film opening analysis

1. Film Opening Analysis
The Departed (2006)
The filmstarts witha blackscreenwithtextsaying“Boston,some years
ago”. Thisgivesusan ideaof where the filmisgoingto be setand the
nextclips will be fromthe pastbut inthis location.The firstclipsshows
old“news”footage of people fightingandpolice officers,this tellsusan
ideathe filmispossiblysetaroundthe concept of violenceandthe
publicandpolice (possiblythe relationshipstheyhave).Duringthis
there is a voice overof a man speakingabouthisexperiences,thismay
tell usthat thisisa maincharacter speakingoverthe topbutwe do not
knowbecause we haven’tvisually seenthisperson yetandhe hasn’t
saidwhohe is.Afterthe newsfootage,we see alongshotof a man,
whowe assume isthe manspeakingoverthe top,butwe still don’t
knowwhohe isand whathe lookslike ashisface isstill blackenedout
by the shadows.Thisisa keyelementasthismay tell usthat thisman
doesnotwant to show hisidentity.He walksthroughquite proudlywhile smokingacigarette and
thismay showthat he isa verysuperiorandthinkshighlyof himself.
Afterthisscene,the cameraiswalkingintoa shop/café likewe are thisman.Afterhe walksintothe
shopthe camera is thenpositionedbehindhimsowe still don’tsee hisface,thisisanoverthe
shouldershotaswe can see whothe thisman isspeakingtoo.He thengetshandedovermoneyby
the shopownerand we finallysee the manactuallyspeak,so now we know the voice overwashim.
However,we still don’tsee hisactual face because hisbackisagainstusand it’sstill shadowed. He
threatensthe shopkeeperandwe canvisuallysee thatthe shopkeeperfeelsthreatenedandscared
of thisperson.Thisgivesus anotherinsite intothismysterycharacter andthat people are afraidof
him.Due to moneybeinghandedovertoo,itshowsthathe has some sort of businesswiththisshop
owner, whichwe don’tknowif it’sbador good as we don’tknow whothischaracter is.Duringthis
there ismusicplayingoverthe topquietly,whichgoeswell withhow thismysterymanisacting,it
makeshimseemveryproudandconfident.
Thenafterspeaking tothe womenwhoworksthere he thenturnsto the youngboy,whohas been
sat inthere the whole scene watchingthismysteryman.We thenactuallysee his face forthe first
time butit’sstill darkened/shadowedsoyoucan onlymake outthe outlines.The manaddressesthe
boyas he knowshisparents/familyandthenbuyshimdifferentfoodsforhimtotake home,he also
handshimsome money.Thischangesthe audience’sassumptionsof the manto beingmore caring
and nice incomparisontowhat he was like tothe shopkeeper. Thisscene thenendswiththe man
watchingthe boyfrom the shopwindow,leavingwithhisgroceriesthathe hasjustbeengiven.This
tellsusthat maybe thismanwill have arelationshipwiththisboyfurtherintothe film, ashe is
lookingoutforhimand caring forhim.
I like the ideaof voice overinthisfilmopeningtotell informationaboutthe characteror locationor
the story andwouldlike toincorporate thisintomyfilm.