Opening Credits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=875R8kHxzrA

During our research into opening credits we looked at the film “Dawn of the Dead”. This introduction gives a theme of death due to the song by Johnny Cash ‘When the man comes around’ which is about the grim reaper knocking at peoples doors. It also shows the theme of death using blood to write out the titles. It also shows cuts of screeching zombies, army, people panicking, praying and all things related to a zombie apocalypse. This also introduces the genre of horror/thriller and the theme of zombies. They used general clips from the news and of people praying but put it next to the zombies and blood to change the context making it relevant, where as before a picture of thousands of people praying could be completely normal.

Narrative Structure

Narrative structures are obvious in nearly all films, even films that don’t follow the basic narrative structure still have elements of it in the film. The narrative consists of a series of questions posed to the audience, these are applied during the introductions of films if not the very beginning of a films. These questions are usually posed by showing equilibrium (the normal happenings of a place or person) and then having a change come about this change is known as the ‘villain’ even if it is not a person. Then there is the hero which is the person involved in re-gaining equilibrium.

What I have learnt from film introductions.

Since I started the media course I have learnt allot from watching film introductions. Firstly how important the introduction is, because if the introduction does not draw you in and the film has what may be called a “slow start” the audience may give up, this can be fatal for indie films as well because a producer or marketer will not want to watch the whole film unless he is drawn in during the first five minutes. Secondly I learnt how these first five minutes of a film can establish theme, genre etc. by simple things like music or for example a topic of conversation. I also learnt how a basic shot of an item can tell you something about the character due to the mise en scene, it can also be linked with dialog and show countless things without a whole scene and section of dialog devoted to it.

Pretty Woman Film Anlysis

Media – Pretty Women intro analysis

The film starts with a man doing a magic trick, he says “No matter what they say, it’s all about the money” this quickly establishes that the film is about money, he then goes on to do his magic trick and it seems he makes money out of nothing, this is very much what Edward does in his business. It then talks about buying women “a penny for the ear, how much for the rest?” this introduces the theme of prostitution. The introduction then quickly establishes that it is a party for Edward, the reason that everyone is asking after him shows that he is an important person in the film but also an important person to them for business in the film. We then see who we assume is Edward on the phone, we assume it is him due to everyone speaking about him then it going to this character, the shot is taken from behind him, this hides emotion as he breaks up with a women on the phone. The woman on the phone says “I speak to your secretary more than I speak to you.” This shows he does not have very much time for women, this sequence also tells the audience that he is single. Then using a high angle and the fact he is up high in this building looking down at everyone tells the audience that he has a powerful status.

When the audience see him next going down the stairs he is talking to one of his assistants, asking about something, when the assistant says he does not know the audience can tell that Edward is very powerful due to his bossy and demanding tone. He then goes on to speak to a lady, you quickly establish that she is an ex through the conversation and that she is now married, he asks “When we were dating, did you speak to my secretary more than you spoke to me?” she simply answers “she was the bridesmaid at my wedding” this tells the audience that he has the same problem with women every time. As he heads outside a man chases him, this shows he is in demand, Edward then persuades this man, very easily to take his car even though the man is very protective, this shows the grip he has over all these people.

It then shows a sequence of him driving, getting lost and stalling the car, this shows he is not use to driving and more used to being chauffeured as he would not need to know how to drive or how to get where he wanted to go. The music then plays over the top, talking about being ‘over you’; this reflects that he has no grief over losing his last girlfriend. It also shows the audience him slowly getting to the poorer end of Los Angeles and away from the riches of Beverly Hills.

It then cuts to a shot of a Hotel in the night, this is stereotypically a cheap place to live which reflects the wealth of the character but also using a visual pun it has the neon’s ‘Ho’ lit as appose to the whole thing, this implies she is a prostitute. It then cuts to her in her underwear and a shirt, this shows that she is either poor and does not have nightwear or was tired when she went to bed meaning that she could not be bothered to get changed. Then an alarm goes off which shows she works at night, it slowly implies more and more what her line of work is. The music playing over the top has the lyrics “I’m a wild one” this implies that she is a bit wild. You then see a pan of some photos with the faces ripped out, this could imply to the audience that she has had a bad past relationship related, and there is no photo with the face intact which also tells the audience that she is single. While she is getting ready it shows her revealing cloths and cheap tricks in order to look classy and sexy, this helps the audience realise that she is a prostitute and poor for example her colouring her black boots with a marker pen to make them look newer.

When walking down the stairs she sees a person being told off by the landlord looking for rent, she then goes upstairs and takes a box with money in out of the back of the toilet, this shows that things need to be hidden in order to keep them safe, it also shows that she was willing to pay the rent until she finds that there is not enough money in the box, this makes her more likeable as a character. It then shows the audience she is use to avoiding the landlord by showing her climbing down the fire escape. It then shows again that she is poor by her not having a car and walking her way into the city. When she gets into the city you see a crime scene, the dialog tells the audience that someone has died, and this shows that it is a rough place to be at night. She then goes in a bar to meet with her friend she confronts her about not having the money to pay the rent, and assumes correctly that she has spent it on drugs, this reinforces she is a good person because she wanted to pay the rent and she is against drugs, this allows the audience to like her more.

When they go down the stairs her friend picks up cocktail fruit off of the bar to eat because she is hungry, this reinforces the fact they are poor. Then a fight breaks out in the background, they do little more than glance in that direction showing that people are use to fights breaking out round there at night reinforcing that the place is dangerous. They then go outside to “work”; this confirms the audience’s suspicions that she is a prostitute. They find another prostitute on their street, Vivian’s friend starts to shout at her to get her away, this shows that she is aggressive, the women they are trying to get away says “she’s a newwy” this shows the audience that she has not been a prostitute  for long which puts the audience on her side some more. After the women has gone a car drives by and one of the people in it say “how about a freebie it’s my birthday” Vivian’s friend tells him to get lost this shows that they cannot afford to waste time and that they do not do it because they want rather that they are forced to in order to have a roof over their heads and be able to eat.

Then when Edward drives over they notice he is wealthy due to the nice car he borrowed of his friend, because he stalls by their corner they think he is looking to pick someone up. It then cuts to a close up of him trying to sort out the car, this shows that he did not want to pick someone up but he is just having trouble driving showing the audience that its sheer coincidence that they met. When Vivian asks if he is “looking for a date” he says “no I’m looking for directions” this shows he is a bit cocky and sarcastic. When she tries to charge him for asking for directions you notice how desperate for money she is and later when he agrees you also see how desperate he is to get to his destination.