Film opening analysis on three films - I am Legend | Austin Powers: Goldmember | Star Trek: Into Darkness.

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Film opening analysis – I am Legend
I am Legend isa horror / action filmreleasedinDecember2007. The intendedtargetaudience forI
am Legendare youngadults,people above the age of 13 can watchthe film(astheyare above the
PEGI rating) butit is more likelyforpeople 18-30to relate to Will Smith.The filmhadabudgetof
$150,000,000 and made $585,532,684 in the worldwide box office.
Establishingshot
Afterthe openingtitles,thisisthe firstshotshowntothe audience.Thisiscalledanestablishingshot
and givesthe viewerageneral ideaof the film’s setting.There are manythingsthatcan be taken
fromthisshot that onlylasts 5 seconds.
Cars pileduponthe road showsthe audience thatthis
filmoccurs aftera tragic occurrence,itisnot commonto
see cars leftinthe middle of aroad, as thoughpeople left
ina hurry.
In additiontothis the road iscoveredinmossand plant
life,thisshowsthatthe roadhas not beenusedina long
time,andreinforcesthe ideathatthe areais uninhabited.
Acrossthe firstopeningsequence birdsare commonlyseen,
thisshowsto the audience thatthere isstill animal life inthe
city. Birdsare usuallyusedtosymbolisefreedom,which
couldhave beenusedhere toexpress how emptythe areais
and how life isfree tostrive.

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Shot One
Thisshot isslightly canted;thisgivesthe audience asense of unease.Thisshotfurtherestablishes
the settingbutgivescloserdetail; the settingbecomesclearerandmore familiar.Itisnolongerjust
a city buta recognisable,relatable area forsome of the audience. Some peoplemaybe able to
recognise thatthisisNewYork fromthisshot.
Thisshot isfilmedfromlowdown sothatthe buildings look powerful,loomingabove the camera,
thismakesthe audience feelsmall.
Thisis the firstsolidpiece of evidence thatsuggeststhe
situationportrayedinthe film. Three keywordsread:
“quarantine”,“disease”and“contagious”.Thisbanner
takesup the rightside of the screen yetis quite subtle
mise-en-scene because itblendsinwiththe
advertisements.
Thisshot hasusedthe “Rule of thirds” technique;
thismeansthe viewer’seye isdrawnacrossthe
image.Inthisshot there are twopointsof interest:
the buildingandthe quarantine sign.
There isa rule of linesinthisimage,thismeans
the viewer’seye isdrawnacrossthe image and
mighthave beenusedsothat the audience is
forcedto notice the emptinessof the city.

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Film opening analysis – Austin Powers
AustinPowersGoldmemberisanaction filmpastiche thatwasreleasedinJuly2002. The intended
target audience forAustinPowersare of a youngerage (13+ PEGI) due to its simple andslapstick
humourstyle.There are howevermanyreferencestosex andasmall amountof swearing.
The movie hada budgetof $63,000,000 and made $292,738,626 at the worldwidebox office.
Establishingshot
Afterthe openingtitles,thisisthe firstshotshowntothe audience.Thisiscalledanestablishingshot
and givesthe viewerageneral ideaof the film’ssetting.There are manythingsthatcan be taken
fromthisshot that onlylasts 5 seconds,the same amountof time thatthe establishingshotfrom“I
am Legend”was. The setting(i.e.the desert,rockandthe mountains) confirmsthatthe opening
scene isinfact in Utah.
The textat the bottomof the screenprovidesthe
viewerwithinformationonthe setting;fast-paced
musicplaysinthe background.
The textwith informationonthe locationisa
genericconvention inactionmovies combined
withthe music,itis clearthat this filmisan action
film.
In the nextshotthe camera fliesacrossthe ground
[terminology?];thisfastpacedshotgrabsthe viewer’s
attention,the cameraissuddenlymovingfastand
contrastswiththe establishingshot.Thisisalsoa
genericconventionforactionmovies,tojumpstraight
intothe action andengage the audience.

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Shot one
The blue inthisscene contrastswiththe orange and brownof the Utah setting,itimmediately lets
the audience knowthatsomethingischanging inthe scene. Thoughblue isnotamasculine colour,it
iscommonlyassociatedwiththe male gender.Thisshowsthatthe protagonistismale butblue also
has connotationsof trust,wisdomandintelligence.
In thisshotthe audience geta firstlookat the main
protagonist;we know thatthisis the protagonistbecause he
has the word“Powers”writtenonhisuniform,afterall:The
name of the movie isAustinPowers.

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Film opening analysis – Star Trek: Into Darkness
Establishingshot
Thisshot hasan outstanding amountof red;redisassociatedwithdanger.The factthat this
establishingshot isfull of red,combinedwiththe high-octanemusic, isahintto the audience that
thisopeningsequence isgoingtobe full of actionand danger.
The informationtext inthe topleftof the screenhasa
veryliteral meaning;itisusedtoinformthe audience
of the location withouthavingacharactersay it at
potentially lessenimmersion.
Glimpsesof blue watercanbe seenin-betweenthe
redplants,thisshowsa contrast betweenwarmand
coldcolours(red and blue) andisaestheticallypleasing
to the viewer.

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Shot One
Thisshot keepsthe theme of redgoing,onthisoccasionthe contrast isnot blue,butyellow and
white.The yellow isrepresentative of hazard,whichmakesliteral sense becausethese people are
chasingand tryingto kill the main protagonist.The white face paintisinterestingbecausewhite isa
veryneutral colourandis usedto symbolise faithandpurity. These menare portrayedasvery under
developedand religious race,whichmeansthe connotationsbehindthe whiteface paint actually
relates.
There isa veryprominentyellowthatisthe mainfocusof the
shotand representsimmediatedanger.Behindthe redtrees,
however, isasmall slitherof yellow.Thismise-en-scene could
be here to foreshadow hazardinthe future andsuggesta
possible turninfortune laterinthe film.
The facial expressionof thischaracterhasa veryliteral
meaning;itshowstothe audience /viewerthat thisman
isnot friendly.The grittedteethshow angerina
character and meansthatthe audience have aneasier
time recognisingaprotagonistwhenhe isshown,
because thisisclearlymore of an un-friendlyfigure.