2. 1) Identify the key actions within the
opening
The opening shows the main character ‘Austin
Powers’ on a journey from his hotel room to the
pool. However humour is brought into the clip
through him being nude and his rudely shaped
chest hair. It starts out with him entering a lift
and ends with him jumping in a pool, through the
journey from one place to the other we see him
chat to lots of different people however these
aren't significant characters. This shows us that
the film will be silly and full of humour.
3. 2) Identify the enigma codes within
the opening
Questions on which the audience is left with is
such as ‘why is he naked?’ we don’t know
anything about Austin at the moment so all we
see is a man being silly naked, this can lead the
audience to wonder why. Also why is he
showing no shame being naked? Is he just
confident? The audience will understand more
through watching the film but as of now we can
only guess that it’s the humour of the film.
4. 3) Identify key characters
The key character in the opening is only
Austin Powers, there are other people in
the clip but they aren't significant as such.
Austin shows us the film will be humorous
and rude, the way he is acting is the way
the film is being represented and has set
us up for a fun and silly film to view.
5. 4) Interpret the cultural codes in the
opening
We know that the film is set in the 60’s from the bold font chosen to tell
the audience who is in the film, who produced it etc. That would be
the main key point of the culture in the clip as we can’t get much
from the rest of it due to it being set in a hotel there are many
different types of cultures all in one place. Another reference that
helps the audience understanding is the interior décor of the hotel
Austin Powers is staying in. The hotel is filled with marble, its more
than one story high, it has a casino and a pool. From this we can
understand that the hotel Austin Powers is in is upper class,
suggesting that Austin has a lot of money. Which then makes it even
weirder that he is naked in this upper class 5 star hotel.
6. 5) Identify key themes
The key theme is humour, its being silly and not taking
anything too seriously. We can understand this through
the fact that Austin Powers is doing something very
wrong yet it doesn’t phase him, he doesn’t mind that
everyone can see him naked, the looks from the ladies
are clearly making him feel great about himself. This is
represented through all kinds of people seeing him on
his journey from the hotel room to the pool. Religious
people, mothers with babies, older ladies and
men/women his own age.
