Research and planning
Analysis of Children of Men opening sequence
- Camera Shot/Angle/Movement
Mid-shot of crowded coffee shop, everyone is squeezing into the shop, the fact the shop is crowded just to watch the announcement shows the importance of the news being announced on the T.V.
A tracking Shot, hand held camera follows the man out of
the shop this camera shot tells the audience who the
main character is going to be, The fact that they used a hand
held camera creates a sense that we are following him with our own eyes and body.
Just as he leaves the coffee shop the camera pans to the futuristic and updated London Street because of the moving digital posters but yet it looks old fashion because of the bicycles.
The camera doesn’t cut at anytime throughout the opening sequence, it is one long shot with no editing. The hand held camera follows him and then goes around him so that we get a better view of the explosion and his reaction to the explosion.
- Sound
In this opening sequence they use a lot of diegetic sounds but they also use non diegetic sound for a couple of seconds.
The diegetic sounds are the voices of the reporters of the T.V, women crying, cars driving past, cars beeping, talking in the background, screaming, exploding nois
e, alarm or a squeaky ringing noise after the bomb goes off.
The non diegetic sound they use is slow sad music which sounds like violins, this start to play when they reveal the sad news and carries on until he leaves the coffee shop.
- Editing
There isn’t much editing because it is a continues shot nut at the start there is a black screen and we can’t see anything all we can hear is the news report and this grabs audince’s attention and the fact that the first thing we hear is bad news tells us what the rest of the film is going to be based on.
- Mise en Scene
Everyone is dressed like we do know even dough it is meant to be futuristic wh
ich shows use that not everything changes.
Police men / cars / busses with digital posters on them / bin bags on the floor and lots of smoke and pollution in the atmosphere
this tells that nothing has been done do avoid producing more pollution to prev
ent global warming
from getting worse.
The weather is cloudy which is Stereotypical London weather this relates to th
e British audiences.
Vehicles in the street makes life seem normal.
People lying on the floor man fell of a bicycle as the bom
b went off, lots of black and grey smoke from the explosion.
- Characters
By watching the opening sequence you can tell how the main
character is going to be because of the way the camera is always centred him and following him. The main character is Clive Owen and because he is a well know actor in action movies it makes the audience relate to him better because they already know him and they know what to expect of the film if they think the actor is good.
- Locations
The location is obvious especially if you are a Briti
sh viewer because a soon as the camera goes out of the shop it shows us an establishing shot to establish wear the location of the film which is Central London. You can tell
this by the red busses and the buildings.
- Narrative/Plot
The opening sequence gives us a major clue on what t
he film is going to be based on the first things we hear of the news: after 8 years the British borders will continue to be closed, the deportation of illegal immigrants and then they say there lead story about the youngest person on the planet has been killed.
- Themes
The opening sequence tells us that the theme of the film will be about the world coming to an end because women aren’t reproducing and also suggest that there will be a lot of deaths and violence because of the fact that he youngest boy was killed and the bombing.
- Visual Style
The visual style of Children of Men is very interesting it starts with a blank and a voice over which is immediately recognised as a news reader informing the audience of world wide civil unrest. The style of the opening is very similar to a docume
ntary with the use of hand held camera and tracking shots.
- Genre
Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller
Opening Sequence Analysis
Se7en & Panic Room
Se7en
Camera Shot/Angle/Movement
Mid shot high angle on hands
Extreme close up on hands and blade when he is scraping off his skin.
There are a lot of close ups and not a lot of medium long shot because it is trying to create a secretive and untrustworthy
atmosphere.
High angle shot on book with blanked out words, this also adds to the suspicions and secretive atmosphere.
Extreme Close up on finger reading through some sort of hand written book.
Close up on smudging words which are heterosexual,
intercourse, transsexual and then he crosses out a babies face this suggests that he is researching stuff that he believes is wrong or right and do something about it.
Close up on flicking pages, this could signify that the person is planning and analysing something.
Close up of the person processing Images this creates a mysterious atmosphere.
