The opening sequence of V for Vendetta establishes the narrative through a history lesson on Guy Fawkes narrated over flashbacks of his failed terrorist plot. It introduces the two main characters - a ordinary woman and a mysterious masked man - as they get dressed differently, signaling their contrasting roles. The dark lighting, angry facial expressions, and flaming logo communicate the thriller genre and themes of anger and revenge. The camerawork and set design are used to represent the setting.
2. Introduction
The thriller film that I will be analyzing the opening sequence is V for Vendetta released
in 2006 by director James McTeigue and written by The Wachoswki Brothers. The story
is about Britain in which a corrupt and abusive government has risen to complete
power. A young women named Evey is rescued by a vigilante named V. V wants to rebel
over the authoritarian state using a mask vilified terrorist of British history guy Fawkes,
V is trying to lead a revolution by assassination and destruction.
I think that the target audience is for any person who is interested in rebellion and
governments. Teenagers and adults will probably be the target audience since they will
have knowledge of the history of guy Fawkes since this movie links to him.
3. How the narrative is introduced/set up
The narrative is introduced by having a history flashback on
Guy Fawkes seen trying to blow up the parliament while a
women is narrating the scene.
The character known as Guy Fawkes is seen getting
captured, I know this because there is a narrator in this
scene talking about who he is and what he was doing.
This creates an effect on the audience because the women
narrating on this scene will most likely get the attention of
the audience because of the explanation. The audience
wants to know what is happening so narrating grabs the
audiences attention in he opening sequence.
This links to Todorov’s theory, it helps start the equilibrium of
the narrative because it gives the audience a guide and most
likely purpose on the idea.
4. How the characters are introduced
Within the opening sequence two characters are
introduced by them getting dressed, the lady is
preparing normal while the character with the mask is
mysterious and abnormal.
For example, the difference between these two
characters are that they are doing the same thing,
dressing up, but the person with the mask is more
unusual and mysterious. The mise en scene is that
the outfit for the mask man is very different and
abnormal.
This shows that the character with the mask may be
mysterious and abnormal because of what he is
wearing compared to the lady. The outfit the mask
man is wearing is mostly black giving off a dark theme
within the character.
This links to Levi’s Binary opposite theory because this
opening sequence shows the difference, most likely
the opposite of them both
5. How the genre and themes are
established/communicated
The thriller genre and theme is being presented by
the facial expressions of the character and also the
lighting effect.
For example the character in this scene has a angry
and revengeful facial expression, this gives the
audience the theme of anger and revenge. The
lighting is very dark with only a little source of light
giving the facial expression more detail.
This shows to the audience that the theme and
genre is related to anger or revenge due to the
facial expression. Also the lighting gives the effect
of shadows and darkness also hinting the theme to
be dark and suspenseful.
6. Another example of how the genre and theme is
presented is in this scene showing logo with flames
on a dark background giving off an evil feel to it.
The logo is clearly on fire with a pitch black
background behind it, this gives the theme to be
dark because of how the logo is presented.
This shows that the genre and theme includes
darkness and fire, fire gives off a evil sinister feel to
it. The logo greatly expresses the theme and genre
of the film.
7. How people/places/events are
represented.
Within the opening sequence the place is
represented by the camera work and mise en scene.
For example this shot shows the room clearly and
also shows the character sitting in the middle. The
props and objects are placed there to give an effect
on the room because a room would be boring without
props and such inside it.
This gives the audience a detailed visual perspective
on what the setting looks like and how the character
is presented inside this setting. This is done by the
camera angle shot of long shot to show the entire
room.
8. In conclusion there are many theories that link to the opening
sequence such as the binary opposite theory and the Todorov
theory. A person narrating a scene might be useful in opening
sequences since it makes it easier for the audience to understand
rather than trying to figure out what is happening. Also lighting can
present a genre or theme greatly because of the color and how it
links to different themes and genres, such as dark for thrillers. This
information I gathered will help me create my own opening
sequence because there is many techniques and features that I can
use in my own work
Conclusion