Deconstructing Film Openings- CONVENTIONS IB

INGLORIOUS BASTARDS

Inglorious Bastards is a 2009 war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The genre is action/adventure and black comedy. We deconstructed the elements of this film chronologically...

 

The film begins in silence with the Universal Logo which automatically creating an impact as it is an old Universal Logo-  alluding to the time period of the film (WW2). This is followed by "The Weinstein Company" which uses effects of disappearing the triangles first before the titles perhaps lead the audience to focus on the title. The music "The Green Leaves of Summer"  (establishing setting to the audience) is then introduced for the first time with the title Universal Pictures and Weinstein Company. The music increases as the directors name is mention obviously creating significance to the audience and as the title of the film appears "INGLORIOUUS BASTARDS" the music reaches a climax and change it tempo, meanwhile the typeface is different and it is in yellow. It is almost ironic to the audience that yellow connotes happiness and warmth is used for the title Inglorious Bastards but perhaps this alludes to the genre of black comedy that is portrayed in the film. The typeface returns to the same font as before but is still yellow as the biggest star of the film Brad Pitt appears first. Noticeably, the "Melanie Laurent as Shoshanna" stands out as the only actor to have this, perhaps conveying to the audience the vital role that she plays in the film.  The setting is later explicitly made known to the audience "Once Upon a time in Nazi occupied France" which accompanies the music from the start. The time period and the first character is established accordingly, as the title "1941" appears. A pan up shot reveals the first character as the diegetic sound of wood chopping occurs. Enigma is created when Shoshanna's sister moves the sheet she hangs up and is very still as she first hears a car of Nazis approaching their is a dramatic shift in focus as pulls the cloth and the music changes whilst the audience visually see the car in wide shot. She later calls "Papa" creating tension for the audience as they realise that the car approaching seems to be a threat because the characters are dismantled. Thus, Inglorious Bastards conforms to the conventions of a film opening by establishing the characters, time period, genre and location.