Close up when he cuts out the word Go
d this shows that whatever he is doing he thinks will get him on gods good books. “He then views himself as akin to the Sword of God, handing
out horrific
punishment to these sinners.” This was on ht plot summary for the film
Sound
Type writers as the letters come on screen
Tense music
Squeaky and screaming noises
The only time that there are lyrics on the opening sequence music is at the end and it said, “Getting closer to God” this ties in with what I've said ab
out him trying to get close to god and by doing this he wants to follow gods rules by justifying his crimes as absolution for the world's ignorance of the Seven Deadly
Sins which is the absolute wrong.
Editing
A variety of jerky and quick edits to simulating the film going through a projector.
Mise en Scene
Books, blades, photography, photography film, dark room, money, messy/scribbled writing.
Characters
The opening scene doesn't show any particular character it just shows someone doing mysterious, unusual things and graphical images wh
ich suggest the person is a Serial Killer, Dangerous, sneaky, mysterious, and he is portrayed as the villain.
Locations
Dark and private place like a basement or a loft
Narrative/Plot
The opening sequence concentrates on what seems like a serial killer this tells us that this theme will carry on throughout the film, it also involves God and it seems like he is killing because he thinks it’s what Gog wants him to do.
Themes
By watching the opening I can tell that the theme of the film is death, serial killing, torture.
Visual Style
The visual style is very intense and creates a scary and untrustworthy atmosphere; it makes the viewer judge the person as a dangerous killer without knowing the character properly. We judge this by watching what he is doing in the opening scene.
Genre
Crime/Mystery/Thriller
Panic Room
Camera Shot/Angle/Movement
The opening of Panic Room uses a variety of long shots, high, pan and it begins with an establishing shot of New York and high angle shots.
In the opening sequence of panic room they don’t use any extreme close, close ups or mid shots whic
h is the opposite to the opening sequence of Se7en they only used extreme close ups but in Panic Room they only used
long shots.
I think it is harder to understand what Panic Room is going to be about by watching the opening sequence.
From my perspective by watching the opening sequence only and I didn’t know anything about t
he film, the fact that they only do long shots of buildings in New York may m
ean that the film is going to be about the business or business people, rich companies that run New York City.
After reading the plot summary of Panic Room which said:
“The odds are against the claustrophobic mother and her child with
low blood sugar when they are locked into the Panic Room, a room where they are "safe" from criminals. Unfortunately, they are locked in with the very money that the burglars want and the burglars threaten to come in or make the family of two come out. ”
I thought that the way they did the opening sequence has absolutely nothing to do with what the film is actually about, unlike se7en which I never watch before either I had a much better idea of what the film was about by just watching the opening sequence.
Sound
The sound used is all non diegetic sounds = Music added in.
The music in Panic Room mournful music is similar to the music in the title sequence of Fringe, it starts of slow and mysterious and then it gets faster and louder which gives an impression of danger, and just at the end it slows back down to how it was in the beginning.
The instruments that I can make out in the music are violins, cellos and drums.
I can also hear the sound of a cars driving and beeping, police sirens and clock ticking.
Editing
There isn’t a major amount of editing, they have cut from a scene to the other and they have edited the text so that they are angle the same way as the buildings depending on what angle the camera was shooting, that is a more creative way instead of having the text straight in the middle of the screen.
Mise en Scene
New York City, tall buildings, cars, traffic, advertising poster, park, trees with falling brown leafs which suggests it is autumn.
Characters
The opening sequence doesn’t give us much of an idea about the
characters and what there like only at the end it shows us two women talking in a busy street of New York about a house, it seems to be a mother and daughter, the mother looks more dominant and in control because of how she’s walking and the daughter is just trailing behind her.
Location
The opening sequence gives us a big clue that it is based in New York City, at the end it also giv
es us a clue that there moving in to a new house in New York.
Narrative/Plot
As a have mentioned before by watching the opening sequence only, it doesn’t give you any idea of what the film is about and I have never watched the film which is good if you’re trying to analyse an opening sequence and this opening sequence gives m
e no clue about what is going to happen throughout the film.
Themes
Unlike se7en, the opening on Panic Room does not relate to what the actual film is about, it doesn’t give the viewers any clue to what will come ahead. All it gives us is lots of high angles looking down onto New York City.
Visual style
The visual style of the opening scene to Panic Room is very much all about showing us the rich and high society of New York, the visual style doesn’t tell the viewers much about what the film is about and it doesn’t create any specific type of atmosph
ere like the opening of Se7en did.
