Analysis of the Opening to Collateral

This opening, while only two minutes manages to convey a large amount of information about the characters and establishes the beginning of the story. Cruise's character is hinted at being the main character as he appears to the audience first. It is also suggested that he may not be a good character as we see several extreme close ups of him with no emotion on his face. The shots spend a lot more time on him than the other man and they are almost slowed down as they show him walking, directing the audiences attention solely to him. This is backed up by the very shallow depth of field in the shots of Cruise, blurring out and other people, raising his importance above theirs. As the the two men collide there is a very sudden straight cut from a close up to the collision, without warning, shocking the audience. When the bag is picked out their is a synchronous beginning of the music which continues as the shots change from the airport to a taxi rank.

Here we meet the second main character of the film who is immediately portrayed as a huge contrast from Cruise's character. We first see him doing a crossword conveying that he is a studious, intelligent person. He is evidently different from those around him, he has extracted himself from the bustle and sits very still. The montage editing helps to establish how hectic the taxi rank is through a series of different close ups. There is far more shots in this part of the opening than in the slow speed editing of Cruise, conveying how there is far less control and organisation here. There is continuous editing as the he enters the taxi, we see him inside the taxi rank then getting into the taxi but the middle is removed. We then learn how methodical the driver is through several high speed edited close ups showing him checking everything.

After he shuts the taxi door the noise of the bustle cuts out and we see a long close up of him, building intimacy. We are then shown a more personal side to him as he puts up a photo of a picturesque island, conveying to the audience that he has a dream to move on from taxi driving and move up in the world.

Analysis of the Opening to Welcome to the Punch

The film starts with a mid shot of the men as they exit the building, the music is quiet but already intense, paired with the long shots of slow movement it creates tension. We see a shot of the three men from a low angle, making them appear more powerful and dominating, especially as their faces are hidden behind dark masks. On top of the first close up of one man we hear breathing, humanising him, building our emotional connection to him. The music then suddenly crescendos and a loud non diegetic car sound is added onto a close up of a different man.

As the men leave the building the shots are slowed down to make the men appear in control. Everything is very dark their clothes, bags and bike, creating an unnerving sense of the unknown. As we see a wide shot of each of the motorbikes revving up to leave they are each suddenly brightly lit displaying the bold yellow of the number plates, a sharp contrast to the dark surroundings. The whole opening has a blue tint over it, only broken very occasionally with flashes of yellow or red, such as the number plates, emphasising these flashes of colour.

There is then a close up of the motorbike wheel again, displaying the power these men have. We then see a sequence of fast pace shot changes to build the excitement of the car chase, a sudden contrast to the slow pace at the beginning of the opening. The shots themselves start to become shaky, making the audience feel on edge and apart of the chase themselves.The action is followed by a series of tracking and panning shots cross cut with close ups of different parts of their vehicles. The opening ends with us seeing the motorbikes disappearing down stairs from a low shot angle shot and we hear the first dialogue, just before the opening cuts out, signally the transition to the main body of the film.

Analysis of the Opening to Drive

The film opens with a high angle, wide shot of the city, making it appear very large and powerful. The dark shots are juxtaposed with the contrapuntal audio, an electronic, almost cheerful song as well as the hot pink font of the actors names plastered across the bleak cityscapes. We then see an over the shoulder shot with a very shallow depth of field of Ryan Gosling driving through the city. The shot appears to be naturally back lit, creating a silhouette effect, hiding most of his face. We then see a close up of his face, building the emotional connection between him and the audience.

There is then a synchronous shot change to another high angle of the many overlapping roads in the spaghetti junction, making the city seem like a maze where you could easily get trapped. We then follow Gosling into a car park with a strong blue tint, matching the outside shots. The shot then changes to an over the shoulder shot where a women walks out of the lift into the key light of the shot, hinting that she will become important later in the film. Then there is a close up on the lift door closing, reinforcing the idea the man feels trapped here. This shot is brightly lit from both sides creating a vibrant orange, the other colour seen throughout the opening, directly contrasting the blue.

As Gosling enters the hotel room we can see immediately distinct contrast between the warm orange light outside to the darkness inside, showing how isolated he is from the rest of society. There is no lighting coming from inside his room, the only light is provided through the windows and door. There is then a series of mid shots most of which are backlit, shadowing the man from the audience.

The opening then ends with the another set of wide cityscapes, after one final shot of the man from a low angle placing a bag in the room. The camera pans down showing the bag before it too, like the rest of the room, is hidden in darkness as the light is flicked to off. 

Analysis of the Opening to the Dark Knight

The film opens with a wide establishing shot of the skyscrapers, zooming in towards a seemingly unimportant point, the intense music in the background crescendoing, building the tension. The shot then changes to a mid shot using match on action, after the audience hears the sharp enhanced diegetic sound of the window breaking. The window is carefully placed just off to the left of the centre of the frame, which is known as being the side with more power.

The action then moves to outside the building with a mid shot of a different man, his face hidden from the audience, creating a sillouette effect. The man's all black clothes causes your attention to immediately be drawn to the clown mask he holds, linking him to the previous men who where wearing similar masks. The shot then crosscuts back to the other men, accompanied by a synchronous change in the sound. The camera follows the men out of the window and we see a high shot of the road, making the audience feel a part of the action themselves and conveying the danger of the situation. Several non diegetic bangs are then added to further build the tension as the camera pans across following the men on the zip line.

The idea of you becoming a part of the action is reinforced by the next shot, where the camera appears to be inside the car, making it appear as if you are there too. The story is then furthered through a series of mid shots following the mens progress through the bank. We then see a shot of two men in the frame, one carefully placed behind and to the left of the other, slightly out of focus, making them seem threatening. The audience then see for the first time how corrupt the mission is as the man behind shoots the front man. After this the music crescendos further until a man approaches the vault when it cuts out almost completely only leaving a quiet ticking hinting that the time is running out.

The opening ends with the two remaining men facing off through a series of shot reverse shot, close ups of each man building your emotional connection to them, this is then suddenly shattered along with the wall of the bank, as a bus drives straight through it crushing one of them, causing a loud enhanced crash, a contrast to the previous quiet audio.

My Favourite Media

Films

• Back to the Future
• The Shawshank Redemption
• Interstellar
• Boyhood
• The Breakfast Club
• Groundhog Day
• The Truman Show

TV Shows

• Sherlock
• Doctor Who
• How to Get Away with Murder
• Stranger Things

Podcasts

• Serial