Opening Title Sequence Analysis By Dan Bellers

MISE-EN-SCENE (Bullet Boy) The location in the opening title sequence is a prison but this is quite a dramatic but normal setting as it is a normal place but it make you wonder why the main character was in there in the first place. This and the fact that you only see the inside of the prison adds mystery as you don’t know where he actually is. The lighting is dark at the start as someone is in a confined space and when the title comes up it goes to another scene of someone waking up and being released from prison. In this scene it is very light and the colours are all light colours as the colours of the surroundings are almost all white. This could represent freedom and innocence in contrast to the entrapment of the dark dingy confined scene at the start. The guy who wakes up at the starts appearance is that he is dressed in casual every day, casual clothes. This is typical of a thriller genre as it is a normal person in a normal(ish) place. The clothes show he is a second class citizen and that he doesn’t have that much authority, where as the other characters in the scene ( The Guards ) are wearing security prison guard clothing, so this suggests they in chage and that they have all the power. The guy who wakes up’s body language is very relaxed and casual but the guards body language is very authoritive and the posture is straight whereas the guy who just woke up’s posture is hunched.

Cinematography(Bullet Boy) The slow focus on the main character at the start is a good camera technique as it creates mystery and it represents him slowly waking up, as when it is fully focused he has fully woken up. The soundtrack creates atmosphere by making it more dramatic and you get the sense of emotions of the characters as it is slow and relaxed on the non dramatic bits. For example, like when he is being released from prison the music is slow and peaceful but when there is the shot of the guy driving in the car it is fast and frantic to make it seem more dramatic and that he was driving to do something dramatic or important. The 180 degree rule and close up shot work very well in this scene as you can see both characters emotions and their reactions as they speak to each other and it shows you the contrast in character types.

MISE-EN-SCENE (Blue Velvet) The first scene starts with red roses on a white fence which is an American suburbian thing which shows where the film is set right from the beginning of the movie. The white and red represent blood and innocence. The scene looks too happy to be true as the colours are really bright, vivid and heavily saturated giving a sense of surrealism. Furthermore the lighting is really bright showing happiness and calm. There are little children smiling crossing the road. Also there is a person standing on the side of a fire truck waving and smiling to the camera while driving past. This is unusual as when fire trucks are driving, they are most probably going to help people if their house is on fire and they are in danger, so the drivers and people in it are going to be unhappy and worried. The red truck represents danger and blood. A middle aged man is standing outside watering his garden when the hose that the man is using gets in a knot and the water starts to build up pressure and he randomly has a heart attack and falls on the ground in pain. The hose getting jammed up and tied in a knot could represent a heart attack as it could represent blood pressure getting too high. Also before hand it showed someone in his house watching tv. On the tv was a close up shot of a gun being held. This was representing danger and hinting at the viewer that something bad was going to happen. The peoples clothing is normal, casual everyday clothes. This is a key element of a thriller as it is based around normal people in normal locations.

Cinematography (Blue Velvet) These are the shots that I believe are significant in the ‘’Blue Velvet’’ opening title sequence: The slow downwards tilt from the start, from the bright blue sky, down to the vivid red roses by the clean white fence. This gives off a impression that both the sky and the things on the ground are perfect meaning the whole world is beautiful, giving a sense of surrealism as nothings ever that perfect. The establishing shot on the house showed where the movie was going to be set as you can tell that it is a normal American suburbian home and you can tell it is based on normal second class working people. These are key features of the thriller genre as it is showing it is going to be based on normal people and in a normal location. The close up on these two shots of the hose allows the viewer to see what is going wrong with the hose. This is done so they can be 100% sure of what is going on as it is a contrasting action as it is negative thing as all the other shot of the place have been overly positive. It is done to create tension, drama and suspense. The soundtrack on this is very happy calm music which complements the happy atmosphere which is going on in the opening title sequence. This happy atmosphere is broken when the man has a heart attack and the camera focuses on the sound of load insects under the ground.

MISE-EN-SCENE (28 days later) The location/setting in the opening title sequence is a scientific research lab which is a normal place but it has a thriller/ horror twist to it as there are cages full of crazy monkeys which carry a virus. The crazy monkeys create tension and anxiety throughout the opening title sequence. The lighting and colours are dark and dingy. This is because it is a hybrid as it is a thriller/ horror. The people that break into the lab are wearing normal casual clothes which is normal for a thriller but it is given a dramatic twist as they are wearing black balaclavas. The scientist is wearing a white labcoat which is a stereo type of a scientist, but it is done this way to clearly indicate to the audience that he is the person who works at the lab and that he has knowledge of what is happening in the lab. The props used are a wrench and cameras to take pictures of the monkeys as ‘’evidence’’. The people break into the lab to ‘’rescue’’ the monkeys, but then they are confronted by a strartled scientist who tries to stop them claiming that they are infected with rage. They don’t listen to the scientist and break the monkeys out in which they go crazy and bite them and infect them with rage and that is where the infection of the population start.

Cinematography (28 days later) The first shot is a POV shot from the monkey watching a telivision. This creates a good effect because at the start it look s like the actual film but then the camera does a tracking shot and reveals a monkey tied up watching a load of tvs. This creates confusion and drama. The camera then pans to another television which is linked to a security camera and you see 3 dark, masked figures which are breaking into the lab. Introducing these characters on the view of a security camera which shows that they are doing something bad and dramatic. This adds suspense and anxiety which are key features of the thriller genre. As they are about to break into the cages the camera does a really long pan to reveal the shocked scientist. This adds tension as the viewer expects something dramatic is going to happen as it is like the criminal and cop scenario. It is also like the viewer is looking around the lab as the camera m movement is like a head movement. This involves the viewer in the action. The extreme close up of the infected persons eyes, shows how crazy and mental the person has become and it makes it scary and it creates tension, suspense and fear. The soundtrack at the start is calm but un-nerving music which creates tension and the music carries on untill the first characters are introduced. These are the shots that I believe are significant in the ‘’28 days later’’ opening title sequence: