Analysis Of Film Openings

In this post I am going to analyse a range of different film openings. I have picked a variety of film genres so that I can research what would be expected in a specific genre's film opening. By doing this research, it will help me to understand the features of different genre films and help me when I create my own film opening.

Speed 2: Cruise Control: Action-Thriller Film.

Speed 2: Cruise Control is an action-thriller film that is the sequel to the 1994 film Speed. This film is about a boat that gets taken over. The captain is killed and the ships staff lose control of the ship. Many peoples lives become in danger because of this, and it is up to the main male-hero character, Alex, to save everyone on the ship, including his girlfriend who gets kidnapped by he man who takes over the ship.
The beginning of this film, shows the credit on a sea of water. This water then turns into a a road and starts in an action sequence straight away. Because of this the genre of the film become clear straight away. Also the fact that the titles are shown on a water setting gives the viewers a clue to the theme of the film. It ties in with the fact that most of the film is based on a ship. The title of the film is also displayed on a fast moving piece of road. This then ties in with the title of the film with the camera speeding down the road to create the backdrop for the title. After this the action sequence that occurs in the opening of the film, begins. The camera shots used in the first minute of the film are mostly close ups of Alex, the hero figure of the film, on a motorbike chasing a van. Another camera shot that are used are track shots that follow the movement of the road chase scene.  During this part of the scene, we soon realizes that Alex is a police officer who is chasing a criminal that is driving the van, into a trap. It also becomes clear that Alex is a heroic person because he is willing to risk his life, to complete a task he is set because of his job. The way he drives the motorbike on one wheel,  also suggests that he is brave, strong and not afraid to do what he needs to do to complete his task.

Whilst the chase scene is happening, it cuts to the female character of the film, Annie. The character Annie is the damsel in distress type figure of the film because she is caught in both of the 'Speed' films. The first thing we notice about Annie is that she is in a car taking a driving test. The camera shows a lot of mid shots and two shots so that we can see the expression on the driving instructors face because it soon becomes clear the Annie is a careless drivers who should not be on the road.
The first five minutes of the film is constantly switching between each of the characters situations. The music in the background of the motorbike chase scene builds tension to weather Alex is going to be harmed because of the actions of the person driving the van. We also notice that Annie's driving skills are so bad that is has caused the police to chase after her because of the danger she is causing to other drivers on the road. She is then heading up the same bit of road that Alex has just passed up to capture the criminal van driver. With the police asking her to pull over, and  her driving up a one lane road heading straight for the police capture location, it again builds tension to weather she is going to become involved in the motorbike chase.
Good Action films generally start with an action sequence at the beginning. this is because i clearly identifies that genre of the film. It also shows us that the characters that are in the film are brave enough to go throughout the action sequences as if it was a daily occurrence.

[I was unable to find a clip of the beginning of this film to post into this blog post]  

Spider-Man II: Superhero Film.

Spider-Man II is the second of a trio of films. The films is about a boy who get bitten by a unique species of spider, from which he gains spider powers. With these powers he becomes the newest superhero to save the people of New York. The films are all based around the original classic comic book stories. 

The opening of this film does not include and acting scenes. As in most comic book based, superhero films the opening titles are shown in a comic book fashion. This particular opening shows small comic strips photos of what happened in the previous film, whilst displaying the names of people who were involved in making, producing and acting within the film.

The whole opening is set around a theme. That theme is spiders to go with the theme of the entire film. All of the comic book strip pictures and names that are shown are all blended into a spiders web that moves to show all the different comic pictures to reveal what happen previously in the film.

By using this theme it helps tie the opening credits into the entire film as well as giving the film a part that follows the original comic book features. By doing this the audience can then clearly identify that the film is based around the comic book stories from years before. 

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: Romantic Fantasy Thriller Film.

The Twilight Sage: Eclipse is the third installment of a film series based on a fictional vampire love story. In the opening of this film we see a man leaving a restaurant/pub and then walking down a dark alley in the rain. whilst walking down the alley, the music changes and we see the man be attacked. This clip of the opening of this film is show below. When we see the male walk down the dark alley alone, the audience automatically assume that something bad is going to happen. This is because in Thriller films this is what always seams to happens. The environment that the male character is walking into suggest to the audience that he should not be walking down a dark alley, alone at night, in the pouring rain. As soon as the background music changes into a dark and eerie sounding music that is building up as he walks along, we know that something is going to happen to him. 

After this, as suspected we see a dark figure pushes the man over and runs past him at a high speed. Tension is built in this section as the camera shows a shot of just the attackers shadows o that no one knows who the attacker is. We then also wonder what is going to happen to the man next. After this we see the man get attacked again, but this time he is grabbed around the neck and thrown against the nearest building. At this point the man starts shouting for help which shows the audience that the character is scared and is not quite sure what is happening. A lot of close up shots on the mans face are used to show that fear that he is expressing. After this, the man then runs away, but as we saw earlier the attacker can move at great speed so running away is not going to help the man at all. The music within the background of the scene then builds up even more and adds extreme anticipation to what the attacker is going to do. whilst the man is running, he comes across the end of a harbour giving him nowhere left to run away from the attacker. Knowing there is nothing he can do, the man stands up to the attacker, not knowing where they are and screams 'What do you want!?'. The attacker then speeds past the man and bits his hand. The man looks at his hand then screams as the pain kicks in, we see him drop to the floor and roll as the bit he received was from a vampire and the venom from the bite spreads through his body while he rolls around on the floor. The scene the ends and goes to the films opening title.
Throughout the whole attack scene in the opening of this film, there are a lot of quick cutting camera shots. This is to show the uncertainty and fear that the male character is experiencing. By using quick cutting shots it also builds tension in the scene as the audience try's to figure out what is happening. 

