Analysis of film openings - Jak

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                              Film Openings                    Jak Edgley

 

The first film opening I have decided to look at is The Terminator (1984). In the opening of this film, the characters aren’t introduced immediately by showing their faces, where you could put a face to the character before the film has started. Instead of this, James Cameron decides to display the characters names, and the actors who play them, after a tense, yet eerie three minute opening. This is a useful way to appeal to your target audience, because if James Cameron was targeting an audience who like to be engrossed by a film, then he has achieved this, because by not immediately revealing the identity of the characters, it creates a sense of intrigue, which subsequently engages the audience and almost forces them to pay attention to what’s happening.

By engaging the audience early, Cameron has immediately succeeded in targeting his audience, which will result in the target audience interpreting the film the way he wants them to, because he has specifically catered to their interests by creating the opening in this way, the intended audience.

 

                           How is the mood set?

 

In the opening, the mood is set straight away, with the sound used, and the colours involved.  When watching the opening of The Terminator, the audience can instantly have the assumption that the mood is an eerie, dark one. This is because the film is dark, not in terms of the content i.e. dark humour, but the actual colours themselves. The opening scene is set at night, because it’s dark, with a large aircraft patrolling an area which appears to have been decimated in some way, with absolutely no sign of life. The audience can assume that the aircraft has done this, because lasers are fired from the aircraft during the scene, but the fact that the scenery has been completely destroyed suggests that the mood within the film is certainly going to be a dark, downbeat one, however it is also eerie, because of how the sound corresponds to the mood and atmosphere from the pictures. The dark, quiet and low pitch tune in the background further emphasises the eerie mood, because the tune is monotonous, it rarely changes pitch or volume, which could be argued portrays quite a dull or boring mood, because of the repetitiveness.

                                      How is sound used?

The sound in this opening has been used effectively to accommodate the atmosphere and mood within the film itself. As briefly stated above, a dark, low pitch tune is constant throughout the opening, creating a very real sense of tension, which captivates the audience immediately, because it has caught their interest, something James Cameron would have thought of when targeting his audience. Also, the sound of the laser being fired during the opening is also particularly effective, because it immediately implies that the film is not a realistic one, it is in fact fictional or extravagant; this again shows how James Cameron has specifically targeted his audiences by including these little details, which have a lasting effect on the film, and the audience who watch it.

 

                           How is the text constructed?

The text is constructed to stand out and be noticeable. The main text of the openings, such as the actors names and the characters they play, are bold and in white. The text is accompanied by a moving blue background, which is extremely effective, because it brings the text to life, it stands out significantly more than if the background had not of been moving. The text shows a resemblance to a computer in the way it appears. It appears with a large flashing square to the left of the text, which can suggest that the film is quite futuristic, or intended to be technologically advanced.

 

                                             The Style 

The opening of the film tends to use a variety of long shots and close ups in the opening few minutes, this shows that the film is concealing information from the audience at the start, because of the effect it shows, by keeping the action at a reasonable distance. The mise-en-scene is very dark; therefore you can’t see a lot of the surroundings, which creates a sense of eeriness.

                                                 Skyfall

In the opening of Skyfall, the character names are introduced immediately, by the opening title sequence. The opening is only limited to images of the main character, James Bond himself. This shows that the film has deliberately done this, because they want to focus solely on the main character, and not wander off to less significant characters throughout the film. The action packed opening, nearly 4 minutes in length, focuses solely on Bond, and his potential troubles in the film. The target audience is an audience looking for an action film, which focuses on the main character throughout the film , usually an heroic, macho character who eventually ends up saving the day.

 

                                                Mood

The mood is set instantly. Throughout the opening, the scenes change rapidly, with action and tension progressively building up, accompanied expertly by the background music, which progressively gets livelier as the scenes continue. This is an effective method to create mood, because the way in which the scenes change so quickly, clearly indicates that a lot will be happening in this film, which instantly thinks the audience to lean towards the prospect of an action film, which is this case, is accurate. The target audience has been sighted as one that enjoys action films, while following the stories and/or adventures from the main character in the film.

 

                                                     Sound

The sound in Skyfall is used in a manner which creates tension, and also builds up the action packed content that is on the screen. The sound is quite upbeat, and is progressive, it build up in stages which promotes the feeling of tension throughout the opening sequence. This is effective in an action film, because you want your target audience to be excited and intrigued by the opening, as it makes them want to continue watching the remainder of the film, to see how the mood and atmosphere develops throughout the rest of the film.

 

                                    How text is constructed

The written text is predominantly located at the bottom of the screen, which is an ideal place to put it, because in conjunction with the moving text, the titles set up a lot of the events and images that appear later in the film, instilling a sense of déjà vu in the viewers mind, which is effective, because the audience will remember this, and will refer back to it when the film ends. The moving text is varied; sometimes it’s very bright and fiery, when on some occasions the moving text can be very dark, both ways display a different meaning which the audience will pick up on. The fiery feeling will make the audience think that either the character on screen is fired up to do something, or the mood in general is a hostile one, based on what may of happened previously. This is a huge contrast to the dark text, where this gives the impression that the mood at this specific time is a negative one, or a sad one, as the dark colours depict anger and anguish.

 

                                                     Style

The opening uses a variety of camera shots/angles which can depict many different feelings or emotions within the text. There are numerous close range shots, which indicates that the attention is solely based on one particular person or item in any given scene, which is effective as it could identify a character of interest to the audience, which they may pick up on. The mid shots are less effective; however, they usually include more than one character in these shots; which shows that there may be a sense of togetherness within a certain scene.

Right at the start, in the title sequences, the mise-en-scene includes things such as vicious, fiery dragons, which in turn creates a sense of danger, as the colours red and orange signify danger. Also the fonts used are basic, but are useful, because the whiteness of the text stands out in front of all of the bright colours, which makes the text easier to identify and read.

 

 

                                  The Incredible Hulk (2008)

In the opening of this film, the characters aren’t introduced by dialogue, they are introduced through the use of written text, which is a smart method, because it just states who the characters are, the audience will have to wait until further in the film to decide which characters have certain personalities. The target audience for this would be people who obviously enjoy Marvel films; but also people who enjoy an action film, with an unrealistic plot, almost science fiction esque.

 

                                                   Mood

The mood is instantly set through the use of dark images, which portray a sense of danger, which could coincidentally make the mood a negative one, because of the danger depicted in the opening. This is a good way of immediately showing the mood, because the audience will instantly get a perspective of the potential plot of the film, and the way on which characters subsequently react to the mood. Also the scary music adds to the mood of the film a little bit too. The way in which the music drones in a low pitch, shows how the mood is a negative one, something the audience can pick up on, even without watching any of the film or its predecessors.

 

                                     Construction of text

The written text is green, which is good, as it depicts the colour of the main character, which of course is green.  The moving text however is a variety of colours, ranging from black, to red, green and orange. The use of these colours is fairly significant because each individual colour sends a message to the audience about the atmosphere in a particular scene. Orange for example shows danger and alertness, whereas green is a nasty colour, associated with sickness and illness.

 

                                                Style

In the openings, close range shots are used brilliantly. A close up of a man’s slightly bloodied face and bloodshot eyes, widely depicts horror or terror within the film, something which is prevalent in the film.

The mise-en-scene is also used well. The backgrounds are bright, or dark which each show a different style of atmosphere within the film , such as danger or horror.