Analysis of film openings

Juno

      Analysis of film opening

Juno is a 2007 comedy-drama film, about an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her.

The opening of the film starts with Juno in ‘reality’ before she goes for a walk to the shops, as she is walking a backing track starts to play which is called ‘All I Want Is You’, however due to the plot in the film Juno ends up giving her baby up for adoption this brings some irony into the film straight away. The music playing is up beat and fun to listen to and goes to the beat of Juno as she is walking along.

As Juno is walking along she drifts off into her own world and the shots are then presented in a cartoon approach, when the shots are in cartoon she walks behind a tree giving the screen a wipe effect. This makes the viewer feel as if Juno is thinking and going into her own imagination as younger people normally do. From this you can still tell Juno is very young and has little responsibilities, which then shows she would be incapable for a child. The cartoon effect on the opening of the film makes it more interesting to watch as it is presenting the title and names of directors etc, the names are animated as they appear on the screen and the main title flashes different colours, all these animations and colours tell the viewer that Juno is still only young and gives the opening a childish look.

The animation technique is rotoscoping (tracing over live action filming. The technique allows the director to simplify and mute the colours, making it graphically pleasing as well as mundane. The unfinished drawings also build on a concept of an almost incomplete environment.

Some interesting slide and push edits also relate to comic books. Juno’s character is sometimes on the screen in two different shots and this along with her constant presence and dominant framing of her character within the film, this is super imposed. Also throughout the opening there is a repeated time of which runners are shown this my show relevance in to the main film and character, when the runners are shown there are many two shots.

The camera shoot at the beginning first has a medium close up which straight away introduces the main character, the camera is then in a medium/ long shot as she is walking along the camera is following her horizontally showing Juno from the side which is called a ‘track’. There are many camera angles this shows the audience that the main character is maybe unsettled. There are many following shots and close ups of the main character to engage the audience, also to make the audience see through there eyes there are a few over the shoulder shots. There are also many establishing shots to show the scenery and wide-angle shots.

There are many transitions that also change the shots over for example tilt shoots that take the audience in to another perspective and wipes that make the clips and shots change.

loveactually
                   Analysis of film opening

The opening sequence of Love Actually introduces the theme of the film, love, and not just romantic love but love in all its many forms. The love a parent feels for a child, love between siblings, the love of a family, the love for a life partner, the love you feel for an old friend not seen for years. 

The other achievement of the opening sequence is to introduce one of the central characters played by Hugh Grant. Interestingly he is not seen in the sequence, only heard. There is no diegetic sound in the clip only the voiceover and the non-diegetic soundtrack. It is very evocative of love and romance and sets the tone of the film.

The voiceover also successfully introduces the location of the film. The interior used for the opening sequence also gives clues as to the films narrative. Using a set that represents the arrivals hall of Heathrow airport indicates that the film could also be about the transient and chaotic nature of life and relationships in the 21st century. These are themes that are echoed in the narrative of the film.

The composition of the establishing shot makes it clear that this is also a point of view shot. The focus for the viewer, the reunited couple, is not always visible. It is at eye level and makes the viewer feel as if they were in amongst the crowd of people. The shot type mirrors the content of the voiceover; it puts the viewer in the position of Hugh Grant’s character. Other notable camerawork includes a series of tracking mid-shots following a myriad of characters meeting loved ones in the arrivals lounge, this repetition of camerawork positions all these characters on an equal footing. It also allows the viewer to follow them to the point of reunion and, through the use of close-ups share in the emotion.

A notable editing technique used in the opening sequence is the slow motion placed on some of the shots to emphasise actions such as a heartfelt embrace, the playful tossing of a child in the air, and the kiss of two lovers. This again communicates the central theme to the viewer. It is also indicative of the films genre and demonstrates to the viewer that Love Actually is likely to be more romance than comedy.

The Science Of Sheep 

                            Film Analysis

The Science of Sleep title sequence is very simply constructed. It is an animated sequence following a graph line travelling over old scientific diagrams and connecting title boxes. These title boxes introduce the title of the film and work through the credit list. The typography used matches that of old scientific drawings. There are no cuts in the title sequence: the camera travels with the line over the diagrams. The implication of the aged look of the scientific drawings used in this opening sequence establishes immediately the ambivalence of the film’s title, the “science” of dreams, suggesting that such limited understandings of the past are but obsolete and spurious folly.

The original soundtrack by Jean-Michel Bernard adds to the mood of the opening. At times the simple line movement seems to link to the soft dreamy tone of the music. The linear directionality of the black line stands however in counterpoint to the almost drifting ethereality of the singer, again emphasising the paradoxical nature of the film’s title.

Overall this mise en scene in this title sequence establishes the tone for the film, a dreamy tone, but with the clear message to the viewer to re-evaluate notions of what is real. In the world of the film’s main protagonist surrealistic and naturalistic elements begin to overlap, and the viewer is often uncertain of which portions constitute reality and which are merely dreams.