1. A-level Media Film opening analysis
Film opening: Iron man 3
Najad Abdi

2. Narrative
 The narrative of the film opening in Iron man 3 is told using flash forwarding
episodically and rapidly, foreshadowing to readers what will action will take place in
the film. The opening previews only the key bits of the film in order to tell the story to
the readers. For example in one shot when Iron man was in his suit and was
shooting at the unknown antagonist. This is a typical shot as it is adding further on to
Iron mans image of being commonly known as a ‘hero’.
The sequence in the opening can be divided into individual segments. This is due to
the jumps in time between each shot displayed ,the inter-tittle and shifts of location
used in the opening. This is a recognisable source of narration which is used in many
film openings.
Various channels of information was used in the film opening through the usage of
imagery and music. They both interacted to produce a powerful story to the audience
throughout the opening. The usage of imagery illustrates to the audience the
significant moments throughout the film, and the usage of music helped create a feel
of suspense, further anchoring the audiences attention the way through.
Additionally, the audience to respond in a certain way to events through the use of
music. For example, fast paced music would make the audience feel tension in
contrast to using slow paced melancholic music where the audience would feel

3. Editing
Cuts of the different shots was used making
instantaneous changes from one shot to another. An
example of this would be the film opening starting with
a dissolve in with a pitch black screen, after this shot all
the other shots where fast paced, noticeable and
disjointed. The average shot duration was 2-3 seconds.
In the film opening the heroine was portrayed as the
damsel in distress. As there was several shots of her
being caught in the action.
The film opening clearly shows that the main character
Iron man is dominant as there are many low angle
shots being used. Low angle shots reflect clearly on the
characters status and importance on the hierarchy.

4. Sound
In the film opening there was traces of non diegetic sound of fast paced
music was displayed, which was parallel to the images shown on screen
therefore allowing crescendo to occur. The music did not change through
the opening it was continuous therefore showing the audience that sound
bridge was used as the music lead from one scene to the next. This adds
to the mood of the scene, reinforcing dramatic developments and aspects
of character. The usage of fast paced music allows the audience to:
establish atmosphere, time and place
move the action forward
describe character
accompany scene changes
add to the dramatic impact
provide continuity across edits
Also Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from the a source
outside story space.

5. Mise-en-sen
Elements of mise-en-sen was visible in the film opening through
using lighting, costume, location and props.
The lighting in the extract was hard as you can see many bold
shadows of the main character furthermore creating a mysterious
image of them. The costume of the protagonist is very high tech
and stylized. This could signify to the audience that the
protagonist if of a high status and wealth. The protagonist having
a high status if further displayed at the location the film opening is
first set, which is at Iron man’s villa. This shows the audience that
Iron man is a wealthy and very respected individual due to his
previous scientific discoveries which further highlights the
stereotypical traits of being a hero; smart.
The props used in the film opening are high tech, for example
Iron man’s suit. It does various different things for example flies,
fire’s shots, gas and many more.