Film Openings- Black Swan (CLIP)

Film Openings- ENIGMA BI

BORNE IDENTITY

The Bourne Identity is a 2002 American-German action spy film adaptation of Robert Ludlum's novel of the same name. It stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, a man suffering from extreme memory loss and attempting to discover his true identity amidst a clandestine conspiracy within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The film was directed by Doug Liman and adapted for the screen by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron.

Borne Identity is a brilliant example of how directors use enigma to captivate the audience to watch the rest of the film. Enigma means: the feeling of curiosity and increased suspense as time elapses. Thus the audience when watching Borne Identity have many questions regarding the character in the sea and the narrative/location. Enigma has been created in numerous ways:

• The Universal Logo is silent which is different immediately demanding the viewers attention.
• Quiet through the landscape.
• Introduction of the sound and visual lightening, there is tension as the dramatic music first plays and the lightening can connote fear/threat.
• The Weather is stormy and dark which immediately evokes negative and mysterious  connotations and the sound of the harsh wind and rain accompany this.
• The random men (crew on board ship) are unrevealed and the fact they are speaking a different language to English could demonstrate a hint at their location. However the location is not specifically revealed; boat in the middle of nowhere.
• The film opening is fast paced (shrinking screen time) and this is evident especially with the mid shots/close ups when the body is pulled out of the sea. The fast pace and unrevealing the features of the man that was floating in the sea certainly create enigma because of the glimpses of the characters rather than focusing on them.
• Evident changes in the sound track but tempo increases as the first title that is significantly the title of the film "Borne Identity" appears, thus creating emphasis.
• Colour and Lighting is very blue and cold colours are used.

Thus the film opening does not follow typical convention of a film opening such as establishing the  time and location explicitly and there is missing parts to the narrative which evokes enigma for the audience. However although it does not follow the conventions this style is appropriate for the genre which is a spy film thus creating elements of mystery.

Bourne Identity Film Opening- (CLIP)

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.

Film Openings- Inglorius Bastards (CLIP)

Deconstruction of Film Openings- MCGUFFIN FG

Film Openings

As part of our research we deconstructed openings of particular films to understand the conventions of films that the audience expects to see and view as correct.

FORREST GUMP- MGUFFIN

Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic romantic-comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and starred Tom Hanks, as the protagonist. The story depicts several decades in the life of Forrest Gump.

The chronological order is presented below...

 Conventionally, Forrest Gump makes use of a McGuffin to create enigma for the audience. A McGuffin acts as a motivator or catalyst that influences the protagonist to pursue. The feather in Forrest Gump is the McGuffin and the directors make use of this device in the opening. A long tracking shot is used as the feather gracefully falls in accompaniment with the slow and graceful music evoking positive light hearted emotions from the audience. It can be said that the opening immediately makes a connection with protagonists personality which is slow witted and naïve but goodhearted, therefore the opening song and feather could symbolise aspects of the protagonist. Following on as the tracking shot moves further down the location and time period is cleverly established through the white building cars, and people. The character is established by the McGuffin as it finally lands at the feet of Nathan Bedford Forrest (Tom Hanks) after dodging many people, denoting to the audience that this is the protagonist/most important character- a pan up shot is used before we see the face. To establish the time period further a wide shot of a bus smoothly enters communicate 1981 to the audience. Thus this opening conforms to conventions of a film by:

• establishing the character with the aid of the McGuffin which also creates enigma.
• establishing the time/location  (America) by the bus/cars and buildings.
• The mood this creates to the audience is light-hearted and positive which matches the genre of the film which is a romantic-comedy film.
• The McGuffin will drive the narrative on, Questions go through the audiences mind such as who is this character? Why is he on his own? The director provides little information intriguing the audience to watch the film.



 

 

 

 

Film Opening- Forrest Gump (CLIP)

This film utilizes a Mc Guffin and as part of our research I used the opening of this film to understand and deconstruct conventional film openings...