Similar Products – film beginning analysis

Action/crime drama

James bond quantum of solace.

This film opening is full of cuts that build suspense throughout this scene. Automatically the viewer builds relationships with the characters due to the actions they take for example when the bad guys shoot at the public and the police it leaves you with hatred for the bad guys and drives you to keep watching to see if bond escapes safely and leaves you feeling proud and relieved when bond kills the last group or people in the car and drives away safely.

Sound is very important because there is no backing music there are only selective ‘raw’ sounds like car sounds and gun shots and a backing of crashing and demolition sounds. All the sounds in the sequence are diegetic except from the title and when the camera is traveling across the sea towards the tunnel.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 10 Episode 1 slow motion beginningThis is a TV show beginning and is filmed entirely in slow motion. The beginning shots for this intro are filled with suspense and leave the viewer on the edge of their seat. Although most of it is super imposed it looks realistic and gives a lot of information about what is happening or what may have happened to the characters in this opening scene. It seems like the whole scene was taken in one shot but it is really a number of cuts put together to make it look as if it is one long cut which makes the viewer follow the path of the camera to the information that it gives off.

This beginning makes the viewer imagine how this scene took place and will leave them wanting to watch the rest of the show to find out if their idea was correct. The fine detail in this scene can be hard to miss and certain things in the scene could be clues to how they catch the bad guys at the end like the tattoo on the guys hand when he is being hit by a walking stick. The detail on the characters faces will help you recognise them throughout the show and will leave the viewer knowing more than the actual characters which gives the viewer a sense of importance and leaves you feeling like you are involved in the show.

Blood and bone film beginning

The beginning of this film is longer than two minutes but can easily be shortened; this fight scene at the beginning shows the main hero in prison up against a gang of thugs who want to kill him. The unpredictable fighting skill of the main character outweighs the numbers of the group so that he gains an advantage over the gang. This fight scene sets the tone for the rest of the film because you know that the film is now about fighting and that the main character might have to have a few fights before the film is over, this lets the viewer know that this film has a lot of action in it. The main character has skills that suggest that he may

have had a dark background or a rough upbringing which could add to the hero vibe that he is giving off at the beginning of the scene. The main character also takes his shirt off when the bad guys walk in and he could be doing this because he wants to show he is not a criminal like them but he isn’t innocent because he still wears the orange trousers which could suggest that he could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time but blames himself for it.

Batman dark knightThe ambient music at the beginning of the film before anything has happened suggests that something is going to happen after the establishing shot. The shot of the jokers mask at the beginning of the robbery is longer than the others so it suggests that we should be playing close attention to that mask. Throughout the robbery it is clear that each clown has a different job in the heist and the bigger the role the more important the character. Once one of the clowns is killed by another it suggests that there are two teams inside of this group and something might go wrong for the other members. The same music is used in the beginning as when the camera zooms in the jokers mask suggesting the character is just as important as the whole film opening. The joker then continues to kill off the rest of the team to show he is greedy and will not share his wealth with anyone, he then takes his mask off and reveilles himself to the bank manager showing he isn’t afraid of giving away his identity and that he wants the world to know who robbed the bank and that he would brobably do it again.