Opening Sequences: An Overview

What forms can opening sequences take? Can you list the conventional features of opening sequences?

There are various ways of presenting opening sequences:

- Opening credits overlayed onto picture.
- Opening credits break up the montage of picture.
- Straight into picture (first scene) followed by opening credits.

Conventional features:

- Introduce the main character of the story.
- Introduce the setting; the main area/location which the film will centre around.
- Contain referential codes; credits notifying audience of the production company, actors etc. This would give the audience an idea of what kind of film to expect, as certain actors and directors are well known for particular styles.
- Opening sequences are use like introductions to the film and its storyline, so the audience gets a stong idea of what the film is going to be about.


What narrative functions of opening sequences can you identify?

- At the beginning of the sequence, the equillibrium is established.
- However there is then a disruption to this equillibrium that the protagonist must try and overcome.
- The protagonist will overcome the immediate disruption but mystery will be left as the identity of the antagonist is still unknown to the 'good guys'.
- The opening sequence works to set up the films plot.


What do audiences gain from watching the opening sequence?

- Audiences immediately will gain an understanding (hopefully) of what themes the film will be based around.
- The Audience is also introduced to the main charcters, time and setting of the film.
- The audience should be able to identify the genre clearly.
- Clarity, interest and mystery should ultimately determine whether or not the audience wants to watch the rest of the film.


What do film-makers gain from including an opening sequence?

By having an opening sequence, film makers draw in the audiences attention. They do so by establishing genre, characters and style. An opening sequence provides the introduction to the plot which if successful, should set up a mystery to make the audience want to watch the rest of the film.

Applying 'Levi-Strauss' & 'Barthes' Theory:

'Die Hard' (1.0):

There are many pairs of binary opposites to be seen in the opening of 'Die Hard' and 'Pale Rider'...

- Happy vs. Sad

- New York vs. LA

- Together vs. Apart

- Contrast in musical themes

- Good vs. Evil

- Life vs. death

- Prepared vs. unaware

- Novice vs. experience

- Differences in approach, e.g. Bruce Willis walks into hotel and asks for direction, whereas bad guys enter and kill everyone along the way.

'Pale Rider':

- Cuts between Good guys vs. bad guys.

- Contrast between soft guitar playing and loud horses running.

- Everyday experience vs. spiritual experience.

- Riders vs. Man alone.

- Anger and fear vs. Calm.

- Water vs. Flame.

- Rich vs. Poor.

- Survival vs. Death.

Applying Barthes Theory to the opening of SPEED:

Action Codes:

The opening of SPEED is very clear in showing the audience the main characters, when we see the villian kill the guard it is immediately clear that he has evil plans. Once the police teams are called in we are introduced to the skyscraper where the situation is taking place and straight afterwards to our main characters with the police who will ultimately saved the day. We can tell that the film is set in the present day.

Semantic Codes:

The character of Keanu Reeves clearly represents bravery and does all he can to save the hostages. His viewpoint; "shoot the hostage", which he mentions to his partner also determines his actions when his partner is taken hostage, as he shoots him in the leg.

Enigma Code:

The situation in the building with the lift set to explode is discovered by the two main charcters and they do not hesitate to proceed in adverting the potential disaster. Mystery is set up as we are curious to find out more about the villain involved in these actions of terror and why he is doing it.

Referential Code:

Information is revealed most obviously through the opening credits which seem to go on for an age! The mise-en-scene makes use of lighting contrasts e.g. it is bright on the ground floor of the building, the police staging area, but as they enter unknown territory it appears darker. The lift which is where the hostages are is almost pitch black as the power has been cut.


Symbolic Code:

There are many symbolic codes in the opening sequence of SPEED, e.g. police uniforms symbolising authority and crime stopping. There is also symbolism in the characters emotions such as bravery and fear.

Finding Nemo: Propp's Theory

'Finding Nemo' (2003) is a father-son underwater adventure featuring Nemo, a boy clownfish, stolen from his coral reef home. His timid father Marlin must then travel to Sydney and search Sydney Harbour to find Nemo. Along the way he meets Dory, who has a very bad short-term memory but nevertheless is essential to helping him find Nemo as she can read.

Characters:
- Hero: Marlin
- Villian: The Humans (the little girl)
- Helper: Dory
- The Victim (Captive): Nemo

Propp's 31 Functions in 'Finding Nemo':
- [No. 1] Nemo leaves the reef.
- [No. 8] Nemo gets captured and taken by the humans.
- [No. 11] Marlin leaves the reef to begin his search for Nemo.
- [No. 14] Marlin meets Dory who helps and helps him get to where he needs to go.
- [No. 15] They arrive in Sydney where Nemo is in his fish tank.
- [No. 25] Nemo has the difficult task of swimming out through the pipe.
- [No. 30] Humans are punished as they lose all their fish.

