3-way opening analysis

 All film openings follow conventions in their opening scene to set the stage for what is to come in the movie. There is a wide spectrum of genres and films, however, I have 3 of my favorites below to demonstrate how film openings contribute to the theme of the film.

Action

For my favorite action film, we have "The dark knight rises"

What is this film about?

This film follows the world of Gotham as batman tries to stop his greatest villain yet, bane. This is an action/thriller movie. Batman has always stood up against evil-doers and came out on top, however will the introduction of Bane, his newest enemy (as far as the movies are concerned) we see batman pushed to limits like no other.

The opening

The opening scene of the dark knight rises begins with an establishing shot, we are in the middle of the mountains, no one else is here but those in the plane, we are completely isolated. We are immediately shown men on their knees, tied up with their faces covered while surrounding them is armed men whilst one of them appears to be interrogating them. So far in the opening, the only dialogue is from the loud man with the gun, everyone else (especially the tied-up men) is extremely mysterious. We finally get to the start of our introduction with the words "Who is Bane" "Why does he wear the mask" finally someone speaks, the man removes his mask to his surprise it is no other than the man with the mask, Bane. We are again shown the landscape, further pushing the idea that these men are alone in this aircraft, whilst this is happening we are shown from a high angle what appears to be a very larger and more powerful aircraft approaching them. After Bane reveals his master plane our true introduction to the villain begins as we watch the action sequence of the plane hijacking.

How this relates to the story

Firstly, we have the visual elements. Overall this opening follows the conventions of action as in the scene there are a lot of fast cuts and the use of cutting on action to show all of the chaos that is going on in the aircraft. The cinematography further pushes the feeling of power that Bane holds as he is frequently shown at a low angle in contrast to the man he speaks to who is held at a high angle. This pushes the idea that Bane is a foe that we have never experienced, he holds power like no other which is shown by his fight with Batman.

The dialogue also plays a key role in making this scene great, for instance, Banes's introduction is heavily carried by the single line "Why does he wear the mask" without this, we would have no idea who Bane is. Furthermore, this lets us know that Bane is an infamous figure that has done some bad things that ended up in that aircraft. The way bane speaks is also very important, in contrast to the other man, Bane seems to be very calm and confident showing even more power. This immediately shows Bane cannot be scared easily which sets us up for the idea that only our hero batman might have a chance at stopping him. The music of this scene plays a big role in the build-up of intensity as it starts slow-paced and is hard to hear. As the action commences the music gets faster and louder, we see Banes's crew cleanly execute this job showing how powerful they truly are how much of a threat they will be to Batman. With all of this, it is clear that Bane is going to be a very powerful villain that might not even be able to be held down by batman.

Comedy

For the comedy movie, I selected we have "Good boys"

What is this film about?

The movie "Good boys" is a comedy film that follows a group of 3 sixth graders as they make their way through the day learning how to kiss for an upcoming "Kissing party" after school. Things do not go smoothly as many mistakes are made on the way as they battle the upcoming challenges of being a teenager trying to fit in even causing a divide in their group.

The opening

In the opening shot of the film, we are given an aerial view as we look down at 3 characters on a bicycle. This shot follows the common convention of comedy films as we are typically given a group that is usually no more than 4 people. We are then shown our main cast of characters, as the dialogue starts right off the start we can immediately tell this movie is a comedy with the humor that is present. This opening would be considered a "Day in the life" as the characters make their way down the street on their usual routine. We are also introduced to other important characters in the story. For instance, the girl in the red dress who they run from. We are also introduced to another main component of the story, the main character's crush. This was more of an obvious thing as it is directly stated and showed her from the POV of the boy.

How does this relate to the story?

Firstly, when we are shown the characters visually from the front, due to the composition of the scene we can tell that the main character will be the one in the middle due to his position, we know right off the start that this character will be the most important in the story. For a brief moment, the character drifts off to the left leaving uneven space between him and the other boy which we can see as foreshadowing for the upcoming split that the group has towards the middle of the story. With the dialogue of the opening scene, we can deduce that the discussions that these characters share are very humorous as they have wild ideas and don't quite understand how things work. We can also deduce with the dialogue that there is a clear dynamic between the characters. The boy in the yellow helmet is clearly more innocent and down to earth than the other two characters we can deduce that he will be the "glue" that holds this group together.

Fantasy

For my favorite fantasy film, I chose Thor Ragnarok.

What is this film about?

This film follows Thor as he is contained in an alternate universe and he tries to get back to his home realm to stop its destruction by his sister's hand Hela. Throughout his race against time to save his realm Thor builds stronger relationships with his old friends, but more importantly, learns more bout himself as he is not only physically challenged, but mentally by his late sister.

The opening 

In the opening shot, we see our main character Thor, who is being held captive by a tall figure shown in a low angle shot to give him the feeling of power and oom as the flames fly off of his what appears to be a burning body. Thor seems to be in trouble here as he is confined, however, after the banter the two share he breaks free from his chains and we are given our dose of action and fantasy as he fights supernatural creatures eventually defeating them until it is revealed there is a whole other army behind him he has to face which adds an element of comedy to the opening as he attempts to make his escape his hammer doesn't immediately respond leaving him stranded for a few seconds. It is also revealed in this opening that there is an enemy far more powerful than the one we see, something called "Ragnorok".

How does this relate to the story?

