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.