Propp's Theory Evaluation:
Propp identifies the key charcters in most narratives, and whilst this is mainly correct, Propp's 31 Functions are not all include in films with only a few to be found. In my opinion this makes Propp's theory a very loose one and maybe just more of a suggestion as I believe that narratives vary too much to all be categorised into a structured "formula". Being so general in the study of narratives also means that important features of storys are overlooked such as setting and context; two features vital to the narrative of any story. Overall, I don't think that Propp's theory is wrong, but rather that it misses out, by generalising, on the essential differences between narratives and their composition that make storys individual and unique.

Opening Sequence Analysis: Narrative theory

The opening of THE ISLAND begins with a huge establishing shot taken from the sky, moving through the clouds presenting the sea and a coastline giving us an immediate sense of location. We are then shown clips of Scarlett Johansson's hair blowing in the wind broken up by further shots of the fantastic environment and surroundings. A sense of place is then established when we see an arial shot of the boat which the two main characters are on. There is then a sequence of shots of Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson smiling at each other and extending their arms suggesting to the audience that they are the protaganists in this story an have a very close relationship.

The audience is then shocked by the dramatic change of mood when Ewan Mcgregor's arm is seized and he is pulled overboard by three other lifeforms. These other people are clearly not good characters, but under the control of the main antaganist who flashes in and out with the dialougue "You are Special...the Island awaits you...". The prescence of an evil villain is emphasised by the blue colour filter and darker lighting on the bad characters, and the montage that follows gives the viewer a sense of disorientation as if they are being drowned like the two main characters with whom they are associating themselves.

There is then a sublime arial shot of Ewan McGregor's bed filmed in reverse as water drains from the room and leaves him on his own to wake up. This shot is my favourite shot from the opening of this film and it shows clearly the main character emerging from his dream, and the one we've just seen.

When he awakes there are numerous establishing shots from plenty of angles of his room and the surroundings. The colour scheme of all white suggests an extrodinarily clean environment and the technology seen all around the room suggests that this film is set some time in the future. We also learn of our characters code name from this scene, as the computerised voice greets him when he wakes up.

We get an introduction to Ewan McGregor's character when he begins to argue with the computerised voice which tells him that his diet has to be restricted. His tedius manner and insistant talking into the camera (in his room) show the audience that he is frustrated about the way in which he is living. This whole scene also shows the audience how the way he lives is actually being controlled by someone else, and that he is not happy with it. There is a potential narrative direction when the shot of all the security cameras appear, as the audience understand who the bad guys are - the guys watching them.

The sequence that follows when Ewan McGregor leaves his room give the audience a sense of the scale of this location. You are shown thousands of people all wearing uniform clothes and all moving in the same direction. Suggesting that all these these people are being controlled and detained. We the characters get in the lift, the shot spectacularly zooms out to show the industrial-looking complex where all these people are.

A more purposeful narrative is establish for the uniformed people in the scene in the lift, when you find out that they are all trying to win 'the lottery' and move to the island. Here we also learn about other characters and how long they've been in this place. The fact that the two guards appear outside the lift shows how carefully monitored all these people are and how the uniformed people themselves are very obidient to the guards.

The narrative is very much hinted at in these first few minutes as the uniformed people trying to escape from this place and indeed this narrative turns out to be correct [SPOILER WARNING!] as these people turn out to be clones used as health insurance for wealthy people in the future. Our main character (Ewan McGregor) discovers the world outside this controlled area and with Scarlett Johansson, they escape, loads of crazy 'Michael Bay-style' action happens, they find out the truth, and return to free the clones. Brilliant film!

Sequence Comparison: 'Legally Blonde' and 'Seven'

'Legally Blonde'
Shots...
- CU of hair, nails, shoes, necklace shows the characters attention to detail and how self-perfection is a key part of her personality.
- Establishing shot of her on the bike shows us the surroundings and what the campus looks like, introducing us to the scale and look of the area that the narrative will be based.
- Arial Shot of the stairs give us a glimpse of the size of the area where the girls stay, which we would immediately associate with the students having a lot of money
- The sequence also uses shots which do not show the whole of the main character straight away. The character is withheld until the end of the sequence.