Visually, this scene is stunning. We are shown a world unlike our own that appears to be crawling with monsters. We are then shown a giant creature held at a low angle shot that gives them a powerful feeling along with their deep tone as they explain their plan. Cutting to Thor we see that he couldn't be more calm or confident in this situation. This shows the security and confidence that Thor has in himself. Thor is also shown as your typical hero, even using cliche phrases such as "That's what heroes do". Often when characters come out extremely cocky in this manner in some way their confidence is broken (Foreshadowing to the future events of the story). The dialogue reveals that there is this almighty present and or force coming to destroy Thor's home realm, Asgard. This creates a feeling of suspense as both the viewers and Thor have no idea what this might be, however, even though the threat is explained Thor seems to shrug it off. We can immediately tell that the main character of the film will be no other than Thor. We know this because the first thing we ever get to see is Thor himself, we know that he will be the pain force or part of the main force that has to face off against the threat known as Ragnorok.

What are film openings?

                                      Film opening

A film opening is the first opening scene in a movie. The film opening is used to set the tone and the stage for the rest of the movie. Film openings often contain key conventions that allow us to understand and feel the basis for the rest of the events that are ahead.

Why do we use film openings?

Film openings are key to setting the stage for the rest of the events in the story. Without a dedicated opening shot within a film, we would be essentially walking into the film blindly, not knowing what to expect. Film openings often contain conventions that allow us to tell apart from each genre.

What does a film opening look like?

The first thing we see in an opening scene is called the opening shot:

The opening shot

The opening shot of the film is the most important. This is the very first thing viewers see when turning on the film so it is vital in keeping the viewers hooked. Looking at this example of this opening shot, what can you notice?  Anybody can immediately pick up the fact that we are in space, the great unknown. In the first second of the film the opening shot lets us know what we will be watching at a base level. However, if we look even closer we notice how dark everything is with the bright sun, we can deduce that this will be a movie of exploration and adventure.

Opening scene

Film openings often follow a clear path: introduce what is next to come. This is done by things such as tone. The tone of a film allows us to feel the mood of what we are viewing, tone also allows us to set up how we feel about certain characters and things, is it a sad tone? Do I feel bad for this character? An opening scene usually contains the hero or the main focus of the movie, this is done to again introduce us to what is to come in the film. Furthermore, we have the basics such as the setting and lighting which all contribute to how we feel about what we're looking at, maybe we start in a scary setting with low lighting. The main question that is proposed when watching an opening scene is where am I, who am I looking at, and why.

For example, the film "Joker" is a film that follows our main character, Arthur Fleck, as he starts his slow descent into madness. In the opening scene, we can tell there is an internal conflict with our character as he stares at the mirror. This action in films is used to not only show the character's reflection but also for the character to reflect upon themselves. We also get this feeling of insanity through the use of close-up shots to show his expressions which gives the viewers an uneasy feeling. Little individual elements such as this all combine to set the mood for what we will see in the rest of the film just like here where we can tell this character is slowly starting to break mentally.

What do we commonly see in openings?

Film openings often follow the genre that the movie is, however film openings always stick to the conventions by using openings such as Prologues, Day in the lifes, Inciting incident. Although not all films use these opening scenes, we can connect them another way. This way is the use of Mis-En-Scene to create meaning and to set the main premise for the rest of the film.

Following the genre

Following the genre is crucial in the opening scene as it allows the viewers to know what they are watching. In the opening scene of the movie following the genre is immediate as they follow specific genre conventions. There are countless genres and subgenres however, I will break them down into just 3: Action, Comedy, and Fantasy.

Action: Action films openings often use cold opens, inciting action, and many other openings that are used to get the viewers hooked. A cold open in a film is basically giving a viewer a little teaser to what is to come in the movie, we are essentially jumping straight into the film whereas an inciting action is showing the build-up to the upcoming events in the film. Visually, action films are often very different from the other 2 genres as they show high energy to keep the viewers hooked, this is also done by auditory elements such as high octane music that also contributes to the high energy. Action films are very broad however the character and plot introduction is usually the same, this goes for the other genres as well. That first introduction and representation let us know how we should feel about the characters as they move throughout the rest of the film.

Comedy: Comedy films are also connected to the other genres as far as conventions are concerned. The main focus of comedy is to make us laugh, so the opening scene will often use openings such as a day in the life, or a prologue to introduce us to the main cast of characters that we will spend the rest of the film. Unlike action and fantasy, comedy films usually do not contain high-action shots. More often than not, auditorially and visually comedies strive to maintain a more laid-back and less serious tone to keep the humor going. Just like action and fantasy the plot and representation for each genre are very broad, however, immediately we are introduced to the cast and how we should view and feel about them.

Fantasy: Fantasy films go hand in hand with action films as far as conventions. The opening scene of a fantasy film is usually a prologue as their world often follows different rules than our own which need explanation. Through this opening visually, the viewers are often hooked by things that would be viewed as impossible in our world immediately attracting attention. Just like the other genre openings, we are often introduced to our cast or our main problem for the film. The representation that these characters have allowed us to decide how we will feel about them for the story just like comedy and action films. 

Sources

http://www.storybreakdown.com/writing-great-opening-scenes/

https://screencraft.org/2017/01/04/5-essential-types-powerful-opening-scenes/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw_ysaoVlt4