Narrative Function – this opening sequence’s purpose is primarily to set the date and the area of the entire film. It also establishes the main character of the movie and through mise-en-scene and snippets of dialogue allows us to see what kind of person he is. The sequence also uses a montage, which compresses a lot of time and allows the director to show us exactly what he wants us to see.
Conventions Displayed - the use of a montage is popular in quite a few opening sequences because it allows the audience to focus on credits and titles and not get side tracked by an overwhelming amount of dialogue. This sequence is also used to establish everything for the rest of the movie, which is the purpose of most opening sequences and is something that we should definitely think about when creating the final task.
Characters Introduced – this sequence revolved mainly around the main character, Tony, but we also meet some other characters that, although not likely to appear in the film again, are also quite important. The woman in the pizza parlour and the man at the clothing store both provide viable opportunities for dialogue and allow us to learn more about the main character by allowing us to observe him interacting with other people. This would also be a good idea to include in our own opening sequence, as it would help to introduce the character fully.
Cinematography – the lighting in this sequence is pretty standard: for a film about disco, the mood of the film and the opening sequence is generally going to be quite happy, and this is achieved simply by use of bright, natural lighting in this scene that causes a bright atmosphere, yet still had shadow to suggest to the viewer that there might be some darkness to come. Similarly, all the colours used are quite bold, including the red of Tony’s shirt, and the costumes of the extras which link in with the disco theme and also match the titles and credits of the sequence.
The mise-en-scene is also vital in the creation of the opening sequence; for example, the use of the train now only helps set the scene and bring in a nice transition for the start of the song, but it can reveal small bits of foreshadowing for the rest of the movie that make the more analytical part of the audience wonder whether perhaps Tony is going on a journey, be it physical, emotional or spiritual, and therefore hooks them onto the film.
Conventions Displayed - the use of a montage is popular in quite a few opening sequences because it allows the audience to focus on credits and titles and not get side tracked by an overwhelming amount of dialogue. This sequence is also used to establish everything for the rest of the movie, which is the purpose of most opening sequences and is something that we should definitely think about when creating the final task.
Characters Introduced – this sequence revolved mainly around the main character, Tony, but we also meet some other characters that, although not likely to appear in the film again, are also quite important. The woman in the pizza parlour and the man at the clothing store both provide viable opportunities for dialogue and allow us to learn more about the main character by allowing us to observe him interacting with other people. This would also be a good idea to include in our own opening sequence, as it would help to introduce the character fully.
Cinematography – the lighting in this sequence is pretty standard: for a film about disco, the mood of the film and the opening sequence is generally going to be quite happy, and this is achieved simply by use of bright, natural lighting in this scene that causes a bright atmosphere, yet still had shadow to suggest to the viewer that there might be some darkness to come. Similarly, all the colours used are quite bold, including the red of Tony’s shirt, and the costumes of the extras which link in with the disco theme and also match the titles and credits of the sequence.
The mise-en-scene is also vital in the creation of the opening sequence; for example, the use of the train now only helps set the scene and bring in a nice transition for the start of the song, but it can reveal small bits of foreshadowing for the rest of the movie that make the more analytical part of the audience wonder whether perhaps Tony is going on a journey, be it physical, emotional or spiritual, and therefore hooks them onto the film.
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