Analysis of Film Openings

Analysis of three film openings

In this task we had to choose three film openings and analyse them using DISTNCT.

D- Describe, I- In detail, S- Setting, T- Themes, I- Icons, N- Narrative, C-Characters, T- Textual Analysis.

Opening scene of Guardians of the Galaxy analysis
The opening scene to Guardians of the Galaxy features a fairly young man in a strange unusual and unfamiliar setting, the first clip we see is of a dark red and black leather glove pressing a button on an old cassette player. The song 'Come and get your love' by Redbone then starts playing, this song has an upbeat rhythm and a 70s vibe/feel to it. At the start of the opening you can tell that the character is funny and relatable as he puts his old fashioned headphones on and starts dancing which makes him likeable, he is also seen to be wearing a long dark red coat which has connotations to a cape of which a stereotypical hero would wear which gives the audience an impression that he is a hero. The location of the opening scene appears to be in a dark, dirty almost cave like area, the setting is full of rocks and small puddles on the uneven ground which looks remote and abandoned. The scenery colours are all dark consisting of black and grey which makes it quite difficult to see where this man is, the effect of using dark colours creates a mysterious, gloomy and earie atmosphere. As the 70s music Kicks in the man starts dancing through the rocks  and moving his hips to the beat this makes the viewer aware that the man is obviously confident and comfortable in his surroundings. We then see him wonder into an open air setting where we can see the sky which shows dark grey gloomy clouds but contrasting with a light pink and purple space like sky which suggests he's on another planet, this imagery of the small amount of sky we see stands out as its the only bright colour we have seen so far which makes it bold, abstract and draws our attention to it. This could also be see as making it fit into the sci-fi genre as it suggests its in the universe or on another planet. All of a sudden the title of the film(Guardians of the Galaxy) flashes up in big block gold capital letters covering up some of the scenery, the style of font could be as quite futuristic however the colours gold/brown contrast with this giving it a retro theme. The writing last for about 4seconds then instantly goes leaving the man dancing and splashing through the puddles. We then see animated rat like reptiles hissing, he kicks some around and then picks one up by its neck, miming the words to the song. He continues dancing until he approaches alarge crack in the ground where there is water in-between with more animated made-up creates which seem to be angry so therefore uses a jet on his feet with flames coming out to fly to the other side. He is then greeted at the other side with big ancient doors where he then screws a code in to open the doors. The scene then ends with him holding some sort of light ball staring at what looks like an ancient artefact, this leaves the audience wanting to watch more as they wasn't to achieve a greater understanding of what is going on as there is not much given away.  Throughout the whole of the opening scene we are only introduced to one character with no speech or narration.

Opening scene of Harry Brown analysis 

The opening scene for 'Harry Brown' is set some sort of alleyway or underground path. The setting is dark and gloomy which gives an unclear image of what is happening as a result of this the audience are having to study the video closely to interpret what is going on. Although the location is dark there is still outside light which shows it must be set during daytime. The scene begins with a group of boys which appears to be in some sort of gang, the impression they give is negative as they are shown to be wearing hoodies and stereotypical 'chavy clothes' e.g puffa jackets with hoods, which supports the idea that they belong to some sort of gang. The language used is slang and un well spoken which immediately indicates that they are not well educated, from the use of language and rough scenery  suggests that they live in South London. The atmosphere given of from the first few seconds of film is tense and dangerous. As the film continues for a few seconds it becomes apparent that the film quality is poor and as if its been filmed from sort of device e.g mobile phone which means it could be a home video being filmed by one of the members of the gang. The video shows all the gang members crowded round this one individual, he is given some sort of bottle with gas it looks as if its a homemade inhaler for weed and other substances. The boy seems to be targeted and a victim of peer pressure, however he is probably trying to earn respect and become a member of the gang, and to achieve this he must do as he is told. The boy inhales some kind of drug whilst some members hold their hands on his throat to keep it in his lungs,when he finally lets out a big puff of smoke all the gang are impressed and clap.

All of  sudden the level of violence is raised as a member pull out a gun and waves it around, he then presses the gun against the boys chest whilst saying that he's now a member for life. The main themes in the opening scene have been drugs, violence, gangs and crime this could be a link to what the actual film is about.