Genre
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
- Its interesting to note that David Fincher Directed both films although the visual style he applies is very different, in the way they are filmed and the effect it has on the viewers perspective of what the film will be about.
Opening analysis of Drag Me to Hell & Sweeney Todd
Drag Me To Hell
- Camera Shot/Angle/Movement
The opening scene starts with the title zooming in slowly and then suddenly it speeds up as if it is going to pop out of the screen, this could suggest that the film will have a lot of scary unexpected moments.
Close up on a long silk sheet and as the camera moves from the bottom to the top in shows dark and creepy shadows of hands
creeping up the silk sheet.
Extreme close up onto a closed old book and shadows of f
ire appear and evaporate into the writing.
A fast and spiral movement into the inside of book this effect makes the reader more engaged on what the book will have inside. The camera then pans because the camera is so zoomed in so that we are able to see the whole image and what is happening in detailed.
The camera pans slowly again but it pans in a way that it follows the black smoke larking around the ancient looking book. Then suddenly it speed up again and it flickers very quickly through some devil images and a book which looked like the Bible it was very hard to tell what the images were because it flickered so quickly that I had to pause it to recognize them, as I pointed out before I think the reason they’ve used a slow movement and then out of knower it speeds up is because it creates a sense of unexpected evil lar
king, watching and waiting for you.
Once again the camera pans from page to page on the book and it then follows the smoke back onto the long silk sheet.
Tracking shot following a fly which then flies into a picture.
Extreme close up on the fly this suggest that whatever is sneaking around disguised as a fly.
Extreme close up of a screaming woman then the camera zooms out slowly and fire surrounding her, this slow camera movement on a terrified woman may
suggest long lasting pain in hell.
- Sound
Violins, Cellos, Drums, Piano, Choir.
The music creates an intense, mysterious, evil and dangerous atmosphere to the opening Credits.
- Editing
Throughout the opening credits they have used a lot of slow motion zooming in or out and three times throughout the sequence it speeds up.
There is also a lot of slow paced long takes and at the end they use the fading technique when the fire burns the picture and then fades out to a blank screen.
- Mise en Scene
Ancient Book and knifes on top of silk sheet with black shadowy hands creeping up. I think that the silk sheet represents someone innocent and the evil book and knifes on top of it means that the innocent person is being attacked by evil.
At the end there is a fly which represent the devil watching over.
There are a lot of images of people being punished by the devil and an image that sais ‘3 Days for the Curse to Develop’ which suggest that someone is going to be cursed in the film.
- Characters
The opening scene does not shows use who the main characters a
re going to be but it
does give use clues about what they are like and what may happen to them.
For example at the beginning it shows us silk sheet with black shadowy hands creeping up, the silk sheet tells us that one of the character is going to be an innocent women, black shadowy hands creeping up the sheet gives us a clue that something evil
is after her.
- Locations
It is hard to tell the location because most of the sequence are close ups of images, but there’s a time where they shows us a silk sheet with loads of books and knifes of top of it and it the corner you can just about see the bedrails, so I think it is a dark and hidden room that seems to be private from the outside world very secretive.
- Narrative/Plot
The opening sequence concentrates on what seems like the devil punishing people because of a curse that has been put on them. It also seems that it is an innocent person that is being punished because of a curse. I think this opening sequence tells a lot of good information about what will happen throughout the film unlike the film Panic Room.
- Themes
By watching the opening I can tell that the theme of the film is about the Devil, Curses, Punishment and Torture.
- Visual Style
The visual style is very intense and creates a scary atmosphere, the images of people being torture by the devil and the black smoke larking around creates an atmosphere of intimidation and evil power.
The opening sequence is all in black and brown to create a dark, evil, intimidating and scary atmosphere to the movie.
- Genre
Horror and thriller
Sweeney Todd
- Camera Shot/Angle/Movement
The first camera shot in the opening credits of Sweeney T
odd is a long shot of the dark clouds, thunder and rain with drops of blood.
It then pans at an angle going down and carries on panning over the dark ruffs of houses but mostly focusing on the weather to create a scary and mysterious atmosph
ere.
