1. Analysing a professional film opening Legally Blonde Release date: Oct 2001 Directed by: Robert Luketic Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis and more.
2. Title The main title in Legally Blonde is placed in the middle of the picture in pink and white font to make it stand out against the background and to give us an idea of what the film is going to be like. The title is written in a font that looks as though it has been written by hand which suggests that the film isn’t going to be very serious and is going to be an easy watch. I would consider using this sort of font in our film opening as both this film, and our film is a chick flick/teen. When the title first appears on the screen it looks as though it is being written as the letters appear one by one, this is the only time they use this, all the other titles fade on as the whole thing. When the title begins to be ‘written’ the image behind becomes more in focus so by the time the title is fully ‘written’ the image behind it is also clear so everything becomes clearer now we know the title and what the film is going to be about.
3. Introduction of key character Before we actually meet the main character we are given lots of clues about what she looks like, what type of person she is and what she likes. We see a letter being delivered to ‘Elle’ early on and from the constant switching between following the letter and these images of her we automatically assume that this girl is Elle. This pictures show some of the examples of the things we can put together to create a whole image of the key character. We can tell from the clues that she is a girly girl who cares a lot about what she looks like, we can also see that she is popular, from the homecoming queen banner, likes designers, from her Tiffany necklace and Prada shopping bag, and also is caring and thoughtful as she has a dog which looks well kept and is dressed up in matching clothes to her. We only see her face when the music is finished and when the letter is finally passed to her and we find out that she is Elle.
4. Introduction of the setting The first time we see an idea of the setting is an establishing shot of a girl riding over a bridge by a water fountain and some buildings, there are lots of people about chatting and laughing. We then see her riding by houses and with lots of young people about again, she then rides past a sign with Delta Nu on it, it is then clear that it is set in a college in America. We are then taken into the girls Sorority house, and see some of the rooms, for example the gym and the hallway. We also see glimpses of the main characters room and how girly it is. We can easily tell from the opening scene where the film is set, and what genre the film is, mainly from the use of lots of young people, the type of activities they are doing, for example, lots of girls getting ready in a pink bathroom, and the type of things the main character is going to be involved in.
5. Clues about the plot Not many things are given away in the opening scene, obviously to keep the audience wanting to know what's going to happen but the biggest clue about the plot is from the card we follow through the scene. This is an example of an enigma code in the opening scene, as we are wondering what the card is for and why Elle is getting it. This keeps the audience hooked as they want to know what the card is for and whether it is going to be a large part of the film. It is good to give away clues in the film opening as it makes the audience want to carry on watching the film, but it is also bad to give away too much in the opening minutes as it wont keep the audience interested in watching the rest of the film.