After we see the gun being handed over the video cuts instantly, which makes the audience reflect on what they have just witnessed and think about the consequences of being involved with gangs. The pause of silence is then broken by a loud motorbike sound  and disturbing shouting coming from the riders on the one bike, one of the riders is the boy from the beginning who had just joined the gang. The boys appear to be riding around in some council estate area, this shows they have no respect for the people living there and gives the impression that are intimidating and powerful with whom no one wants to mess with. The camera footage then shows them riding through a walk way path in an open park, there is a woman walking with her baby in a push chair, she is referred to as a 'bird' which shows they have no respect for women and don't view as an equal, the women looks alarmed and vulnerable as there is no one else around to help. The boy pulls out a gun which makes it horrible and uncomfortable for an audience to watch as he begins shooting purposely around the women, she screams and holds her head in under distress. The boys shout and laugh which would disgust most viewers, the scene then takes a horrendous and sinister turn as he shots the women in the head. The sound effects are dramatic and loud each time after the gun was fired  this is to emphases the power and danger of  a gun. The boys then realise what they have done and the atmosphere turns to shear panic as they must flee the scene. The camera footage then shows them race off full speed ahead, we then see an image of a road and on the right side a lorry which crashed side on to the bike, throwing them up into the air. The final image we see is of the two boys laying in the road which could potentially be dead this is powerful and intense imagery and shows a fatal outcome of being involved in gangs. This leaves the audience hooked and wanting to see where the story leads from here.

 The Opening scene to Ghost Ship analysis
The opening scene of ghost ship shows a rather sophisticated and elegant women singing on stage to a ballroom of posh evening dressed people, the music is peaceful with violins in the background creating a relaxed atmosphere. There are people dancing in couples swaying hand in hand to the music. From what is going on it suggests that it is evening/night on board the ship, as there is usually music entertainment in the evenings. The lighting has a warm yellow tint which also creates helps this evening feel within the ballroom. The camera mainly focuses of the women singing who is heavily dolled up and smiling to her audience, however the camera angles do change so we see from what her view looks like which shows the couples dancing. From the clothes the passengers are wearing it suggest that it is set some time during the 1960s for example the men are dressed smartly in suits whilst the women in cocktail dresses. The setting of the ballroom is elegant with waiters  handing out glasses of champagne, this suggest that the passengers on board are reasonably wealthy and belong to a high class status. The setting then changes to a young girl waring a white and blue dress sitting on the deck of the ship outside, she appears to be playing with some sort of worded piece of cardboard, a man is bent over her and spells out 'i am bored" giving the impression that they know one another.
The young girl is asked to dance with an older gentleman dressed in a white suit which looks like a uniform of the ship, this suggests that he could be the captain. The two are then seen dancing on the deck with other passengers.
All of sudden the camera completely changes to a new location, this changes the calm peaceful atmosphere, as we see some sort of lever being aggressively pushed forward, this implies panic and danger and that something bad is going to happen. The colours of the setting have also changed from light to dark which shows a contrast between the two settings. The setting then quickly flicks back to the original scene of people dancing in the ballroom however this time the scene is put into a slower motion. It then again flicks back to the dark setting focusing on some sharp metal wire which has sound effects of the wire cutting through the air as its pulled up quickly upward. The scenes continue to flicker from one another getting faster and faster which helps to build up the tension. We then see a massive spark explode in the air which indicates something bad. It then show the metal wire slicing through the passengers on the deck who were dancing cutting them open and slicing off body parts. There is then a still closeup camera shot of the blooded wire. Everyone is frozen in their positions the only sound is odd noises of gasping an coughing, a champagne glass them falls and smashes on the floor symbolising the change of events and the twist to the story. All of a sudden we see the sliced body parts dripping with blood drop to the floor, one by one the passengers fall. The only image left is of the young girl holding tight onto the captain, some of the body parts on the floor begin to move and crawl with gives unrealistic imagery. The girl then looks up to the captain and see's that the top of his head has been sliced by the wire, she lets out a terrified scream, the scream continues to echo as the camera zooms out of this image and shows the ship, it then changes angles and goes into the sea. This leaves the audience shocked and confused.