Very brief analysis on 3 film openings.

1. Top 3 Film Openings

2. 1. James Bond – Quantum
of Solace
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
yfYC_CBNtiM

3.  Establishing shot of Siena/Italy, opening tunnel scene setting the location
 Variety of camera angles/shots i.e. close ups, tracking, zoom etc
 Action at beginning engages the audience.
 Introduced to the main character James Bond. Familiar with who he is from the cars,
technology and camera time is spent on him.
 Expensive locations and cars showing the high quality film it is, guaranteed to be a
successful film.
 Towards the end of the scene a man is revealed to be in the boot of James Bond’s car,
ends with a line said by James Bond “its time to get out” then pauses and cuts into the
title song > wanting to find out why the man was in the boot, excites the audience for
what will come next.
 Sound effects used i.e. guns firing, car exhausts.
 Background music, creates tension, heavy brass instruments.
 Title song ‘Another Way to Die’ has a powerful entrance, setting the tone and
atmosphere of the film. Distinctive music, strong and bold representing his character.
Sound title links in with the genre of the film ‘Another Way to Die’ representing the
amount of lives James Bond has (unable to kill).
 Cuts into animation credits with a picture of the icon of James Bond (Barrel Logo) to
symbolise the film, recognisable.
 Colour scheme of different shades of Red/Brown/Blue/Black
 Credits appear of production crew, directors etc.
 Movie title ‘Quantum of Solace’ appears behind a slow motion bullet, faded in by ‘sand’

4. 2. Saving Private Ryan
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=R3sypTxhFGw

5.  First few seconds of opening scene, text appears revealing the location and date of the
current scene making it clear to the audience which event it is reliving.
 Variety of shots used in opening scene i.e. establishing shot, close up, mid-long etc.
 An insight of the soldiers emotions before going to war > shot of main character
introduced, a-list actor Tom Hanks. Shaking gestures, worried facial expression, nausea
all representing the emotions of the men linking in with the true events of what it was like
at that period of time in the army.
 First minute introduces an action shot, a war scene.
 Sound effects of waves, guns, bombs, weather.
 Use of ‘pathetic fallacy’, weather is cold, rainy and thundering representing the
atmosphere of the scene.
 Slow motion is used indicating the soldier’s ‘Shell shock’ linking in with the issues
occurred to soldiers when fighting. Could be relatable to some audience members.
 Instant dramatic atmosphere created, setting the genre of the film and is a snippet of
what will be expected in the rest of the film.

6. 3. Tangled
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
EhSVreVsjJo

7.  First few seconds a narrative voice over is used.
 Typical children’s ‘story teller’.
 Friendly voice, relaxes audience.
 Introduced to ‘Flynn’, one of the characters who is the narrator.
 Telling the background story of the main character Repunzel and the events which
caused her to live in the tower. Easier to the audience to understand the films context
and an insight of the characters before being properly introduced.
 Jokes made in dialogue, sets the genre and atmosphere of the film, creates a
relationship between character and audience.
 Targeting a young audience with dialogue used, characters, colours, background music.
 Makes clear what things are important before the story begins, emphasises on
characters/objects which have a huge impact on the rest of the film i.e. the Golden
Flower > used to keep Repunzel’s mother alive during labour, source to Repunzel’s long
hair/powers, reason for captivity, stolen from family by the wicked witch who wants the
Golden flower to keep her youth which is connected with Repunzel’s hair etc.
 Variety of tones used in the narrators voice (enthusiastic, emotive, loud, quiet, fun)
depending on what event is being talked about.
 Calming/happy music in the background, typical children’s animation music.