Character + Narrative...
- The characters we see are all university students and are very stereotypically shown. The girls are all spending their time looking good, whilst the boys are playing like guys would and looking at the girls.
- Shots showing the homecoming banner indicate to the audience that the main character is very popualar. We are also shown this by the fact that everyone is signing her card.
- No-one on campus seems to be working, but rather, working at looking good. This suggests that physical perfection is a very high priority for these students.
- Some of the shots are in slow-motion which builds up anticipation to the main character the the big event that is about to happen.

Visuals + Music...
- The soundtrack used is an upbeat song with lyrics 'perfect day' whose connotations are self-explanatory. The song also names a number of brand names, adding to the feeling of wealth and exclusiveness.
- The visuals are very bright, with high-key lighting used throughout.
-Colours are very prominant, for example the pink is bright and always stands out connoting girls and thus the theme of colour links into the main character and the narrative.


'Seven'
Shots + Character...
- Establishing shot of Morgan Freeman in the house in his bed gives us the feeling of loneliness and isolation for his character.
- CU of his belongings shows how he has a very specific way of organising himself and he is very much set in his ways.
- The way his bed is made perfectly shows how tidy and disciplined he is.

Soundscape + Visuals...
- The soundscape particularly in the main characters house is very much background noise and silence giving the character a sense of isolation from the world.
- The ticking of the metronome to get to sleep also has connotations of precision and accuracy and conforms to the characters set way of life.
- The colours are very tonal and mostly dull, adding to the realism and suggesting a sense of darkness and mystery.
- The choice of clothing on the two main characters is very deliberate and shows how one is layed back and modern wearing a shirt and leather jacket whilst the other is very serious and old fashioned wearing a trenchcoat and hat.

Title Sequence...
- The title sequence itself is very abstract. The black white and red colour scheme suggest themes of murder, horror, and thriller elements.
- The images used in the background show us sections of a character who is working with forensic evidence. Also having pictures of the murder victims, we suspect this to be the killer by the nature of his actions.
- The music is very modern, electronic and fragmented, suggesting tension and a thrilling and haunting narrative.

Overall Comparrison:

While 'Legally Blonde' presents a world in a bright, expensive, and almost unrealistic fashion, 'Seven' does the opposite by showing us the opening of a dark, haunting, and realistic thriller. The upbeat soundtrack of 'Legally Blonde' brings life to the opening of a very busy sequence with lots of characters, colour, and action, whereas 'Seven' is a total contrast with an edgy soundtrack, dull tones, and a narrative focusing mainly on one character.

These styles, altough very different work perfectly to open the films as they are immediately indicative of the films genre. Both openings set you up for an enjoyable two hours and leave you wanting to carry on watching to explore the narrative that you are set up with at the start.

Film Still: Analysis

This shot is a CU of a held knife combined with a VLS of a person fallen on the floor. The presence of the knife immediately indicates something sinister, and the person on the floor is the victim struggling to get away. Horror is also represented not just by the action, but by the techniques used in the compostion of the shot. The contrast created by the extremes of lighting makes the knife and victim stand out and this is exaggerated further by the resulting silhouettes. The framing is tight, and the killers leg and the corridoor doorway create multiple frames within a frame, also creating division between the two characters and connoting a bad or non-existant relationship. The use of different levels in perspective also adds a depth of meaning to the shot. The standing killer looks in control and dominant whereas the victim looks small and helpless. The knife appearing larger than the victim signifies the scale of the threat and makes the danger seem much more prominant.

To acheive these desired effects we used the upper science corridoor in the school and started by turning the lights off. We decided that the killer should stand in the darkest area of the corridoor where there were no windows and that the victim should just be lit up by natural light (from the windows further down). This was directed in the planned shot sketch. To frame the still, the photographer knelt down close up to the killer using the tripod to steady the camera. The knife was framed in the centre as this is where the natural light fell and we liked the silhouette effect that resulted. The victim then went by the first window, as a means of lighting them, however we found that the shot worked better when the victim was just in front of the first window, thus creating a silhouette. We experimented with position and action of the victim a lot and attained a number of possible final shots. As directed in the plan of this shot, the only light source was the natural light; we did experiment, but in this shot the artificial lighting was not used.

I believe that the shot works very well due to the strong contrasts created. The light, shadow, and depth created in the shot combine to form a composition that I think could be very representative of the horror/thriller genre. The bold silhouettes are prominant and draw the audiences attention to the action raising questions about the possible narrative which will emerge.

If I were to make any changes to the shot I would perhaps experiment with the framing, placing the knife further right and the victim further left to give the shot a wider feel. This could be done in a more open environment. I would like to see how that would look compared to the shots we already have as I think it would feel less claustrophobic and as a result maybe create a different expected narative.