Film Opening Analysis +

 



Django Unchained

 

More analysis to see how different genres of film make good film openings. Key conventions of film openings are reinforced by looking at a larger variety.

Django Unchained opens with a clear establishing shot of the environment of the Wild West with a barren desert with many rocks and mountains surrounding the valley. The Wild West theme is reinforced with the Django theme song with a strong Wild West sound/feel.

 

The titles that appear are also influenced by classic Wild West films and are stylised as such.

 

The time period is establish with obvious representations of slavery which was most common during the time of the Wild West around the 1800’s most likely.

 

Following this more establishing shots are used to emphasise the Wild West theme and setting, showing the vast open valleys and other landscapes with the slaves being led by some men on horseback.

A main character is established as the camera focuses on one slave out of the group and follows him during the majority of the opening.

It is also made clear that they have been journeying for some time as it cuts to different seasons as they travel from location to location. This is done to show how much traveling they have done and how much they’ve endured along with the marks on their backs from being whipped as slave tend to be shown.

Blues Brothers

Though not featured in the clip I watched on YouTube, The Blues Brothers starts with some establishing shots of the prison and long shots showing one of the main characters being escorted through said prison. The tracking shots on him establish he is a main character.

The prison is an indication of the characters background and preludes to criminal activity being a large part of the film. It also could foreshadow the place the characters end up at the end of the film.

The film takes a semi serious tone with hints of humour as the opening starts off very realistic while adding some element of amusement the way the prison guard, like other characters later on in the movie, talk (in this case about his clothing and belongings).

The clothing is made very bold by the fact that he reads out the list of them at the beginning of the film and links to the fact that these are the clothes the two main characters wear for almost the entire film.

 

More establishing shots show the prison and the car (Blues Mobil) to make it one the key elements of the film. It is focused on from the very start of the film along with the two main characters. The fact that it’s a police car is rather ironic too and this is referred to in the next scene as they are fugitives of sorts later on and they happen to be driving an old 1974 Dodge Sedan Police cruiser.

 

This will become a common sight throughout the film as many of the same model of police car seen later on in the film. One of the films main focuses is the police chases. The cars in the film also establish the time period of the 70’s or early 80’s.

 

The second main character is also established, driving the car. The two main characters are also shown with their names tattooed on their knuckles and this is focused on for both of them during the opening. When the two meet there is an even clearer indication of them being the main characters as the names of the actors appear as titles at this point and the title of the film is shown.

 

The music also kicks in at this point and the theme of blues is made obvious alongside the title of the film. It is also worth noting that there is a bright glow behind one of the characters as he leaves the prison which could indicate towards the supernatural elements of the film or could relate to the 'mission form god' that they embark on.

Terminator 2

Terminator 2 instantly kicks off with establishing the large amount of action in the film with fire and explosions as the titles start. The titles use a serious font and are somewhat sci-fi orientated trying to establish the sci-fi genre in the film alongside the action.

 

There is a sombre tone heard in the theme tune of the film along with clear elements of military march sound. This hints towards the narrative of the film a lot without giving away any information about what actually happens.

 

A park is shown in the flames to represent a sombre tone and connote to the sad ending to the film and narrative of the events that occur. The camera pans slowly across the park and there is no fast paced editing to be found either to emphasise the sadness.

 

Then there is the obvious icon of any sci-fi movie when the terminator robot appears from the flames. His red eye that is focused on clearly show the evil intent of the machines in the film and the skull like design foreshadows the main goal of the terminator, to kill and terminate. The terminator is also established here as the main character or object in the film.