Clip analysis

In our lesson on Thursday, Mr. Buckmaster gave us a list of things to include in our opening sequence. There are five main areas which we have to take into consideration when filming our opening sequence, these are: Genre, Setting, Atmosphere, Character and Narrative (enigma). We then had to analyse 3 different opening sequences and write our take on them, we were split into groups and were given a different area each, for example Narrative.

The first we analysed was Martin Scorsese's "Cape Fear", our group was given Narrative. My first impression was that it was a tragic story and it had an element of threat in it, I thought this was established through the camera shots used throughout the opening sequence because they are all close-up shot, causing the audience to get closer to what's happening and give them a sense of fear. I also that it was established through the dialogue at the end of the sequence, the character sounds so solemn and she has no emotion in her voice, this makes the audience want to know more and know what happened at Cape Fear. 

The next clip we analysed was "Hellboy 2" directed by Guillermo del Toro, for this clip we were given Setting to analyse. When we watched it, we firstly analysed the different places it was filmed in, we saw it started off in the bedroom and then quickly changed to what looked like a metal workshop. We came to the conclusion, that the metal workshop represented Hell. I think this is good because it gets the audience thinking before the film has even started. The opening sequence is inter-dimensional, showing the audience that the place where it is set, is more advanced than the world we live in. We also came up with the conclusion that the film is set in the past, we know this due to the Di Vinchi elements placed in the clip, this means the film has a historical element or connection to it. Click the link below to watch the titles. 

Opening Titles: Hellboy 2

The final film we analysed was the 1994 classic, directed by Robert Zemeckis "Forrest Gump", for this clip we were given Atmosphere. For this we looked at the weather, it seems as if its cold and there's hardly any wind, this gives the audience a sense that this film is going to be relaxing and a film where everyone leads a normal life. The music makes the opening sequence seem realistic making the audience think that something will happen to the character we are introduced too, in this case the protagonist Forrest Gump.