- Cuts from action and noisy surroundings to peaceful village and quietness, quiet vs. loud.
- Turns darker when danger approaches, darkness vs. light.
- Complete darkness in sky after disruption.
- Pale Rider's horse is white as opposed to the brown horses of the bad guys.
- Calm vs. panic. (before and after attack)
- Dry plains vs. green trees.
- Men vs. women.
- Steady cam vs. frantic cam.
- Upbeat music vs. tense music.
- Slow editing (same length shots) vs. choppy editing. (more frantic movements)
- Life vs. death.
- Attacker vs. victims. (high angle vs. low angle)
- Open space vs. enclosed space.
- Everyday vs. spiritual experiences.
Applying Levi-Strauss to the Opening of 'Die Hard.' [John McTrernan]
- Confident flyer vs. scared flyer.
- Family vs. alone.
- Older vs younger. (married vs. single)
- Reserved character vs. chatty character.
- Sunshine vs. dark elevator and car-park.
- No music vs. violins, tense music.
- Sweetness vs. anger.
- Marriage vs. career. (family vs. job)
- Husband vs. wife. (past vs. future)
- Hero vs. criminals (good vs. bad)
- High tech vs. old fashioned.
- Formally dressed vs. informally dressed.
- Home vs. away (NY vs. LA)
- Loads of veritcal camera movement.
- Repeated motifs eg. photos.
- Repeated phrases.
- Repeated actions.
2. Applying Barthes to 'Rear Window.' [Hitchcock]
Action Code: Man wakes up in flat, people wake up on surrounding balconies, man starts to shave, woman dances.
Semantic Code: Man sees woman from his window dancing in her underwear.
Enigma Code: Why are people sleeping on their balconies? Why is the man's leg in a cast? Why all the old photos?
Referential Code: 'Screenplay by MJ Hayes' 'Directed by Alfred Hitchcock'
Symbolic Code: Male character may symbolise mental instability?
3. i) What forms can opening sequences take? Can you list the conventional features of opening sequences?
Opening sequences generally feature some sort of disruption/a hint at how the equilibrium will be affected to reel in the audience and to ensure they will carry on watching the film. They also feature the main characters - the protagonist and the antagonist, most importantly. Throughout most opening sequences, music is usually played in the background which sets the mood for the rest of the movie. For example, in 'Legally Blonde' an upbeat song was played in the background whereas in 'Seven' more tense music was played, clearly showing the difference in genre between the two films. Text is always featured in opening sequences too, displaying information about the actors, director etc.
ii) What narrative functions of opening sequences can you identify?
Opening sequences have a number of narrative functions:
- To introduce the main character/characters to the audience
- To establish a narrative structure
- To grab the audience's attention and keep them interested in the rest of the movie to come
- To establish the genre and mood/tone of the film
- To establish the audience's expectations of the film
- To introduce key iconography
iii) What do audiences gain from watching the opening sequences?
Audience's gain a large amount of knowledge from opening sequence's alone - they get a hint at events to come as well as who these events involve (character[s] shown) and what the key themes in the movie will be. (eg. romance, crime etc) The opening sequence is what draws the audience in - providing it is successful, the audience expect the rest of the movie to be just as good. They also gain knowledge about the area in which the film will be set.
iv) What do film-makers gain from including an opening sequence?
By including an effective opening sequence, film-makers gain control over their audience. It can hook the audience in and encourage them to watch the whole film. The sequence leads the audience to have many questions about the plot, the characters and the events to come making them want the answers to their questions. Sometimes, film-makers use opening sequences to mislead the audience so the twist at the end of the movie is effective - this is more common in horror movies such as Saw, The Hills Have Eyes etc.
