This document provides summaries of the openings of four films: 1) The Fugitive establishes itself as a crime/investigation film through its blue title cards and police sirens. Shots of the crime scene and the suspicious-looking main character build mystery. 2) Ferris Bueller's Day Off features upbeat music and breaking of conventions to signal it will be a lighthearted comedy, in contrast to The Fugitive. 3) Into the Wild uses nature shots and quotes to portray an adventure or travel story, with hints of sadness from a character. 4) 127 Hours builds excitement through music and shots of the main character preparing for an adventure, establishing the film will focus on his journey and

1. Similar Product Analysis
The Fugitive:
This was the first film opening that we watched, it was very clear from the beginning what
genre the film was going to be. The first clue that the film was going to be a crime film was
that the writing was written in blue on a black background which relates can be related to
police who play a large role in crime films. The music which is in the background of the black
screen is quite quiet but is slowly building in volume, then when the main actors name is
displayed there is a loud beat as it comes up. His name is also written in blue and in the
background of the writing we can see what appears to be either a torch light or a spot light
which is in keeping with the genre of the film.
The first real shot we see is an establishing shot of the city where it is set which is Chicago,
there is also the ambient sound of police sirens being played which adds to the atmosphere
and showing that it is a crime film. Whilst this is happening the rest of the cast members are
being displayed in blue writing still but in the bottom right hand corner which is showing
that they aren’t as important as the two main characters that were displayed at the
beginning. The fight scene of where the woman is being killed is shown in black and white;
this tells the audience that it is in the past or a flash back. Non-diegetic is also added in over
this scene where there are collisions or impacts to really emphasise them to make the scene
more intense. The next shot is of the women lying dead on the floor they use a camera
shutter sound as the camera gets closer and closer, this once again reinstates the fact that
the film is going to be crime/investigation movie.
Finally it starts showing colour shots of police cars pulling up to the scene of the crime with
sirens going off in the background. It then cuts inside to where two men are walking side by
side in long brown coats which clearly shows that they are detectives. There are also regular
police in the background walking around talking on the radios collecting evidence. The
detective then walk up to Harrison Ford, who is playing as the husband of the women who
was murdered, who is sat at a table alone wearing a blood stained white T-shirt which could
look suspicious but it might just be from where he ran over and hugged her. However as he
stands up and turns around he shows off a large scratch on the back of his neck which could
be very suspicious. So this instantly provides a sense of confusing and wonder in the
viewer’s mind adding to the point that it is a crime/investigation film. The final shot of the
detectors ushering him into their car, not a police car which shows to the audience he isn’t
under arrest as he also isn’t wearing any hand cuffs he is just being taken in for questioning
which keeps the sense of mystery in the viewer’s mind.

2. Ferris Buller:
This is the second filmopening that we watched, it started off by showing the company that
produced the film which was the company Paramount. This was displayed very clearly at the
beginning of the film which is very common as the company that produces the film will want
some advertisement for the company. Once again it begins with blue writing on a black
background however this time it doesn’t mean it’s going to be a crime because the font that
they use isn’t serious as it’s in a bubble writing style which shows it will be a lighter hearted
movie. The main actors who are in the film get displayed in the opening before the actual
name of the filmof the filmwhich shows that the actors are a big selling point for the film.
The first shot of the filmis an establishing shot of the house that they live in; this is shown
to be a stereo typical well off American Family home. Then the first shot we see of the main
character is off him lying on his bed faking his illness, from this we can see that he is very
cheeky and that the film isn’t going to be very serious. This is also shown when he has the
audacity to wink at his sister about it even while his parents are stood right in front of him,
once again showing us that he is cheeky and isn’t very serious. The rest of the actors names
are then portrayed in the bottom corner while other shots are going on which shows that
they aren’t as important as the actor who was shown before the title of the film was show.
The main character then speaks directly to the camera which is very uncommon in films
which is also breaking the fourth law; while he is talking we can begin to get a good idea of
what the main character is really like. During these shots the music in the background is very
upbeat along with a lot of the props in the scene; this once again shows us what the tone
will be throughout the length of the film.
Into the wild:
This filmopening began by showing the production company that helped produce this film
which was RiverRoad. The next shot began to set the scene of the film and began to show
clues of what genre this filmwill be. The shot was of a black screen with a quote written
across in white writing. The writing is in an old style font which fits in with the idea they are
trying to portray. The quote talks about nature and the issues of the man-made cities which
once again provide us with a glimpse of what the storyline will be like. There is also a slow
sad music in the background of the shots setting the tone for the next shot.
The next shot we see is of a middle aged women sat up in bed, the music which was in the
background stops when she begins talking. She talks in a worried and anxious tone which is
telling us that there is probably going to be something sad in the filmwhich there is. This is
showing us hints to what will happen but people who hasn’t seen the film before clearly
won’t know. This then fades to black; we then hear a very upbeat guitar track which then
fades into a shot out of a moving train onto a snowy landscape. This shows us that there will
be a sense of adventure or some kind of travel at some point in the film.

3. Overlaying these shots are hand written messages to people who we don’t know and don’t
know what they are about but will find out later in the filmwhat these messages are about.
This shows us that this film is also a light hearted and happy film. This carries on over the
top of a lot of shots of the landscape which is very common for adventure films to include
shots of this type in the film openings. Diegetic sound is played in the background with the
music over the top as it is more dominant at this time as it makes it feel as a more serine
place away from the city noises.
The title is finally shown in the same style as the messages as it is handwritten and is shown
over a slowly panning up shot of the landscape where we see the main character we suspect
walking into the wilderness. The writing then becomes solid and in green block writing
which then slowly fades out leaving the landscape as the only thing in the shot.
127 hours:
This filmbegan showing the main companies that produced the film like most films showing
the 20th Century Fox and Panthe logos. The first shots only cover one third of the screen as
more slowly join onto the other one, each shot is of the same kind of thing but slightly
different shots. In the blank spaces where there isn’t one of the shots it is once again
showing the companies that helped produce the film. In the background of this there very
upbeat music which could be considered as music that could get you quite pumped which
fits in with the storyline of the film.
This theme carries on for a little while as they are showing the companies who helped
create the film, the first true shot we have of the film is of what we expect to be the main
characters hand reaching into his fridge and cupboards gathering things that look like he is
planning to go out on quite an intense adventure as he is gathering bottles of water, fruit
and Gatorade. In the cupboard we see a pen knife and the shot are focused on that pen
knife that he can’t quite reach and decides to leave without it. This tells us that that pen
knife will have a big part to play in the story line later on and will affect the outcome of the
film.
The upbeat music carries on during the shots whilst he is gathering what he needs for his
adventure, it stops when we get the first shot of the character, at this point the actors name
appears on screen which shows that the actor is a big selling point for the film as it appears
before the movie title itself. The music is cut out in this shot because the use of diegetic
sound from the music being played in the car takes over with the diegetic sounds of the
car’s engine.
The use of him filming his self on his own handheld camera shows the idea of it also being a
kind of documentary style film which also backs up the idea that the main character is
planning on going on an adventure throughout this film. The film opening ends with him

4. riding through the desert on his bike with intense upbeat music being played in the
foreground whilst the sound of his bike is in the background as he rides through the desert.
The opening fends with the title being displayed in the centre of the shot, the fact that the
title was shown after a long period of time after the main actors being shown once again re-
in states that one of the main selling points of this film is the actor James France.