1. Maddie Parsley
Casino Royale
Title Graphics
The title sequence in the introduction has vector style graphics,
the effect of this is as it is very simple but detailed as well as the
font type- gets straight to the point. The black and white
colouring contrasts with the non-primary, sophisticated casino
colours in the introduction- olive green, red, muted blues etc…
Characterization
In the opening sequence, the first character the audience are introduced to is wearing a suit and a
large oversized coat which suggest its winter. His overall appearance suggests that he is a
wealthy, first-class man. However he wears a Russian hat which indicates he is double-crossing
and was “selling secrets”. James Bond wears similar clothing, suit and tie which suggest he
means business.
Contrastingly, James Bond’s opponent in the fight scene was dressed very relaxed in a checked
lose-fitted shirt and jeans. The audience could interpret that this man is working class, and was
perhaps a messenger or a spy or perhaps a passing civilian. There is a huge contrast to James
Bond as he is strong and sharp and well-prepared for attacks and ambush.
The dialogue does not change in the opening sequence, it mainly consists of short and snappy
sentences to create punch and to make a point.
Themes
In any James bond film always includes violence, intimidation and
aggression. We are shown a grainy clip in black and white of James Bond
murdering a man in a toilet, which could create a sense of threat and
translate to the audience as revenge. The shooting of the man, selling
secrets, committed treason and Bond was looking for justice.
Cinematography
The shots and angles used in the opening sequence vary from a low
shot of the building to close up of James Bonds face to a tilted
frame. The use of all these angles is to build up tension and to
make it quick and fast moving for the audience to create a sense of
threat and to make the audience feel the emotions of the characters.
The special effects used are black and white colouring. This
usually represents the past as old movies and filmography began in
black and white as colour was unavailable. Colour was originally
rare and expensive.
2. Maddie Parsley
Sound and lighting
At the beginning of the opening sequence, all the audience hear is a trial of footsteps backed by
no music, just the silence of the still night. This is
foreshadowing as a few minutes letter the silence is
erupted by Bond and is target fighting. As the
audience watch this fight scene, the footage is in
grainy black and white which is contrasting the
previous scene. The effect of this is to represent
juxtaposition and to separate the past to present.
Narratives
The opening sets up the audience’s expectations for the rest of the story by throwing in violence
less than 5 minutes in, and could suggest that James Bond is back and is ready for business- it
could reflect that he will show no mercy and is on a journey to bring justice back.
James Bond is very iconic and is a well-known character which suggests anyone who has seen a
James bond movie before know what to expect as he is a crime-fighter, skilled and expertise
hero- who’ll stop evil.
