Analysis of 3
opening sequences in terms of:
- Location
- Characters
- Key Action
- Genre
- Characters
- Key Action
- Genre
Batman Begins –
The opening
sequence of Batman Begins is very effective mainly due to it’s location,
lighting and sound. Micro elements such as cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound
and edit are used to set the scene and represent the characters. Cinematography,
mise-en-scene and sound helped the opening introduce the location to the
audience as we see sunlight flickering through trees and soon after a tracking
shot of a young girl running through a garden of flowers and a young boy
chasing after her. We first hear a voice over of children’s laughter from a
distance as the opening starts of with the flickering, however, as the children
arrives into the shot, the laughter seems less of a distant. The location is
set in a peaceful garden of flowers which was a memory for one of the
characters childhood, the garden seemed perfect and colorful almost dreamlike.
The lighting in this extract was natural as it was from daylight, although the
sky started of bright, it got darker as the opening went on.
In the
opening, we are introduced to two characters. One being a young male who goes
by the name of Bruce Wayne, and another character, being a young female called
Rachel Dawes. Micro elements such as mise-en-scene are used to represent these
childhood friends to the audience by the use of their performance as they’re
playing around in the garden chasing each other over a rock that they've found.
However, later on in the opening, after waking up from his nostalgic dream in a
prison, we see Bruce as an adult and he becomes represented as the protagonist
of the movie, waking up in jail however confuses the audience as to if he’s an
antagonist or protagonist, creating enigma. This is done by cinematography as
Bruce was regularly used in shots of the ‘Rule of thirds.’ This makes the
character seem more appealing and powerful which conforms a stereotypical
protagonist. Editing also represents him as a protagonist by the shot reverse
shot of Bruce and another imprisoned character, this build up tension and also
allows the audience to see the differences between the two characters, as the
other male is presented as tough and dominant with many fighting scars on his
face, whereas Bruce is presented as decent and calm although when he did fight
back, he was strong enough to overcome the antagonist of the opening sequence.
A key action
takes place in the opening which was of when young Bruce fell down the well,
editing was used as we see Bruce fall in a slow motion, this creates a comical
as well as emotional affect. As Bruce lands, shot from his point of view, we
see a black cave, and a few seconds after many bats flying out of there. This
enhances a sense of realism and the audiences involvement in action. This scene
foreshadows of what’s to come in the future of the movie as Bruce then becomes ‘Batman’
although this made him develop a phobia of bats.
The title isn’t clearly introduced into the sequence although they did show Batman’s logo made out of bats in a clear orange sky. This movie has a range of different genres which includes action, adventure and crime. The opening sequence represented the genres of the film by the violence that was used and to know how bats affected Bruce later on in the movie, it represents crime because of the location used in the opening sequence which was a jail in Asia.
Batman: The Dark Knight
‘The Dark
Knight’ has a very effective opening sequence that draws its audience in
because of it’s uniqueness and originality. Micro elements such as
cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound and editing are used to help create this
be an effective opening. As the opening starts, we are introduced to the
location by an establishing shot of Gotham city, this establishes the
relationship between the characters and the location. A non diegetic ticking
sound is heard in the background, this creates tension and gives the viewer an
impression that something is about to happen in the scene. The music is very
quiet at the beginning although it gets louder as the scene starts to unfold.
As the location is set in Gotham City, it’s clear that it’s more of an urban
setting rather than rural as we see many cars and tall buildings in the scene.
As the opening goes on, it’s also set in a bank as there’s a planned robbery
going on.
In the
opening, we are introduced to many characters, although we don’t see the
protagonist
of the movie just yet. We start of by seeing two males in clown
masks hanging out a window sliding down to get on the other side of the road
landing on the roof of the bank, they are represented as criminals as they are
performing a criminal act which is trying to rob the bank, the use of
mise-en-scene conforms this by costume and the props such as guns and big duffel
bags for holding the money. The costume of these characters are pretty much
simple but also clear of what they are meant to represent, they are all wearing
different but similar kinds of clown masks, each one wearing a mask which has
different facial expressions.
