The opening sequence of Jerry Maguire introduces 6 teenage athletes through a voiceover narration by the main character Jerry Maguire. Various shots are used to show each athlete playing their sport, beginning with long shots for context and then closer shots to focus on their facial expressions. Throughout, the editing is smooth and the camerawork handheld to give an informal feel. The upbeat soundtrack, bright colors, and sunny lighting set an optimistic tone for the comedy-drama. The sequence establishes sports as important to the film and leaves the audience curious about Jerry Maguire's role through his confident narration alone.

1. Opening Sequence Style Model Analysis- Jerry Maguire

2. Genre
Jerry Maguire is a comedy-drama.
Titling
The titling starts with the Tristar logo. This is separate form the actual picture. This is done because
they are the main production company used on the film and want to become recognised from the
film. It then goes on to show the producers and director and also says the name of the main actor
within the film. This is all the credits shown, This is presented on a plain black background and the
writing is white and uses serif font. You then get the main title. This is different from the rest of the
titles because it fades in and transactions from being big to small and fitting over the world. This
gives the impression of it moving backwards. The fact that it is titled over the world suggests that
Jerry Maguire sees himself or his life as the only one in the world or he is the most important guy.

3. Narration
The film starts with the institutional information and then you are shown the
picture of the world a long with the main title of the film. When this happens you
here the voice of the main character (Jerry Maguire played by Tom cruise). He
is narrating what is happening on screen as if he is talking to the audience. On
screen after the first scene you can see the world and then a satellite flies past
and it shows you a closer look at America. It then cuts to a boy playing
basketball and explains who he is. It then does this with 5 other teenagers. All
are playing different sports: gymnastics, boxing, baseball, (American) football,
and golf. It is made clear in the opening sequence that sport is going to be a
main aspect of the film.

4. Mise en Scene
After showing the title sequence you are shown Earth and then shown America. This shows whee it is
set. When you are shown the first person on the screen you can see that he is a teenager and he is
playing basketball, the narration is telling you about him, the mise-en-scene in this section is
complimenting the narration by making it clearer for the audience who he is. This happens 4 more
times. In all the clips you can see teenagers playing sports. This suggests that this is an important
aspect of the film story,
You can also tell from the clothes and surroundings that this film is not set in this time (possibly set in
the 80’s 90’s). This is shown through the people clothing. For example, the boy at the start who is
playing basketball is wearing baggy, light blue jeans and an over-sized t-shirt this is common in that
time. It also suggests that this is not set in recent times because of the room in the scene with the
second teenager because of the layout and the floral prints.
In this the character shown on screen are also almost all positioned to be facing or directed towards
the camera, doing this putting emphasis on the fact that the audience are being introduced to the
characters.

5. Colour/lighting
When introduced to the first, second, fourth and fifth characters (the basketball player,
gymnast, footballer and golfer) there is natural lighting, this gives the effect of an
average normal setting. You also get high key lighting, you can see this in the first one
because of the reflection in the persons face. This lighting is used often in comedies to
give a brighter feel. In the third one it is inside so the lighting is different. It uses a key
light from above, this gives the feel of intimidation that you would feel in a boxing game.
The colours used in this film opening sequence for the actual picture are bright and
warm colours. This is common in comedy films because it sets a happier tone for the
film. This is also shows that it is always sunny in the opening sequence this shows
pathetic fallacy.

6. Soundtrack
The first bit of sound you hear in the opening sequence is non-diegetic ambient
sound of a crowd and it sounds like a sports game. This then transitions to a beat,
you first hear something which sounds like a ticking (maybe of a timer) and it turns
into a beat, along with this is more cheering and you can hear an in time clap which
is something like you would hear at a sports game with people motivating and
encouraging the players on. You then get an electric guitar playing over the top of
that. This music is effective because it sets the tone of the film as upbeat and
maybe encouraging. It also does not drown out the narrator’s voice or any diegetic
noise like for example, the actors voice.
You then throughout the opening sequence get the diegetic sound of the main
protagonists voice narrating. From his voice you can start to get an idea of what
kind of person he is, for example, it allows the audience to guess what job he has
because he knows a lot about sport and when talking about one of the teen sports
players he says “He’s my client”. It also tells the audience that he is a confident
man and unlike the people he is talking about he isn’t a teenager.

7. Camerawork
You begin with a picture of the Earth which is placed in centre screen. It then closes in on America, showing where which
country he film is in.
You are then shown a high angle shot of someone putting a ball in the hoop in basketball. This angle emphasises the
height of the hoop and therefore increasing the impressiveness it. It then cuts to a a front view of the character and the
camera move forwards towards the character getting closer to his face. This introduces what the character is doing, then
because of the zoom you can notice that he is finding it easily. You can also see the sweat on his head.
The next shot shown is a long shot. This is to show the whole of the girls body and you can see the room. This is showing
her doing gymnastics and shows that isn’t doing in a stadium or any where professional. It then cuts to when the person
mentions olympics. To a low angle shot of the girl diving. It also places her at the side of the screen and shows the blue
sky on the rest. This again is showing the weather being sunny and puts emphasis on the bright mood.The low angle also
put’s emphasis on the olympics being a professional level and of high standards.
The next girl is a boxer and it shows a long shot, this shows the ring and also what she’s wearing making it obvious that
she is a boxer. It then cuts to a medium close up of her face and shows this shows her serious expression.
The next person shown is a baseball player, this again starts similarly to the other by showing a more distant shot- in this
case it’s a medium shot- which shows the surrounding and shows what clearly what sport it is and what they are doing.
Then it cuts closer to the face to show the concentration on the baseball players face and then a smug smile when he hits
a good ball.
This happens again with the next guy who’s a American football player. It starts with the long shot showing his attire and
him throwing a ball and then going to a medium close up of his expression.
The final person shown is the golfer. This starts by showing the trainer then the boy getting ready to putt the ball and the it
shows a long shot which shows there surrounding showing they are on a golf course. It then goes to a close up of the hole.
This shows the audience that he misses, it then cuts to a medium shot of the coach and the boy throws the club at him
which shows the audience he’s annoyed he missed it.
Throughout the sequence it uses hand held movements but it is smooth. This makes use of the lightweight start and puts
the audience more in the movie. This puts emphasis on the informal style put across in the opening sequence.

8. Editing
You begin with a picture of the Earth which is placed in centre screen. It then closes in on America,
showing where which country he film is in.
You are then shown a high angle shot of someone putting a ball in the hoop in basketball. This angle
emphasises the height of the hoop and therefore increasing the impressiveness it. It then cuts to a a
front view of the character and the camera move forwards towards the character getting closer to his
face. This introduces what the character is doing, then because of the zoom you can notice that he is
finding it easily. You can also see the sweat on his head.
The next shot shown is a long shot. This is to show the whole of the girls body and you can see the
room. This is showing her doing gymnastics and shows that isn’t doing in a stadium or any where
professional. It then cuts to when the person mentions olympics. This put’s emphasis on the olympics
being a professional level and of high standards.
Throughout the sequence it uses hand held movements but it is smooth. This makes use of the
lightweight start and puts the audience more in the movie. This puts emphasis on the informal style put
across in the opening sequence.

9. Effect on audience
This opening sequence makes the audience aware of the down to earth tone to
which this film is going to be. It also leaves the enigma of the main character
because you can only hear his narration and you never hear his voice.