The document provides a detailed breakdown and analysis of the opening scene of Star Wars. It summarizes that the opening establishes the setting of space and a large Imperial ship through establishing shots. Key details like the unfinished Death Star are shown. Shots introduce the main characters boarding a shuttle and arriving on the Death Star where stormtroopers line up and Darth Vader is revealed, recognized by his iconic black costume and helmet. Dialogue and tension are conveyed between the characters through shot reverse shots and close-ups of their faces.

1. In the opening scene we have an establishing shot. This is common for most film opening. We
can see where we are in the film. As we can tell, we are in space. Space is common of sci-fi films
as they usually have some kind of high tech space craft that they use to travel to different
places.
If you look in the background you can see that the death star is half built. This lets us know that
we have arrived in the middle of something. The death star is also some iconography as any Star
Wars fan would instantly recognise it when watching.

2. The establishing shot seems to last for a very long time. Although this shot is common, for it to
last for so long is very uncommon or unconventional. This shot is used for an extended amount
of time because of the ship flying over. This allows us to see how big the ship is. A large ship
suggests power since someone with a small ship wouldn’t seem as threatening.

3. After about 28 seconds the shot changes. We can now see the whole ship and because of the
shot before can tell that, even though we are far away from it, it is a large ship. The slightly
smaller ships are show here flying towards us. Since the camera is focusing on them we can
assume that there is something important about them.

4. This shot shows the 2 characters flying the ship and also where they are flying to.

5. We see a close up shot of the computer screen. Computers, usually very advanced computers,
are seen in sci-fi films.

6. We have another establishing shot of the death star but closer up. We can see that it’s
unfinished in multiple places. The smaller ship we saw earlier flies inside of the death star
showing us that something important is likely to happen.

7. We see another establishing shot from a different angle of the inside of the death star, showing
us where the ship is flying to exactly.

8. A high angle shot is used here to make it seem like we are watching the ship arrive from a
balcony. Since we have been focusing on the ship for most of the shots we know that something
or someone important is on that ship. In this part we can hear a siren going off which signals to
everyone that the ship has arrived, again showing importance.

9. Although it isn’t too easy to see, there are a lot of people lining up to greet someone. A fan of
Star Wars will quickly guess that the people in white are the storm troopers.
In this setting we can see lots of lights. Sci-fi films usually have dark places that will require lights
to see anything.

10. In both of these shots we can hear the
iconic theme tune playing in the
background. This tells the audience
they are watching Star Wars because
they recognise the music.

11. In this part, we can see
the use of tracking on
one character. This shows
us that he must be
important as we are
following him and he’s
the only one walking
now. He is also walking
down the middle of all
the other men.

12. We have a close up on this characters face which shows his emotions. We can see that he is
tense and nervous.
He appears to be dressed in green. Green in a colour we normally associate with sci-fi films.

13. Just before the smoke appears, we see a figure dressed in black. We only see the lower half of
him though. We then see smoke appear on the camera tilts/pans up to reveal who he is.

14. When the camera stops we see who it is. We see it’s Darth Vader and even non Star Wars fans
can tell who he is. The helmet that he wears is iconic enough for everyone to recognise it.
Darth Vader is one of the main characters in this film, he is even given a formal greeting with
everyone lining up to meet him.
The colour black that Darth Vader wears a lot of can be associated with evil and death.

15. We see a tracking movement again this time in the opposite direction and with an extra
character. Both of these characters are important so we follow them across the room while they
exchange dialogue.

16. We then cut to the front of them both. We see the character walking with Darth Vader more in
this shot and we also see their men behind them.

17. We see Darth Vader’s men, the storm troopers, behind him. The storm troopers are another
iconic thing in Star Wars. You can easily tell they are Darth Vader’s men by the helmets as they
are similar to Darth Vader’s.

18. A shot reverse shot is used here to show that both characters are talking to each other. Since we
can’t see Darth Vader’s face, the shot reverse shot helps us realise that he’s talking.

19. Here the character looks rather tense still. He looked nervous before and now he’s with Darth
Vader so it’s understandable that he would be tense. A close up, over the shoulder shows us his
face clearly so we can see his emotions.

20. Here a high angle is used to show the setting from the point of view of someone on the balcony.
We also see the camera panning up to keep Darth Vader in the frame. This shows he’s more
important than other characters. We also hear the theme music play again as he walks off.

21. A wipe transition is used here which is rather uncommon for a film to use. The transition shows
that there is a different location that we’re in now and also that it is a rather contrasting place.