The film opens at sea with a galleon appearing slowly out of the fog. A young girl is singing on the ship when a man startles her, implying danger. The costumes indicate the characters have been at sea for some time. A scruffy crew member named Mr. Gibbs is dismissed by a cleaner, higher-ranking man. The lighting is dull, foreshadowing something alarming. An umbrella floats by, which is strange as they are far from land. The crew discovers an unconscious boy on a raft and bring him aboard. The boy's name is Will Turner and the girl promises to watch over him. It's revealed he is a pirate, though the girl keeps this a secret. Approaching in the fog

1. Jack Routledge
Pirates ofthe Caribbean- The Curse ofthe Black Pearl OpeningAnalysis
The filmopensinwide shotat sea.Throughthe fog a galleonslowlyappears.Thissetsthe location
and the time the filmisset.The shipmovesslowlyandsilentlyasif the shipitself fearswhatmight
be out at sea. The camera thenzoomsinon a younggirl singingontop of the galleonoverlooking
the water.We thensee a close-upshotof a handappearon the girl’sshoulderwhichsurprise’sher
suggestingthe handisof a villain orsomeonewithimportance,the manexplainsthatthe girl should
not singaboutpiratessuggestingthathe fearsthemordespisesthem.The costumesthe actorsare
wearinghighlightthatthe filmissetinthe past and that theyhave beenonthe ship fora longperiod
of time attheyare relativelyweatherbeaten.We thenfindoutthe man’s name is‘Mr Gibbs’as he is
talkeddowntooand dismissedbyanothercrew member.The hierarchyof the twomenisveryclear,
one isdressedverysmartlyandcleanshavenwhilst‘MrGibbs’ looksscruffyandhas facial hair.
Make – up is usedto make the actors look pale,maybe toshow theyhaven’tseenthe sunina long
time or too make the audience aware theyare Britishalongwiththeiraccents.Diegeticsoundsof
musiccan be heardwhilstthe charactersare talkingto create tensionandtoforeshadow an
upcomingeventwhichthe audience canalreadyguesswill be piratesappearing. Non-diegetic
soundsof the windare presentwhichcouldsuggestthere will be badweatheraheadwhichlinksto
the grey skyabove them. The gentlemenwhodismissed‘MrGibbs’thentalksto the younggirl about
hisviewonpirates,he isthe focus in the shotmeaningwhathe’ssayingisimportant,he isalso
speakingvery seriouslywhichis unusual because adultsdon’tnormallytalktochildrenlike that,
consequentlyreinforcingthe importance of whathe issaying.The fatherof the younggirl appears
(wearingredinsteadof blue likethe twoothermen,suggestinghe isof more importance) andstops
the man fromsayinganythingelse andexplainshow he isworried thathisdaughterhassuchan
interestinpirateswhichagain highlightsthe galleonandpeople onthe galleonsfearof them.The
lightingisverydull sowe can expectsomethingalarminganddarktohappen.Once the younggirl’s
fatherwalksawaywe get a mid-close upshotof herlooking backoutat the water,we then see an
umbrellafloatpastwhichisoutof the ordinarybecause we presume theyare faroutat sea. The
diegeticsoundof edgymusicgetslouderandcreatessuspense.We thensee the younggirl look
roundonce the umbrelladisappearsandwe geta highangle shotof a boyon a raft. The boy isled
downflatwhichcreates tensionbecause we don’tknow if he isalive ornot.Thisisfollowedby fast
cut transitionsof the crewbringingthe boyup onto the deck.To implyimportance aclose-upshot
of the man speakingtothe younggirl previouslyismade ashe tellsusthe boy isbreathing.The
musicbeginstobecome fasterandlouderfollowingalongshotof the whole crew onthe galleon
lookingata shipthat is onfire allowingustoknow theyare notalone at sea.‘Mr Gibbs’assumes
that the shiptheyare lookingatwasset alightbypiratesbutthe younggirl’s father(whoseemsto
be of greatimportance onthe ship) isquicktoshy awayfrom the assumptionandsays“there isno
proof of that” a mid-shotisusedsowe can see the facial expressionof the manas he smiles.This
againgivesusan understandingthatthe crew fearspiratesanddon’twant to come across any.The
propson the galleonsuchas the cannon suggeststheyare readyto fightif theyencounteranywhich
allowsusto feel suspense and excitement. Some of the crew are shownrowingtowardsthe shipon
fire witha wide-shotsowe can see exactlywhere theyare headingtoo.The younggirl isleft alone
withthe boyand he becomesconsciousjusttosayhisname, whichis “Will Turner”and thenfalls
unconsciousagain.The girl reassureshimthatshe iswatchingoverhimwhichsuggestsshe isvery
kindand caringand mightshowthisthroughoutthe film.The girl discoversthatthe boyIsa pirate
and mysteriousdiegeticsoundbecomeslouderasshe doesn’ttell anyone whichisunusual and
couldforeshadowherbecomingclose toapirate due to herinterestinthem.We know she’shiding
the fact he’sa pirate whenaskedaboutthe boybecause the girl put the necklace behindherbackso
no crewmemberscould see it. A flagisshownthrougha panof the frontof the galleontoshow

2. Jack Routledge
where theyare from.The camera focusesonthe piece of jewellerywithaskull onthatthe boywas
wearingandthenzoomsout to showa shipappearingaheadof the galleon.The weatherisstill
condensedwithfogtobuildonthe suspension.Finally,we seeaclose-upshotof the shipsflagwhich
isa skull andtwoswordshighlightingthe facttheyare piratesandshowingtheyaren’tfriendlyas
swordsare usedforfighting.A transitionisthenmade backto the younggirl withan extreme close-
up of her shuttinghereyes almostlike she’sneedingadouble take whichhighlightshew interestin
piratesas she can’tquite believe they’re real suggestingthisisherfirsttime encounteringany.A
close-upof alady openinghereyesappearsuggestingthiswasall adreamor a memory.However,
we do not knowforcertainthisis the same girl.The camera starts to zoomout of her face and her
facial expressionsallowustorealise she isquite dazedtoshow she hasjustwoke upand to setthe
scene ina newtime frame.Warmercoloursappearin the scene whichtakesawaythe suspense.