AS Media Coursework

1. Back To The Future analysis
Thisfilmbeginningissetina room thatlookslike agarage, inthere islotsof
clocks,a bed,dog bowl andlotsof mess.Thisopeningsequencetellsthe
audience aboutthe type of character that livesthere.The boywhocomesincalls
the personliving there ‘Doc’ sothatwouldenhance thatthe occupant ismale.
Also,the boy callsthe dog Einstein.Due tothese twonamesthe audience isled
to believethatthe manis an inventorandlikestoinventnew items.
The colour of thisscene isverydark the onlybitof lightcominginisthe lightthat
brightensupthe roomis fromthe doorwayand windows. Byhavingthisdark
scene enhancesthe un-tidiness of the roomandalsomakesit more mysterious
for the audience.The lightingisambientas,there islightcomingthroughthe windowshoweveritis
brighteroutside andthe amountof lightcomingthroughdoesn’trepresentthe daylight,this
enhancesthatthishome cannotbe a permanenthome because itishiddenawayandcrampand not
suitable tolive in.
You onlymeetone characterin the openingsequence andthis isthe boy,he iswearingtrainers,
jeansanda jacket.He is alsocarryinga bagand a skateboardwhichtellsthe audience thathe isn’t
oldenoughtodrive so,must still be quite youngcompared tothe ‘Doc’character. The props inthis
scene are the skateboardandthe scientificmachine thatiscontrolled bytime.Whenthe clocksget
to a certaintime theysetcertain machinesoff todo the ‘housework’whichisfeedingthe dog,
makingtoastand turningthe TV and radioon.On the TV there wasa reportthat mentionplutonium
beingstolenandwhenthe boyentershe putshisskateboarddownandpushesit.Thisthenbumps
intothe plutoniumunderthe bed.Byseeingthismissingplutoniumandknowingthatthe manwho
liveshere isaninventorsuggeststothe audience that Docstole the plutonium.
In thishome there isa bedbut itis coveredwithlotsof stuff whichcouldsuggestthatitisn’t used
that often.Also,the bedisn’tmade properlyandthe whole place isamess.Thiscouldsuggest tothe
audience thathislifestyleisverybusyandmanicand he is alwaysbusyinventingnew machinesand
gadgets.Inthisroom everythingiscontrolledbytime andnothingisdone manually,thiscould
suggestto the audience thatwiththe linkbetween the time control andthe title,thisfilmisall
abouttime and howto change time.
Whenthe boy entershe knowswhere the keyiskeptandbecause it waslockeditsuggestedthatno
one was inand that he had beenthere before andwasgoodfriendswith Doc. Thisboyisthe first
and onlycharacteryou meetinthisscene andeventhoughthe audience hasn’tmetDocyetthey
can gain a goodunderstandingof whathe maybe like.
Thisopeningsequenceisall done inone shot,one longpanup and down,leftandright.There are
alsoa fewzoomsinandout on specificitems.One of theseisthe newspaperarticle,thisenhances
to the audience thatthishas somethingtodothe man livinghere.The audience cangatherthatthe
filmmayreferback tothe eventonthe article laterinthe filmbecause of the specific zoom.Also,at
the start the camerawas zoomedinona clockbefore the panso, thisshowsthe audience thatthis
whole filmisabouttime asthisconceptof time isverykeyto the plot.Asthe audience istaken
aroundthe home of thisman all youcan see is clocksand machineseverywhere so,thathelpsto
explain whyDocmightbe an inventor.
The soundof thisfilmisverykey because the filmisall abouttime andthe soundof time passingisa
veryimportantconcept.Atthe start all you can hear issilence andthenthe tickingof clocksfadesin
and forthe durationof thisscene all youcan hear istickingwiththe addednoisesof the TV report

2. and the dialogue fromthe boy.The Dialogue overpowersthe tickingwhenthe reportisaboutthe
plutoniumbecause the audienceneedtohearthatit has gone missingandneedtorealise where itis
now. But, as the camera movesawayfromthe TV the nextmachine isheard.
Thisfilmopeningtellsthe audience the keyfeaturesof the filmandthe audience cangaina vague
perspective of whatmighthappennextbut,theystill haven’tmetthe othermaincharacteror the
dog.Afterthisopeningtheyhave still onlymetone characterbut, theyknow more aboutthe
inventorthanthe boy.