The shot jumps to a low mid angle to a long shot
of a man standing on the sidewalk carrying a duffel bag on one shoulder and
holding a clown mask in the other hand. The shot then zooms in on the mask
which gives the viewer an impression that the idea of a clown has importance in
the movie. By using clown masks to cover up their identity, it creates enigma
for the audience as well as tension and fear as one of the common fears of
people are clowns, especially ones with the haunted faces, by using this, it
makes the men seem more scarier and dangerous.
The man puts on the mask as he
jumps in a car with two other men wearing similar clown masks. It then cuts to
a shot of the two males on the roof top of the bank, in this shot, sound is
used to represent a specific character, dialogue is used as the two men speak
about a character called the Joker, this shows the viewers that these men have
been hired and told what to do by a more superior character. This gives a sense
of mystery and tension as the identity of this person has been hidden more than
the men in clown masks.
A key action
takes place in the opening which involves in finally meeting the antagonist
everyone’s been speaking of. After all the men in masks got shot, and everyone
in the bank is on the ground, scared, the Bank manager uses dialogue
effectively as he says to ‘Bozo’ (main clown) “Think you’re smart, huh? Well,
the guy who hired you will just do the same to you.” Through his performance, ‘Bozo’
shakes his head in disagreement. After a few more exchange of dialogue, we see
a close up of ‘Bozo’ crouching whilst talking to the bank manager shot from a
low angle which makes him seem more powerful and superior. As he takes off his
masks, we see who is revealed underneath, The Joker himself, as he says “I
believe what doesn’t kill you... makes you stranger.” We see a shot of another
close up, without the mask, although we do see a male character with white, red
and black make up paint. Through the use of mise-en-scene, make up and costume,
this has made the antagonist appear untrustworthy, dangerous and shady making
viewers feel unsafe.
The title isn’t
clearly introduced into the sequence although Batman’s logo did appear in the
middle of a blue fire explosion against a black background. This film is a
mixture of a few different thriller sub genres; it has conventions of crime and
action thriller, these sub-genres play a big part in creating tension within the
film. We can conform it has conventions of a crime genre as they are performing
a criminal act and we can also conform it has conventions of an action movie
because of all the violence and props such as guns and trifles that are being
used.
Batman: The Dark Knight Rises
In the opening, we see three hooded
henchmen. The CIA Agent on the plane threatens to shoot them before throwing
him off the plane if they don’t answer his questions about masked mercenary named
Bane. Mise-en-scene helps to represent the mystery of the characters as they
all have a black bag over their head, this creates an enigma for the audience
as they don’t know who these characters are. Viewers are introduced to the
antagonist by a voice over of when he first speaks. The screen shot was on the
CIA Agent although we could hear the diegetic dialogue of a character saying “Or
perhaps he’s wondering why you would shoot a man before throwing him out of a
plane?”. This already allows the audience to know what he’s thinking, helping
viewers to empathise with him. After a few more diegetic dialogue being
exchanged between the CIA Agent and hidden antagonist, we see an over the
shoulder shot as the CIA Agent pulls of the bag of his head which reveals to be
Bane whilst saying “No one cares who I was till I put on the mask.” This
invites the audience to sympathise for him although it’s not necessary as he
has already planned to crash the plane. Mise-en-scene helps present the
antagonist that he is as Bane permanently has a mask stuck onto parts of his
face which gives him a machinery robotic voice making him sound powerful and
confident, cinematography also helps as Bane is shot from a low angle whilst
talking to the CIA Agent which makes him look more superior and strong.
The title isn’t
clearly introduced into the sequence although Batman’s logo did appear on thin
ice as it cracks. This film is a mixture of a few different action sub genres;
it has conventions of crime and thriller, these subgenres play a big part in
creating suspense and tension within the film. We can conform it has
conventions of a crime genre as Bane’s performing a criminal act as he’s
kidnapping Dr Pavel, we can also conform it has conventions of an action movie
because of all the violence and props such as the guns that are being used. This
would be classified as a thriller too because of the exciting plot which
viewers will find exciting and thrilling, this will keep them wanting to watch
more.