Becky's Four Film Openings (ANALYSIS)

Now You See Me(2013)

 

•  A pan in is used at the beginning of the opening from behind the character so that their identity is unknown and to create suspense.

•  A close up of the characters hands shuffling a deck of cards is then used to show the spectator the characters profession, hobby and interest. His hands are kept moving in this shot to show match on action in the following shots, to keep the sequence interesting and allow for consistency. There is then another pan in from the front of the character to a close up of his face. This allows a spectator to seethe characters facial expressions.

• .Another pan is used to circle the character as he observes his reflection in a mirror opposite him.

• this then cuts back to the close up of the hands and then back again to finish the pan.

 

 

Pulp Fiction(1994)

 

 

• The first frame is a still shot of a dictionary definition written in a dictionary style font of the word 'Pulp'. It is clear that the second meaning is relevant, as it sets the tone of the film immediately. The shot fades in and out, which I believe indicates that the director (Quentin Tarantino) intended it to be kept in the spectators mind whilst they view the film, there is silence at this point that builds suspension.

 

 

• This cuts to a medium shot that introduces the main characters in the opening scene showing a couple having a conversation whilst eating in an American diner. The male character is smoking, leaning back in his seat with his legs and feet perched on his seat in front of him. This suggests non-conformity, and also, his liberal use of swearing suggests he is a rebel or possibly an antagonist in the film. The woman is sitting up straight, opposite to the man and sounds nice and happy in contrast to him.

•    The shot has high-key lighting from the large use of naturalistic lighting from the windows behind them. There is only diegetic sound in this scene, in the form of background conversation from other customers in the diner, the activity and quiet music being played as well as the sound of traffic, letting the audience know they're in a busy, built up environment.

 

 

• Later on in the opening sequence, the male character unexpectedly stands up to alert the people of the coffee shop that they're being robbed. The camera pans up with him, and the woman turns away so you cant see her face. At this point, the man appears to be the dominant figure, in charge of the robbery as the woman has moved out of the focus of the camera. The woman then stands up with her companion also pulling out a gun to the customers. The opening credits then appear with loud intense fast non- diegetic music which contrast to the silence of the scenes before.

 

The Day After Tomorrow(2004)

 

 

•   I noticed there were many different camera angles being used. There were high angle shots, medium shots, and extreme close up shots. These were very important because it kept the audience close up to the action. 

• The audience could be close enough to see what was happening and far enough to admire the scene and its many specific details. The camera zooms out to show the audience the explores base and then it zooms in. I think this was pretty important because it showed the scenery in the background and it showed the area the explorers were working in. This camera angle helps the audience figure out the scene and what is happening. 

  • At one point, when the explorer cracks the ice and almost falls thorough the crack in the ground, the camera zooms out away from the characters and it looks down into the trench that was being made. This camera angle shows the audience how deep and far the trench was and it looked as if the audience was going to fall right down that trench. I thought that this was a pretty good camera angle shot because it made the audience feel as if they were going to fall down the trench and the movie interacted with the audience so that the audience would feel excited. If there was only one camera shot, the audience would soon be bored with the movie and they would not want to watch it again. 

    • Having these different camera angles help the audience get a better picture of what I happening and the camera shots show the great distances or the small details in a movie. At the beginning of the movie, I noticed the music that was playing in the background. This music was an orchestra type of music and I thought that it fit quite nicely into the scene as the camera was showing the audience the icebergs. The music sounded peaceful and calm as if nothing was going to happen. 

      • Later on, when the ice starts to crack in the ice shelf, strong music starts to play as the ice is cracking and the explorer that was drilling tries to get to solid land. The music is very fast paced and ominous. It has a big contrast as to the calm music that was playing before and the audience can tell that this is a very exciting part. The music helps in gripping the audience because the audience doesn't know what is going to happen, and the orchestra music makes it seem as if something bad is going to happen.

 

Hanna(2011)

• we begin with an extreme long shot of and abandoned white landscape, panning to the right as the opening credits begin to appear. This shows an audience perspective and introduces the setting to the spectator.