In class we started the research stage of our opening sequence task. Mr. Buckmaster showed us three different opening sequences and asked us to analyse them. Before showing us the opening sequences he spilt us into 5 groups and gave each group a heading to base our analysis on. The 5 headings were: Genre, Atmosphere, Narrative, Setting and Character.
The first opening sequence we watched was 'Cape Fear' which is an American psychological thriller directed by Martin Scorsese. My group was asked to analyse the character.
I thought the middle-aged (looking) man who appeared in red waves was the main character. I think this because there was a reasonably long focus on him. Also, because the man appears under red waves and then comes out of the water it give the impression that he may have a position of power in the film and that he may be unstoppable as he is able to free himself from under the water. I also got the impression that he may be a murderer in the film bacause of feeling of power and because I felt the red blood may have relected blood, or hell.
The woman at the end, who seemed to be a lecturer or teacher, had an American accent. I thought she seemed quite innocent and vulnerable from her manner and fairy tale like speech. This makes me think that she could be a victim in the film. This is reinforced by her talking about the river being called 'Cape Fear' but her not believing the river should be named 'Fear', luring her into a false sense of secutiry, this could foreshadow something bad happening to her at/in/near the river.
The Second opening sequence we watched was 'Hell Boy II: The Golden Army' which is a supernatural superhero film directed by Guillermo del Toro. This time my group was asked to analyse the genre.
I started off by thinking the film may be a detective, crime solving genre. I thought this because they showed many papers, diagrams and drawings including the Vitruvian Man. This gave the impression that someone was trying work something out or solve a mystery in an outdated way.
I also thought it had an element of fantasy because the boy at the beginning was red and had horns, like a devil. This gave it a slightly unrealistic feel and gave the impression that it was going to be a make believe film.
The Soundtrack made me think of war. The rhythmic clunking of metal sounded like it was either a parade of soldiers marching or a battle in action (the clunking being swords and weapons). This made me think that it was going to be an action adventure style film with lots of fighting and drama.
Finally, I think the red and orange fire used in the opening sequence makes it seem like hell, this links in with the title of the films and the first character we see (a devil). I therefore think it has some aspects of death and suffering.
The third and final opening sequence we watched was 'Forrest Gump' which is a romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. This time our group was asked to focus on narrative.
The main focus of the opening sequence is a white feather floating through the sky in different directions. The first thing I thought was "what's the significance of the feather?". I thought that it may signify the loss of something as a bird will have lost the feather that is floating. I then though it may signify a journey. The feather floats for quite a long time and floats in many different directions before settling on the floor. This may be a metaphor for the journey Forrest goes on during the film.
The second thing that I thought was "Who is the man and why is he keeping the feather?". Having seen the film I know the man sat on the bench is Forrest Gump however, if it was the first time I had seen the opening sequence I would not have known. The audience may wonder what he is doing and why he is a significant character. I think Forrest putting the feather in his book tells the audience a lot about him straight away. He puts it in a childrens book which is in a brief case that has a lot of 'strange' items this tells me he is slightly childlike and sentimental.
The final question we asked ourselves was 'why were his shoes dirty?' we felt that this may have been a significant part of the film as it was the focus for quite a while. Again, having watched the film i think the dirty shoes signify all the running he has done and that the running is what has got him where he is and helped him to survive/keep safe.
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