The opening sequence of Goldeneye uses dramatic music and stylized visuals to set the tone for the spy thriller film. Shots include a bullet firing from a gun, explosions with the title revealed, and silhouettes of dancing women. These images are accompanied by slow motion and imply danger, violence, and intrigue through their use of warm colors and implied sexuality. The sequence hints at the importance of Pierce Brosnan and builds mystery around the plot through its abstract and ambiguous visual storytelling.

1. Goldeneye Opening Sequence
Analysis

2. The sequence starts with an image of the
inside of a gun. The colours in the frame
are dark and dull apart from the orange
section in the middle which is later
revealed to be the bullet being fired out
of the gun. The text for the titles here
appears in gold font, which could be used
to link to the title of the film.
The music for the opening sequence
starts which is dramatic and slow, with
sudden increases at times. This music
could be associated with ‘spies’ which
links with the film.
The shot tracks outwards to reveal the
bullet in slow motion leaving the
gun, with the name of the main
actor, ‘Pierce Brosnan’ appearing in gold
capital letters to show his importance in
the film. There is an ‘explosion’ effect as
the bullet comes out of the
gun, although this sequence is clearly
animated as it is not a real gun. The
background in this shot is plan
black, which would allow space for the
titles, although the editors have decided
to place them over the images.

3. The next shot shows the an
explosion including dramatic red
and yellow colours. This could
help to show that the film is an
action film, and probably
contains use of guns. The
explosion is then cleared to
reveal the name of the
film, ‘Goldeneye’ on a plain
background, which then fades
into what looks like fire.
There are silhouettes of women
around the title shown to be
dancing or moving
seductively, which could suggest
the film is aiming more for a
male audience. The use of such
warm colours as orange and red
may be used in invite the
audience into the film, and gold
could be used to represent
wealth and status that will later
be shown within the film.

4. The following shot crabs to the
left, revealing more silhouettes of
women in slow motion, dancing.
The women, although somewhat
unrecognisable, seem to be
stereotypically attractive, which
could persuade the male audience
to continue watching this film.
The next shot shows an animated
silhouette of a man walking across
the bottom of the screen, turning
around and ‘shooting’ a gun
towards a woman's face which looks
like it is illuminated by a fire, or
similar lighting. As a hyperbolic
sound of the gun firing is used, the
woman is shown through a close up
to blow smoke out of her mouth.
The background of this shot then
changes from the ‘firey’
background, to an eye, which can be
faintly seen in this shot. The music
continues as a slow, yet dramatic
mood creator.

5. Although the eye is still only
shown faintly in this shot, it is
apparent that the eye colour is
orange, which could appear as
something that has been
tampered with or is
supernatural. The eye then blinks
and is staring into the
camera, perhaps connecting with
the audience.
The next shot shows a mix of
animated ‘hooks’ falling
downwards, and a mid-close up
of a woman looking to the left.
The background is very red
here, which could suggest danger
or uncertainty into what is going
to happen. This could create a
sense of mystery for the film, as
not much is shown through the
opening sequence. Music and
titles continue to appear over the
images.

6. Following this, the shot
further cranes down to reveal
a series of women walking on
the hooks that were seen to
be falling from above. The
background are red and the
variety of women are still
silhouettes, telling the
audience that they are not
main or important
characters, and perhaps will
not even appear in the film.
The next shot follows a
structure as it falls and
breaks next to three women
dancing around a star. The
star is again red, which could
also be connected with
blood or killings. The music
is continued with a woman
singing.

7. The shot then fades to
black and a gun appears to
the lower left corner, which
is shown to be
shot, creating another
explosion and showing a
reaction from the women
dancers, as they ‘jump’
back and turn the colour of
the explosion.
The next shot shows a
track of the women
dancing again, this time on
grey statues. The scene is
‘foggy’ or ‘cloudy’, making
the figures increasingly
mysterious and covering up
their identities. The
women are shown to be
doing rather acrobatic
poses, which could suggest
they have a lot of agency
or could fight, as they show
strong body movements.

8. One statue is shown to
fall over, following it to
show a close of of
another statue which
bares resemblance to a
mask. There are women
climbing through the
eyes and mouth of the
mask. As the woman
singing refers to
‘Goldeneye’, the eye of
the statue glows gold and
spreads out to the rest of
the frame.
This changes the scene
to a close up of a blonde
woman's face, with a
cigar in her mouth. Her
face is turned to reveal a
symmetry of her
face, and as she opens
her mouth, a gun comes
out. This could suggest
that the women featured
in this film could be
dangerous.

9. The next shot cranes
downwards to show women
dancing on what seems to
be pedestals, although they
are turned to reveal that
they are actually standing
on guns. The background
here is more
orange, showing warmth.
An extreme close up of a
gun next to a close up of a
woman is then shown, with
the woman staying in the
same place whilst the
camera cranes down the
gun, which then turns
purple. Another woman is
shown to be standing on the
bottom of the
frame, holding which seems
to be a walking
stick, standing in a very
‘dominant’ pose.

10. There is then an image of a
close up of a stiletto heel, with
the woman with the stick on
the left doing actions to reveal
that she is actually holding a
hammer. The music here
continues and the purple
background gives a heightened
sense of mystery and
uncertainty of what is going
on, as the title sequence could
be seen as very confusing due
to the animated features.
The shot then crabs to the left
to reveal more women holding
these hammers, and appear to
be using them to work on the
statues that they were earlier
dancing on. This could suggest
that as well as being
attractive, the women can
work and look after
themselves.

11. The crab shot then stops
on a woman hammering
on one of the ‘hooks’ seen
earlier in the sequence, as
the golden coloured eye
appears in the
background, giving the
effect that someone may
be watching her, or the
audience themselves.
The woman then fades
away and the eye is shown
to again blink, revealing
golden colored eye
shadow. The eye is then
shown to fade away into
the barrel of the gun
which was first seen in the
sequence, creating a
looping effect.