Sci-Fi Opening Sequence Analysis - Star Wars Episode
IV: A New Hope
Year released: 1977
Director: George Lucas
Studio: Lucasfilm
Top Billed Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
The genre of A New Hope is science fiction (sci-fi), this can be seen instantly through the opening extreme long shot of a large spaceship flying through space which fires lazer beams at a smaller ship, chasing after it. This along with the fanfare non-diegetic soundtrack create a grand atmosphere that feels epic and large in scale which is perfectly inline with how a sci-fi film should feel, epic, fresh and leave audiences in awe and the scale and size, this was executed to a high standard especially considering it was 1977; it goes to show that simple scenes can create magical feelings for audiences.
The tone of the opening sequence is exciting and fresh, it feels original. This is most effectively shown when the door of the spaceship is blown open by the soldiers dressed in white who then enter the ship and fire and those onboard, engaging in a face off. This is just pure excitement since explosions and gunfights have an international appeal and engages many different generations. The explosion itself even looks from the future coloring shades of purples and orange which alone could capture the attention of every single person watching. This all sets a thrilling tone that feels like you are in for an adventure of pure fun, no gore, or overly complicated twists it just feels simple yet executed to the highest degree possible.
The audience is especially engaged by the clever use of CGI throughout the sequence, such as the laser beams and blast effects; it looks like its from the 2000's not the 70's which suggests a timeless quality to the product. Once again the colour purple is used, now for the lazer effects which highlights the effective use of the color for the future since it seems futuristic and experimental, not a possibly typically safe color to work with since most films use red/orange for gun fire/explosions.
The character of the young woman presented to us is that she is strong and independent like a role model to young girls of the 1970's were gender equality wasn't quite there yet. This is shown when she takes down a soldier in white by shooting it which is a lot more than the other incompetent other 'friendly' soldiers in green. It reinvents the wheel of a damsel in distress and those captured are not useless but they can fight back. We are also shown a metal droid who appears to be introduced as the 'comic relief' with his comedic rigid motions and black facial expression and even his dialogue like when he says 'i'm really going to regret this' when he jumps into an escape pod. Finally the last major character presented to us is a villain who is dressed in all black with expressionless mask, this automatically provides the connotations he is a powerful evil character and that he is ruthless because we are shown him choking someone to death on the spot.
Based on the whole opening sequence I think the narrative will follow what the gold and small white/blue robots get up to and where their escape pod takes them too, i also believe the narrative will present focus on how to the young woman is going to be rescued from the clutches of the villain in black. The sequence i feel was a very successful opener for the film, it set up some key characters whilst presenting to us a bit about their personalities but most importantly introducing us to what looks like the key antagonist of the film and the power he contains.
Action Opening Sequence Analysis - The Dark Knight
Year released: 2008
Director: Christopher Nolan
Studio: Warner Bros.
Top Billed Cast: Christopher Gale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger
The genre of The Dark Knight is Action, this is shown from the first establishing shot which zooms in on a gunman in a clown mask. this straight away creates an engaging atmosphere due to the creepy and off putting mask the man is wearing and the sudden shock of the bullet piercing the glass brings the audience straight into a fast paced scene of conflict, a key element of the action genre. we are then shown other sinister looking men preparing bags who then zip wire from one roof to another roof, this further emphasizes the intense and faced paced feeling of the sequence which does not leave room for the audience to catch their breath.
The tone of the opening is frantic and creepy, this is shown most fittingly by betrayal by many different masked robbers who start taking each other out, this shows that whoever is in charge of the heist is very clever and is trying to leave as little people as alive as possible ti maybe ensure that they receive all the money stolen. It means that none of the robbers can trust who they are around which ads to the hectic situation as you truly do not know what is going to happen since this is not the stereotypical course of a bank heist scene.
The audience is engaged by the diegetic pleonastic sound effects of the guns in the duel scene, such as when one of the workers at the bank decides to fight back with his shotgun, this is particularly engaging because this action represents something that not many people would honestly do when held captive to crazed men in clown masks. But once again unexpectedly he dies, the obvious narrative path would be to let him be a hero of some kind but no once again the audience's expectations are turned around and flipped over.
The characters of the men in clown masks are presented as unempathetic and naive, this is because they show no mercy to anyone in the bank with no respect to the general public which portrays them as heartless individuals will do anything for a large sum of money; they are naive due to the fact that they did not consider there might be a catch for working for their boss who appears to be crazed and sadistic based on his unhinged nature. At the end we get a snapshot of what the 'boss' is like and he is insane by leaving what looks like to be a grenade in a dying mans mouth which is insane. It's also revealed one of the men in the clowns masks actually is him, the boss, it was just a disguise all along which shows how calculating and intelligent the boss is despite his psychopathic behaviour.
Based on the overall sequence i definitely believe we will see who the 'boss' is and what their future intentions are because they have pulled of a mega heist without being detected and killing all the henchman off so there is no need to share the money. I think this opening sequence was very successful due to the interesting narrative, great use of pleonastic sound effects and incredible performances by the men in clown masks; particularly the boss who comes across as a phycopath due his horrific actions despite only being seen briefly, this shows his monumental make on the audience by stealing the whole sequence by his captivating performance.
Top Billed Cast: Fion Whitehead, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance
The genre of the film Dunkirk is War, this is first shown through the green army costumes the soldiers are wearing; along with their guns and helmets. The lack of a musical soundtrack with only diegetic ambient sound playing a realistically haunting atmosphere is present immediately. The realism of the scene with a lack of CGI which gets across that exact situations like the one presented to us happened in the previous world wars in the 20th century.
The overall tone of the opening sequence is dark and haunting, this tonality is 'fired' towards us through the use of diegetic pleonastic sound effects of gunshots. The handheld camera positioning implies and raw feeling to the scene which makes the audience feel like they are running with the soldier and are almost with him. The tone never gets lighter as we are also shown the soldier doesn't know how to use his gun properly which shows how inexperienced he is and the unlikelihood of escaping alive.
The audience are especially engaged when the young man is jumping over the wall towards the french who are firing at him whilst also being fired at from behind, this shows that in war you can't trust anyone truly anyone completely because any wrong assumptions can cause unnecessary deaths. It also causes the audience to worry about the young man because he is incapable and is relying on others to much to get out of sticky situations but because he is so young and naive the audience want to root for him since he probably represents what would happen if many teenagers nowadays had to fight in the war.
The character of the young man is presented us of course being naive and incompetent in battle yet he is shown to have good survival instincts because he jumped over the wall and a gate and escaped barrage of bullets so yet that can't be all down to luck so he has good survival skills.
Based on the opening sequence presented I definitely think the narrative will follow the young man presented to us and show us what happens to him. I do think this opening sequence was successful to a great extent at introducing us the tone and atmosphere of a realistic yet dark war setting, the sound work of the ambient and pleonastic sounds greatly did this and were they key details that made this sequence so captivating for all.
