Opening Titles Analysis James Bodkin

Fight Club David Fincher 1999 The opening scenes to Fight Club are linked to the themes of Physical and Psychological problems that the narrator experiences throughout the narrative. The graphics in the sequence bring out ideas about the structure of the human body, zooming out from human cells, to veins and tissue. We don't realise what is happening until the end of the title sequence, when we are presented with the narrator's physical environment, in which he is found with a gun in his mouth, revealing an extreme close up of his terrified face with a black eye. The immediate focus of on the human body is a reference to the themes and narrative events. The main character, suffering from insomnia, finds the cure to his illness in attending support groups for serious diseases (testicular cancer in particular). The narrative also focuses on the fragility of the body, which is shown in the firing scenes. The theme if threat is directly inflicted by the black eye and the gun pointing inside his mouth.

Catch Me If You Can Steven Spielberg 2002 The opening Titles of this film portray the narrative of the film. It begins with the main character becoming a pilot and follows him through car chases, doctoring and becoming a lawyer, all whilst evading the detective that attempts to hunt him down. We are introduced o the genre of the film because of this, Crime-Thriller. The music played in the background of the title sequence is Jazz, linked to when the film is set (1950’s). The opening titles are successful in delivering all of the excitement and suspense that audience are about to see, whilst linking in with the plot. The graphics of the titles are captivating and grabs the audience’s attention. Most opening sequences to films fail to do this.

American Beauty Sam Mendes 1999 The first thing that the we notice in the opening titles of American Beauty is the emphasis of the colour red when the Titles are shown. This links to love and passion, the main messages of the film. The next part of the opening explains how the main character’s daughter wants her father dead, leaving the audience with this hint in our minds for the rest of the film, especially when the main character (Lester) reveals that he will be dead in less than a year. When the main opening is introduced, we are told about Lester’s life and how his wife, daughter, and everything that surrounds him is worthless and that he basically has no intentions of living any more. The opening Titles of this film is successful in introducing us to the main narrative because of it is so believable and captivates us, bringing us to the same level as the main character and lets us see how his life is day by day.