Analysing a Film Opening

Quentin Tarantino’s DjangoUnchained

What is Django Unchained

• Django Unchained is a 2012 American epic western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.

• The Film involves a slave who is freed/recruited by a bounty hunter and aims to free his wife and get revenge on his former masters

• The film also features the talents of Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel. L. Jackson

The Opening Scenes

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8oDmK55otY

The Production Logos

• These Logos represent the Hollywood production companies ‘The Weinstein Company’ and ‘Columbia Pictures’. These companies helped to fund and provide sets for Tarantino’s film

The Opening Credits

• Then the movie begins with the opening credits, these start by recognizing the production company as ‘presenting’ the movie

The Opening Credits

• The Director is then credited. Tarantino both wrote and directed this film, so he is not just credited as the director

The Opening Credits

• After this, the top billed cast are shown. These are the actors with the largest roles e.g. Jamie Foxx as Django. With this being a film by Quentin Tarantino, there are many famous actors shown as well as actors that have been cast in his previous movies.

The Opening Credits

• The Title is the shown. The camera shows slaves walking across the desert. This suggests that slavery will be a key focus in this movie.

• The title is also shown in front of Foxx’s character Django to show that he is a slave as well

The Opening Credits

• The next credits could be for people that were in charge of make up and photography etc… or, judging by the first credit on this slide, they could be actors that are also starring in this film

The Opening Credits

• Now we see the production credits, these include the writers of the theme song, casting agent and editors of the film

The Opening Credits

• Finally we have the executive producers

Setting and Music• The setting is established through the desert

scene that the slaves are walking through, this has been done to reflect the western setting and theme that the film has.

• The western setting is also shown through the ‘Good, Bad and the Ugly’ style music used with a vocalist similar to Elvis Presley or Johnny Cash

• Furthermore, the typeface used to display the opening credits is similar to western films as well as the logo for Columbia Pictures, which reflect the 1950’s, spaghetti western era.