The document summarizes the openings of four famous films: Pulp Fiction, The Godfather, The Dark Knight, and The Matrix. It describes how each opening establishes key elements like setting, characters, conflict and tone through the use of dialogue, lighting, music and visuals within the first few minutes. This introduces the audiences to the genres and central themes of crime, organized crime, superhero action and sci-fi that each film explores.

1. PULP FICTION OPENING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jomr9SAjcyw
The start of Pulp fiction begins with two people sitting in a restaurant/diner in Los angleles eating breakfast
and having a conversation, it is not a typical opening as it starts with two people engaging in fairly plain
dialogue and there is a fairly normal atmosphere as there is people eating breakfast, smoking and drinking
coffee. However this dialogue gives the audience a clearer picture of what the film is about and an insight
on the story, as Pulp fiction is violent and the plot is based on crime and the people engaging in dialogue
talk of robbery and making money and then proceed to start a robbery causing a conflict at the start of the
film. The audience will clearly know the two peple having this conversation are criminals as they talk of
crime, swear and use racist terms. Furthermore unlike a lot of other opening scenes there is action at the
end of the scene, which leaves the audience intrigued, as the opening of a film should do, so in turn it
essentially fulfils its purpose. The light in the scene again highlights the normality of the setting as it is the
middle of the day and seems to be summer, so it is sunny as it is set in California, this makes it seem as if a
conflict is not likely to occur.

2. THE GODFATHER OPENING
• Godfather Opening
• The Godfather starts with music and then fades into a man telling a story, further into this presumably
monologue, we realize he is talking to don Corleone, the godfather. The first minute or so will leave the audience
confused, however once the camera zooms out and shows the godfather/ when we hear him speak we get an
idea of what the film is about and are introduced into the late 1940’s post ww2 American Italian criminal
underworld. The first scene takes place in New York City in the Corleone compound in don Corleone’s office. The
characters present in this scene are mainly Don Corleone and the man talking to him, the audience are led to
believe that the man speaking is doing a monologue however the camera starts to zoom out whilst this
character starts to get more emotional, by this point we (the audience) know he is talking to someone because
of this and the fact that we start to see Don Corleone’s hand. When the man comes to the end of his story the
audience knows who “the godfather” is and can tell he is a criminal as the man refers to him as “don” which is a
term of respect in Latin languages and also mean the head of a criminal organisation and due to the fact that
they talk about America and because he questions the fact he went to the police before him to solve his issue
shows he is a serious man and a hardened criminal. The lighting in the room is very dark at first, then becomes
lighter but stays very dim. This highlights the seriousness of the conversation topic and gives the scene a very dark
and eerie feeling. The combination of the lighting and the way don Corleone acts gives the audience a very
clear picture that the film is about crime. The film starts with the title and music, the music again highlights the
sense of seriousness of the opening scene and genre in the film, in fact the music in the godfather is one of the
most famous things about the film.

3. DARK KNIGHT OPENING
• The first shot shows us that the film takes place in a metropolitan city, Furthermore
the sounds uses immediately intrigue the audience as they wonder why there is a
ticking noise and will get the impression that someone is trying to do something
quickly or that perhaps an explosion is going to happen, we then see people with
masks, duffel bags and guns prompting us to think that both of the following are very
possible as it has become clear a bank robbery is about to take place. The first
character shown is unimportant, however the camera lingers on the third character
which may prompt the audience to think he is important, it is then later revealed
that he is the main antagonist of the film. The fact that the first scene shows a
corrupt robbery in the city tells us that the setting is a city in peril and perhaps in
need of a hero, this creates conflict and a role for the main character. The lighting
used is fairly bright as the first scene occurs during the day however it is also taken
place in a bank which is both light and dark at times, which could be to highlight
the unusual feel to the robbery as it is apparently a criminal bank and the people
robbing it turn against each other and are led by one person, whom they do not
know. The music used gives off suspense and makes us feel as if the events before us
are leading up to something, furthermore with the gunshots, screams and other
miscellaneous noises it adds to this effect, and the dialogue between the criminals.

4. THE MATRIX OPENING
• The matrix starts with a green computer like display, that instantly gives a feel of someone hacking
something, which is a start on giving the audience an insight on what the film is about, Furthermore
there is a text which appears on screen which reads “trace programme running” which suggest
someone, presumably a main character is running a program to race someone or their
computer/documents. Furthermore another one of the messages that appear on screen tell you
the film is set in 1998 which is the roughly the time it came out, immediately letting the audience
know that it is set in their modern day world. There is a voice over the computer programme looking
background and are two people speaking about one individual, we assume that these people
talking are main characters and the person they are talking about is the protagonist, however one
of these characters talks about killing him and tells the woman that she likes him,
• From this short piece of dialogue we are introduced to a protagonist, antagonist conflict, romance
and main characters. The sounds used suggest that it is a sci- fi film to do with robots aliens or
computers, as hi pitch noises are used over the music which will most likely confuse the audience
however it also leaves an eerie feeling. Then we are dropped in the middle of a conflict as we see
police with guns, in a building which is in pretty bad shape, furthermore the lighting is dark which
makes the film/scene have a sinister feel to it. the police proceed to enter a room by breaking
down a door, which makes the audience think a greater conflict is about to ensue, when in fact
this is the point where the action dissolves and we are introduced to one of the people speaking at
the start.