In this opening clip a lot of close up camera shots are used to show the fear and worry on the male characters face.    

  

Ace Venture - When Nature Calls: Comedy Film

Ace Venture - When Nature Calls is the sequel to Ace Venture - Pet detective. The opening to this film is quite long compared to normal film openings. The opening is shown below in two separate videos as I was unable to find a video with the whole opening of the film in. (Left video is part one. Right video is part two).

In the opening we find the main character, Ace Venture, climbing the side of a mountain in the search of a trapped raccoon. The scene starts by showing a helicopter flying over the mountains in search for Ace. Here we see the use of the landscape camera shot. This was used so that it was clear where the opening scene was happening. It could also have been use to show how deep within the mountains they are and how high the helicopter is flying. Once they locate him, the camera zooms into his location on the side of the mountain , following on from the previous shot of the environment around them. After this we son notice that he is climbing the mountain with no climbing gear or harnesses to protect him if he fell. This is a comedy aspect because you would never see a anyone scaling the side of a mountain without climbing equipment for any reason in normal circumstances. The fact that it is so unlikely makes this part a comedic feature to the opening of the film. The helicopter pilot then mentions that Ace is climbing the mountain in the search of a  trapped raccoon. Ace then mentions that he will never stop until he knows the raccoon is safe. This clearly shows the characters love and dedication to animals which connects in with the name of the film and the characteristics of the character that have been continued into this film from the first one. He is very clearly willing to risk his own life to save an animals.

Whilst scaling the mountain, Ace puts his mouth around a birds beak and heaves up so food to feed it. This element was most likely used because although, in most ways it is an odd and disgusting thing to do, the fact is that it is funny because of the characters, characteristics, it is something you would expect from him because of the love of animals the character shows. After a while he reaches the top of the mountain and a crashed plain with a cage were the raccoon should be.  Ace, then looks around for the raccoon, the body language the character uses adds a comedic aspect into the opening because he turns his whole body to show his pet monkey on his shoulder the location of the missing raccoon that he has located. This is again another funny feature because, you would not normally move your whole body to show an animal the location of something. Ace then uses a harness to reach the raccoon. He connects the raccoon to his harness and travels back across the harness line. At this point the audience are shocked at how much effort and danger Ace has put himself in, to save this one little raccoon which creates the main comedic aspect to the opening. Whilst traveling back across the harness line the raccoon's harness snaps causing the raccoon to fall, Ace grabs the raccoon and the camera does a close up of his face to show his fear, concerning the raccoon's life. The raccoon slips and falls. The camera then does and extreme close up and zooms into Ace Ventures mouth as he scream 'Noo!' because of the raccoon falling. This adds effect and clearly shows the disappointment and fear in the characters face as the camera zooms into his mouth.

Other comedy features that are used in the film are the characters hairstyle and the way he is dressed. You would not normally see men wearing such bright and non co-ordination clothes. His clothing choices cause that character to be a naturally funny person because of the way he looks and acts. The way he speaks is also another aspect that has been used to make the character seam strange and outrageous so that people will find him funny. The way he walks is another thing that is funny about the character within the film.

Back To The Future: Science Fiction

Back To The Future is the first part of three films. The film is about a Doctor who builds a time machine and Marty McFly goes back in time  and tries to change this within the present time that he travelled from.

In the opening of this film we see a lot of clocks that are set and ticking at the exact same time. This is because the film is all about time travel and by showing many clocks it gives the viewers a ideas on what is going to happen during the film. After the camera goes around all the clocks in the room, it moves onto the inventions that the 'Doc' has created. This also is another idea of what could happen later on in the film. Because the Doc is an inventor and he has a lot of clocks that tell the time, it could be a hidden clue to the fact that he creates a time machine later on in the film. After this we see a pair of feet walk through the door and hear some one call out for the Doc.

The person then kicks his skate board across the room. The camera follows the skate board along at ground level using a track shot and then shows a box that contains Plutonium which is another thing that is used within the time machine in the film. After this we see the person who walked into the workshop flicking switches on an amplifier that is connected to his guitar. The camera does a close up of the man holding a guitar pick and it shimmering in the light. This gives the audience that idea that he is going to strum the guitar and because we previously saw him flicking switches and turning things up we presume that it is going to be very loud. Then we see the back of him, while he is facing the amplifier,  as he strums the guitar. The amplifier has so much power behind it that the force pushes him back against the wall with a shelving unit on it.  The shelving unit and everything in it fall and the camera shows a shot of the mess that has been created by the person. He then gets a phone call from the Doc telling him not to use the amplifier and that all the clocks in his work shop are twenty-five minutes slow because of his latest experiment, meaning that the person is late for school.
 The film then continues on from this point. There is not clear opening to this film so i have just analysed the first four minutes.

 The beginning of science fiction films, tend to show the normal life of the main character(s) before all the out of this world adventures occur later on within the film. This gives the audience an experience of what kind of life the character(s) lead before they get caught up in all the adventurous activities.

[I was unable to find a clip of the beginning of this film to post into this blog post]