Then when it gets to a certain house, it starts zooming in to a mid shot through the window and right in the centre of an empty is a Barber chair. The fact that they are zooming in this house tells us that film is going to be set around this ho
use and this chair. The use of movement in this shot going into the window is as if we are intruding or going to find out about someone’s life and story.
Close up of a bleeding picture frame the camera then zoo
ms out showing two bleeding picture frames, it keeps zooming out slowly following the slow music onto a extreme close up of the back of the chair then a tracking shot is used to track the blood flowing down the Barber chair.
The camera keeps tracking the blood flowing down the chair alway
s in a long take continuous close up shot. It then cuts still in close up to a cogs were the blood dripped down from the chair.
Tracking shoot the camera is constantly trackin
g the blood, the camera goes into a hole as if it is falling and the zooms out of the hole through a meat mincer. From an extreme close up shot to a close up shot tracking the minced meat as it falls and turns back into blood.
The camera speeds up in a semicircle straight into a high angle sh
ot over a target made out of blood.
Close up on fire then zooms out from a close up of pies that are also bleeding into a mid shot of camera coming out of a furnace.
Long shot of blood flowing down the drains into the sewers and into the river.
The fact that the whole way through the opening credits all the camera shots focused on the blood tells the viewer that the fill will have many gory and bloody scenes, the blood starts off on a barber chair and moves on through to the minced meet which then makes the pies, because the blood goes through the minced meat and into the pies suggests that who’s ever the blood is its highly unlikely to be animals blood because it is coming from the barber chair.
- Sound
The opening credits consists of both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.
The diegetic sounds are the thunder, rain hitting the window, blood dripping, clogs moving, door opening and closing. If none of these diegetic sounds were included with the non-diegetic sound it wouldn’t create the same creepy and mysterious atmosphere.
The music is violins, cellos, pianos, drums, flutes and screeching noises. The music starts of slower and quieter and then it gets faster and louder this creates tension, sense of danger and suspicion.
- Editing
This opening scene includes a lot of long takes, straight cuts and at the end it has a dissolve effect were it leads the opening credits to the beginning of the movie.
These effects are there for a propose they engage the viewer and makes the viewer follow the cameras every move and concentrate on what th
e camera is meant to be focusing on.
- Mise en Scene
The hole way through the opening credits there is blood there isn’t one shot where there is no blood and the fact that the whole way through there is blood suggests that there will be a lot of murdering.
There was also a barber chair where the blood initially started to run, because the blood started off by the chair gives the viewer an idea that that chair may have a lot to do with the murders.
Later on the blood lead to minced meat and then to pies this suggests that the blood is from the dead people and the meat from the dead people are b
eing used to make pies.
- Characters
The beginning scene doesn’t shows use how the main characters are but it does give us an idea of they are going to be like and their job. For example the barber chair up stairs tells us that one of the main characters is going to be a murdering barber. the barber chair is in the middle of an empty room it describes what the Barber may be like lone
ly with no family and he then takes his misery out on his clients. Downstairs were the pies are baking suggest that the other main character is going to be a cook and the barber and the cook are in business together and the reason I can tell this I because of the way the blood links the two completely different jobs together.
- Locations
A cold, dark and empty attic where the murders will take place. A hot and smelly basement where the pies are getting cook with meat from human bodies. And the smelly dark sewers full of diseases were all the remains are washed away into the river.
- Narrative/Plot
The opening sequence concentrates on what seems like the unexpected deaths of many people that are just going to the barbers and end up being kill
ed and used to bake pies. Because the barber chair is in the middle of an empty room it describes what the Barber may be like lonely with no family and he then takes his misery out on his clients.
I also think that this opening sequence tells a lot of good information about what will happen throughout the film unlike the film Panic Room.
- Themes
By watching the opening I can tell that the theme of the film is about someone that feels trapped inside and kills innocent people to make himself feel powerful and he will have his side kick which is the cook to get rid of the dead bodies by baki
ng pies.
- Visual Style
The visual style is very dark and you can tell that it is set in the Victorian time because of the buildings in the poor area and everything is dark and miserable like there’s no life. And the fact that the bright red blood is the only thing with color everything else is dark grey grabs the viewer’s attention and tells us that the blood has a lot of significance to what the film is going to be about.
- Genre
Horror, Thriller
