2. OPENING SEQUENCES
I looked at two different opening sequences
and analysed these to see how effective they
were in engaging audience and suitability for
the genre. The two I looked at were:
• Skyfall
• Drive
3. SKYFALL
In the opening sequence of Skyfall we are introduced to what we can
assume is a female lead potentially a villain; a medium long shot is used
from behind her and zooms into a close up of the back of her head. This
creates a sense of hidden identity for the audience and shows her looking
out over the busy city on London. From the city of London it sets the busy
crime ridden atmosphere. The shot continues to zoom out of the window
from her POV and down to a waterfall where we are introduced to the
second character which we instantly recognise as James Bond. James Bond
is seen to be shot and has been shot on the scene of a waterfall; this
instantly creates enigma’s for the audience as questions arise such as who
shot him and why did he get shot? James Bond is a main use to hook the
audience and sell the film.
4. STAR QUALITY
Due to him being in other films such as Casino Royale it creates star
quality and the audience recognise him from previous films which can help
to heighten expectations and make further predictions of genre as of
iconoclastic baggage. We can make a connection between the woman and
James Bond and we can assume that his death is linked to her; it is almost
like she is looking out the window waiting to see him, the bullet shot
suggests gun crime is going to be a current theme and the title ‘Skyfall’
links to the idea of Bond falling down throughout the opening sequence.
5. CAMERA SHOTS
Throughout the opening sequence, after the first shot shows Bond falling down at
waterfall, most of the cuts are long which reflects the slow pace of the narrative in the
opening. Various different angled shots are used of Bond and some of the other
characters underwater; editing is kept simplistic to emphasize realism and it suggests that
for Bond this is his norm and although for the audience gun shots and murder is out of
the norm for him it’s his usual work. After Bond first floats under water there is a dissolve
shot into him getting dragged down by another hand, this links the two shots together
smoothly. Lots of jump cuts are used in the underwater scene to keep the audience on
edge and to make the storyline seem more ambiguous and out of the norm. Each shot
has the feel of being ‘interrupted’ which makes
the audience feel curious to find out more and feel tension and anticipation. Lots of
zooms and panning around the shots are used; for example the audience travel through
items such as guns and wounds to give them a feeling of being engaged and part of the
storyline. This also hints to the common themes throughout the film such as crime,
violence and escape which can clearly identify the film as crime due to the content being
conventional.
6. LOCATIONS
The locations used are an office scene where the female villain (Torodov) is
stood and an underwater set in which James Bond has emerged into. The
mise-en-scene underwater is murky and dark and creates enigmas for why
is Bond here? The clothing is mainly formal such as suits and blouses; this
suggests that they are professionals in what they do. The clothing suggests
that the characters can easily afford it. All the characters shown have a very
confident stance which portrays that they are confident in their abilities in
what they do , it shows they have occupied that job role for a long length
of time and they are used to the situation and environment. Bond pulls a
gun out from an inside pocket in his suit which implies the type of industry
that he is in and also links to genre identifiers. We can clearly establish the
genre as crime and understand that the use of weapons and violence is
key.
7. VISUAL APPEAL
The visual style of the sequence is very mysterious; the font is white serif
and is placed over various shots in the opening sequence. The white stands
out against the harsh background with is different colours within a toned
colour such as blues and greys . The colours of the credits create binary
oppositions as to when the credits pop up we can determine the hero’s
and villain’s, for example Bonds name is shown over a shot of him standing
powerful. There are some wide-angle shots that show the surroundings, as
well as depicting the characters and developing the storyline. These shots
are important to the narrative.
8. SOUNDTRACK
The soundtrack to the film is a soundtrack for the movie as non-diegetic
background music to Adele’s Skyfall. It has us on the edge of our seats
waiting for the conflict to begin as the pace and pitch of the music gets
faster and higher. This creates pace to the action and draws the audience
in creating anticipation.
A variety of impacts are created for the audience from the opening
sequence, it draws you into engaging the audience. It creates many
enigmas to what is happening and we can read into the scenario and we
are intepellated to like and dislike some characters. Levels of verisimilitude
are high and as an audience the scene is believable; natural high key
lighting is used and the film is made seem serious and intense therefore
engaging audience for entertainment and diversion.
9. DRIVE
Genre: Crime, action, drama.
This is shown by the codes and conventions used:
A theme of tension and anticipation is suggested throughout the opening
sequence to keep the audience on edge; this gives an atmospheric feel to
the titling and uses various shots of a car driving through a busy city.
10. CAMERA ANGLES AND LIGHTING
The opening sequence starts where we see a medium close up of a man who
we can assume is the main protagonist driving a car through a busy city. This
links to the title of the film ‘drive’ and suggests that due to the film being crime
common themes could be getaway and violence. A variety of shots show the
man driving through the use of match on action which allows character
engagement, this gives the audience further interaction into the film and gives
them understanding of some of the credits. This editing technique shows the
same content in the mise-en-scene which could imply that this task/job could
be repetitive and long going. The location outside the car we depict to be a
vast, busy city and it is evening due to the low key lighting. This setting helps
to convey genre of crime due to the fact that large cities are often crime ridden
and in the evening are most common; additionally by being set in the evening
it puts the audience on edge and creates enigmas to why this man is out at this
time of night. It creates a sense of unease which automatically makes the
viewers intrigued.
11. FONT
Throughout the opening sequence, the font is pink and serif. It is wrote in
the style of someone’s handwriting which creates an identity to the text,
they appear on the screen in various positions which makes them have a
‘floaty’ effect and looks as if it could be someone’s thought pattern.
Although they stand out amongst the background, the colour blends in
with the evening effect which keeps the colour scheme monochromatic.
The movement of the credits fade in which is effective as it all blends in
together, the credits move with the film which gives an effect that the titles
are fixed in the scene. They appear fairly quickly which gives a fast pace in
contrast to the steady movement of the car; this makes something seem
not quite right which engages the audience as it makes it interesting.
12. MISE-EN-SCENE
In the mise-en-scene the facial expressions used by the male driver are
quite serious, this implies that whatever he is doing could have some
potential consequence to it therefore he is staying solemn and focusing on
what he is doing. He is dressed in casual everyday clothes which gives him
the effect of a ‘normal person’ and that he has to need to dress smart as
he is alone. However his posture in the car is fairly rigid and confident
which portrays that he is comfortable in this situation and allows the
audience to see that he trusts his abilities and he is used to this
environment. For the audience this gives an overall effect of anticipation
and gives them many enigmas. Due to the opening sequence not revealing
much makes the audience want to find out more and the common crime
conventions put them on edge throughout.
