Film Opening Analysis

I've looked at and analysed three different film openings, two falling under a genre similar to my own film opening, which is drama, and one belonging to a very different genre, namely action/fantasy.

The first film I picked is 'The Crow' (1994)

9 frame analysis of 'The Crow'

• The film 'The Crow' has an opening consisting of some credits and establishing shots, as well as a voiceover. At the beginning we can see a bunch of shots of a city at night, and some fires burning. Later we are shown the red window of a building, and a man standing in it, looking downwards at what appears to be a crime scene

  
  

• We can hear police car sirens wailing somewhere in the distance, below, along with some non-diegetic gothic rock music and a voiceover, explaining a folk tale on which the plot of the movie is based

  
  

• The black and red colour palette of the shots, the dark and burning city, the policemen, the sounds, music, and the tale told by the narrator all work together to perfectly portray a dark, serious, and grave atmosphere of an action/fantasy movie

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The second film is 'Call Me by Your Name' (2017)

9 frame analysis of 'Call Me by Your Name'

• The opening of 'Call Me by Your Name' is made up of some brightly lit shots of some pictures of statues which act as the credit scenes, followed by some shots of two characters and the room they are in, and a scene of a car arriving to the house and the two characters watching it from the window

  
  

• All the shots are quite brightly lit and colourful, with a bright yellow swirly font used for the credits, and the same big swirly letters used for establishing the time and place where the story happens

  
  

• In the background we can hear some piano music during the credits, and then some diegetic sounds and dialogue

  
  

• The warm hue, the vibrant colours, the italian house during the summer, and the choice of font all work together to paint 'Call Me by Your Name' as a character focused drama, with a warm, bright, and natural atmosphere

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The third film is 'Pride & Prejudice' (2005)

9 frame analysis of 'Pride & Prejudice'

• 'Pride & Prejudice' begins with some company logos, quickly followed by a timelapse shot of a field and the sun rising above the trees, which is where the title sequence comes in. Then we have a few shots of a character, of her reading and then walking through a field and towards a house

  
  

• We can hear some birds chirping, as well as some peaceful piano music, the faint sound of footsteps on grass and the sound of animals

  
  

• All the shots are filmed in natural lighting, giving them a warm and comfortable feel, the setting is quite picturesque

  
  

• The lighting, the bird sounds and music, the backgrounds and setting give 'Pride & Prejudice' a quaint and welcoming feel

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Analysing the openings of these three films has helped me get a better idea of what conventions I want to follow when making my film opening, and also of what I want it to look and the atmosphere I want it to have. I'd like to portray a warm and comfortable atmosphere, with the same slow pace and numerous establishing shots and shots of the character, just like 'Call Me by Your Name' and 'Pride & Prejudice'; I also intend to steer clear of very dimly lit shots and the action movie feel that 'The Crow' has. I want to incorporate opening credits as well, in the style of the last two films, where the text overlaps the images, not in the text-on-black-screen style used in the first one.