Johnny English is a 2003 spy comedy film starring Rowan Atkinson as the title character. The film parodies the James Bond genre. The opening scene introduces Johnny as he breaks into a house at night, where he encounters a mysterious woman holding a gun. While the opening establishes some of the comedic elements and sets up intrigue, it does not reveal the film's title or feature typical opening credits.

1. Johnny English
James Hunter

2. Johnny English is a 2003 British action comedy
film parodying the James Bond secret agent genre. The film
stars Ben Miller, John Malkovich and Rowan Atkinson (who, two
decades earlier, appeared in an unofficial James Bond film —
Never Say Never Again). The screenplay was written by Bond
writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, with William Davies, and
the film was directed by Peter Howitt.

3. Mise-en-scene
Costume – the costume in the first couple of munites of the film
is dark which may connote mystery or secrecy. It also works well
with the low key lighting helping Johnny blend into the back
ground (lighting comes later). When he has entered the room,
there is a young woman wearing a short, black dress which
connotes corruption.

4. Mise-en-scene
Lighting - the lighting for the majority of the opening is low key
as it is dark. This is because it is night-time and it is the best time
for Johnny to break into the house. The darkness signifies
mystery as to why he is there. Near the end of the opening there
is high key lighting where the woman turns on the light to reveal
herself holding a gun.

5. Mise-en-scene
Actors – the main actors in the opening are a woman and Johnny
himself. The facial expression on Johnny’s face when he has just
entered the building shows knowledge of weapons and firearms.
Whereas the expression on his face when the mysterious woman
reveals herself is an element of surprise. On the woman,
however, the expression on her face seems to be an element of
annoyance. The way they communicate with each other is in a
flirty, but formal way. The body language on Johnny is relaxed
showing he is calm, but the woman’s body language is tense.

6. Mise-en-scene
Make-up – in the opening to Johnny English, the only make-up
worn is by the woman, black eye shadow and pink lipstick which
tells us that she’s not that innocent, but she’s not that slutty
either.

7. Mise-en-scene
Props – the props used in the opening couple of minutes are 3
guns with one being held by a woman which challenges the
stereotype of a woman because we wouldn’t usually think of a
woman holding a gun. The other 2 are being held by guards
which meets the male stereotype. In the room there is a sofa
which the woman is sitting on to make herself look as powerful
as she can be.

8. Enigma
The enigma in the opening of the film is:
Who is the woman?
Why is Johnny breaking in?
What does he need?
What is that piece of paper?

9. Genre
The genre of the film is an action/adventure/comedy

10. Audience
The audience that this film is made for, is for those who like the
action/adventure movies with a bit of comedy in it. This film has
a lot of comedy in it. This was made for the teenage/young adult
age range as is has a lot of comedic scenes.

11. Film Opening Conventions Met?
In the opening, we get introduced to one of the key characters
(Johnny)and we see the studio and production company names.
What we don’t get which challenges the conventions are the
actors’ names. There’s non-diegetic music for almost the whole
opening 2 minutes. We get enigma but we don’t get the title of
the film. There’s not much action in the first 2 minutes but we
find out that the opening was just a dream that Johnny was
having.

12. What I Think
Overall I think that this is a good film opening as there are plenty
of questions to keep the audience wondering what is going to
happen in the film. It has a little bit of comedy and a bit of action
which the average action lover will like.