1. The three films by Martin Scorcese I will be analysing are
Taxi Driver, Goodfellas & Raging Bull.
Martin Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer,
actor and film historian. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest
directors of all time. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation and in 2007 he
founded the World Cinema Foundation. He is a recipient of the AFI Life
Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won
an Academy Award, a Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival Best Director
Award, Silver Lion, Grammy Award, Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs
and DGA Awards. (Source via Wikipedia)

2. In each of the three film openings,
Martin Scorsese anticipates the
audience by capturing one shot
which goes on for a while. This a
signature style of the director
although the genres for the three
films are the same.
Establishing Shots & Long
Shots.
Visual
Similarities
Reverse Shots & Close Ups
which grab the audience
attention. Majority of the time
Scorcese shots create tension
and suspense.
In all three film openings they
all have the similar lighting
process, which shows the black
and white and darkness of the
shots. Also the Contrast &
Brightness of the shots taken.

3. Taxi Driver (1976) is one of the many films directed by Martin
Scorsese. It is about a mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran works
as a night time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived
decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent actions, attempting to
save a preadolescent prostitute in the process. (Source via IMDb)
Analysis of the film opening:
www.artofthetitle.com/title/taxi-driver/
There are various different colours presented throughout the film opening. The main
colours which are shown are black, white, red, yellow & blue. These colours are
expressed in a way which tell the audience that this is a Crime & Drama genre film.
There aren’t many shots revealed throughout the film opening. At the beginning of
the film opening there is a low angle shot of a camera driving towards the camera,
the framing is perfect as it increases the intensity of the audience’s reaction.
Mid way through the film opening there is a extreme close up of a characters face as if he is looking for something
which anticipates the audience and creates tension. Towards the end there is a blurred shot of the city in a car’s
perspective which shows all the beaming kaleidoscopic lights in the city at night. The pace of the titles being shown is
really slow as it matches with the diegetic music in the background. The music sounds western and thrilling which
excites the audience. The editing is really useful because at first they show the close up character’s face by exposing its
natural lighting to see the detail and to get the audience to get a first impression of the character and then it shows the
shot of the city, once they reveal the shot of the city they show the same close up shot of the character’s face again but
this time with different colours shining on his face to get a different reaction of the audience. The exposition of the
character suggest that the character is tired & reckless due to his facial expressions as the character is waiting for
something to upon him.

4. Goodfellas (1990) is a film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is about Henry
Hill and his friends who work their way up through the mob hierarchy. It is
rated 18+ and it is a Biography, Crime & Drama genre film.
Analysis of the film opening:
www.artofthetitle/title/goodfellas/
The colours presented throughout the film opening are black, white & red. There aren’t
many colours presented in this film opening because it is set at night. These colours
bring out the sinister, horror side of the film which shocks the audience. The first shot
in the film opening is a panning shot of a American muscle car streaming through the
road. After the next shot shows a high angle shot of three characters in the car talking
as the camera is framed in the corner of the car. The following shot show a long shot of
the car parked in the middle of nowhere as the three characters are standing behind
the car listening to the sound of the hostage kicking the boot. This anticipates the
audience as the three characters wait for something to happen and also shocks the audience as they know something
incredibly horrific is going to happen next. The final three shots show close up’s of one of the characters facial
expressions as he is stabbing the hostage aggressively, the hostage dying and one of the characters starring into space.
We get the impression that the character starring into space is the leader of the group due to his stance and
positioning. They are all dressed in black and white suits and they carry weapons which could suggest that they might
be mobsters and criminals. The pace of the titles is extremely fast, however there is no music to suggest that the titles
are matching the music but the sound of a car driving down the road fast which reveals the pace of the titles. The
majority of the film opening is really quite as it anticipates the audience, however other than the dialogue spoken,
towards the end there is a funky gangster type of music being played which is non-diegetic. As the music is being
played, there is a close up of the leader’s face which shows a fearless expression of the character.

5. Raging Bull (1980) is a film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is
about an emotionally, self-destructive boxer’s journey
through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the
top in the ring, destroys his life outside it. (Source via IMDb)
Analysis of the film opening:
www.artofthetitle.com/title/raging-bull/
The colours presented throughout the film opening are
black, grey & red. These colours show how old the film is.
There are only two main shots throughout the film opening.
The first one is a establishing shot of a boxer warming up in
the ring while the sad, inspiring diegetic music is being played in the background. The boxer is moving
in slow-motion as it matches the sound. This shot is really frustrating because it anticipates the
audience for too long and the scene is quite dull. This is a signature style of Martin Scorsese which can
be effective at times. The next shot is a high angle shot of a person talking. This makes the audience
feel superior and more powerful as the character looks small and innocent. The exposition of the
boxer is really hard to tell because it is a establishing shot meaning we can not see in detail of what the
boxer looks like, however due to the clothing and hand gestures we assume that he is dedicated and
determined to succeed. The other character talking looks as if he may be someone who has power and
authority due to his clothing which is a suit and tie and also how he is smoking his cigar. The titles are
at medium pace as it matches the diegetic sound.