbols, hinting that they are made up of them, metaphorically speaking, almost as if
gambling makes up their life. The bullets are the symbol for the spades house. This
suggests that the gambling doesn’t just make up their life but also destroys it.
The shot that follows this previous one is a knife fight between Bond and a different
opponent, which looks identical to the previous but with a knife.
This is effective as it tells the audience that this movie is going to consist of a lot of
action and the main protagonist getting himself into risky situations frequently. This is
very common for a noir film and therefore causes more hype for the film noir fandom.
The shadows of the characters are very sharp and made completely of straight lines
with no curves. This suggests that the film with be very quick and straight to the point
whilst there’ll still be very subtle mystery as it is a shadow that consists of these. The
two men are fighting on a pattern, which is very commonly found on a poker or roulette
table, again bringing back the idea of gambling being a large factor in play during this
film.

4. Further through the title sequence a tube breaks apart and the symbol for the cards
house heart, pours out of the broken end of the tube.
This links to a part in the song where the singer sings ‘cold blood runs through my
veins.’ The red, almost blood coloured, hearts flowing out of the tube, or symbolic vein
also expresses this. This again emphasises gambling and addiction as the main theme in
the movie and suggests that gambling runs through the characters veins and that
gambling is in their blood.
The next shot introduces a new character to the audience.
This shot introduces a beautiful woman is revealed on the queens face on the queen face
card. This singles her quickly down to two possible characters, either the femme fatal or
the chanteuse. The fact that her face is only revealed when a target crosses her face,
almost as if she is in the line of sight of a gun, proves that she must be the femme fatal as
she is trying to look innocent in a manipulative way. She is a lot larger than Bond, which
suggests that Bond has no power over her mischievous ways although he is trying to
resist. I know that he is trying to resist as he is trying his best not to look at her face.

5. Later during the opening sequence the card for the seven of hearts floats into view and a
gun creates two bullet holes next to the seven so that it spells out ‘007’.
This is effective for the audience as it suggests that Bond is a target in this film as well as
him having his own targets. It fits the genre of film noir as 007, James Bond, is shot into
a playing card for the seven of hearts. This suggests that not only the antagonists in the
film are addicted but also alludes to the fact the film’s protagonist is also addict to
gambling.
The opening sequence ends on a very effective shot.
It has Bond walking towards the camera with a direct mode of address whilst he is swithching
between the black silouhette, seen earlier in the opening, and live action shots of Daniel Craig.
Whilst this is happening £10 notes are flying around behind him which again alludes that the main
protagoinist of the film is also addicted to gambling and is an anti -hero.
By Mathew Bray