Conventions of an opening sequence

Analysing the opening sequence of The Spiderwick Chronicles

Analysing the Opening Sequence of Bridget Jones' Diary

Bridget Jones Analysing on Prezi

Wallander 'Firewall' December 7th

Wallander 'Firewall' (December 7th) from megelle15

Analysing the opening sequence of 'Brick'

This first image is a wide shot, and its one of the first shots in the movie. It evidently shows what has happened in this opening sequence. The colours are go from very light down to very dark showing how the mood has changed from the sunlight making it a bright happy place to a dark sewage tunnel where death has happened. How this scene has been arranged shows that the guy bending down has got something to do with her death, and the fact that hes just looking and watching her shows his state of shock. You dont see either his face or hers, as the have both been turned away and its at an angle where you cant see their faces. His hands are in his face and mouth showing that he is in such shock he cant speak, so hes consequently moved his hands there to show hes afraid. In this shot, you do identifiy what each character is wearing, which allows the audience to know what she was wearing when she died and what he was wearing when he was there.

This next image shows an image of a girl dead on the sewer floor, but this girl has her face covered by her hair which identifies what features she has to her. It shows she has blonde hair as well as a white cardigan/jumper. This consequently shows the audience the type of character she is, and also lets the audience know. But they do not know fully who she is as her face is covered by her hair, which tells the audience that the director does not want the audience to know who she is in the opening sequence. This could make it more mysterious for the audience because they would want to know who she is and the fact the director isnt letting them know shows that actually the audience do not know the real identity of this character even though we see some of her features. The colours the director has used are very dark, showing the theme and atmosphere within this opening sequence and the colours really match how pale her skin is, meaning the character and setting all fit together.

This image shows a completely different scene to the one above as the colours used are lighter, which shows its a brighter setting and different atmosphere. It makes the audience more calm but however very puzzled as we still don't know who's arm this is, but the cardigan is very familiar to the cardigan in the image. This consequently shows that these two people could be the same however in this image it shows how much maturity this girl has and how old she is by the bright blue bracelets. It also gets the audience answering the question, why is she putting a piece of paper in this locker? This shot is a close up of her hand, showing the bracelets she's wearing and showing part of the item of clothing she is wearing. Also its shows the background of where this happening, which tells the audience one thing that they are in school. In comparison to the first picture the pace of the shot seemed much slower as death had happened, whereas this scene seems to have increased in pace, as there is much more going on in the scene.

This picture is a wide tile shot showing where the scene is being set and showing the full length camera shot of this male character. It shows us that this character is very similar to the character in the first shot as they are wearing the same items of clothing. As he is turning around, it makes the audience feel as if this character is being watched by that person who put the note in the locker, but he cant see this person as its from such a far shot. However, the shot could be showing him turning around as he's looking for the person who put this note in his locker, and that he's looking but he cant find the person as there is no one around in the scene; in fact the school looks very deserted. In this scene before this one, the bell goes on from the before scene to this scene, which is called a sound bridge as the sounds transfer over from one to another.

Analysing the opening sequence of Memento.

The Sixth Sense Analysing Shots.

This beginning shot shows the title, and the type of font that is being used which is serif writing, meaning bold capital writing with that edge to it. This beginning title sequence uses a blue/white colour showing it to be very mysterious and stand out, also it uses colours that could represent the colour of ghost as the film is about ghosts. However if the audience do not know that, they could think it to be very eery as well as the colours but consequently it uses a sting in the music, which makes it rememberable to the audience. Also, it gets the audience feel very uneasy as thats only the title, showing their is more to come..As an effect the director as used sped the pace and music up with this section, so the title comes very quickly and not as slow as the others, also finishing it by panning it out. That could evidently show it to be 'ghost-like' as its dissappearing quickly like a ghost.

This next image is very puzzling at first as you dont know what it is, however even if you dont know what it is, it looks very eery as its full of darkness and you dont know what this bright image is but however it does get the audience engaged as they try to figure out what it is. When i first saw this i didnt know what it was but it did make me feel very nervous. As the scene goes on you seem to see a light bulb reappearing, however its not really covered with for example a chandelier, its very isolated showing that where this is lighting up could be isolated as well. This shot at the beginning is a close up emphasising where this is light bulb is and that this room could be very important to the film, meaning showing what type of room it is to start off the movie.

This is shot straight after the unknown image at the start, showing therefore its a bright light bulb. This image of the light is very dusty and seems very old and desserted which shows the audience what type of room we are in. It also shows that this is the only light in the room, emphasising that this room is very dark, possibly underground. When this light is full to the max, you hear a diagetic sound of door opening but you dont know who it is, as its happening on this shot. This could make the audience uncomfortable as they are not sure whos walking into this room, whether it be a villain or good person, therefore creating tension in this beginning scene. Furthermore, the door is very creaky which is very typical in a horror film, so it therefore brings up the atmosphere in this scene.

This next image shows the person who has walked in. However, the camera is at a view from behind the wine cabinet, which could possibly show that someone is watching her or someone is in hiding but she cant see it however from her facial expressions she can feel someone there as she stops immidiatley. You can see from the cabinet and the wine in on each shelve that its very old and dusty showing the room to be very deserted, also which links to the colours around her as they are very dark colours, in contrast to her dress which is very bright colours. As this room is so desserted it shows the lighting to be a very low light, showing how old this room is. It gives a very cold atmosphere.

This image shows what type of character she is, meaning what shes wearing and how she looks. So for example shes wearing very bright colours on her dress, shes got her hair up, shes got makeup on and shes wearing heels therefore showing that shes going out, no one would really wear all of that to go to a wine cellar. This image would make the audience feel very uncomfortable as shes right at the end of the full length shot but looking into the opposite direction showing that someone or something should be in that shot on the other side, as it startles her. This could let the audience understand straight away the type of movie its going to be as its used very ghost like features within the film right from the beginning. Also the use of her shadow is effective as the light is on her side and on her, whereas opposite her where she is looking, there is nothing there. This emphasises the different types of light and colours the directors has used in contrast to each other.

This last image of the scene changes position from when the camera was at the wine cellar. It shows that this person or thing watching her has moved from where it was before, therefore showing that this thing has been watching her and has been moving around. From this shot you can see the whole of the wine cellar and see it to be very a dark and damp room, also very echoey as you can hear her footsteps as well as her shivering. At the side of the shot you can see her quickly running out of the room, showing that something has scared as she is leaving in such a hurried manor which makes the audience very uncomfortable watching it. From this specific shot it makes her vunerable as this thing or person thats been watching her has seen her and knows officially what she looks like, and the fact that she cant see it shows that from her hurried manor she doesnt know what to do. This whole beginning clip shows that shes really not meant to be here, it shows its not her repsonsibility to go down into an old wine cellar, where the room is very isolated and very echoey making it very nervous, so hes swapped over roles and responsibilities.