AS Media opening sequencesJosh Tregunno

Part Four

The Lord Of Warhttp://www.artofthetitle.com/title/lord-of-war/

• The opening sequence starts off with a panning long shot of a factory, so that the audience knows where they are.

• The music stays the same through the sequence, it is a very casual song it is suggesting that the things that happen in the opening sequence happen all of the time and it’s “just another day at the office”

• An interesting aspect of this opening sequence is that it is in the perspective of a bullet being made in a factory and then being sold on the market.

• There are a couple of different angles in this sequence and some camera trickery to make the sequence go more smoothly. Eg: when the bullet is being transported the camera keeps looking down so that you can’t see anything; after a couple of seconds it will be jolted back up again and be in a different location (this has been done purely to make the sequence go more smoothly), another interesting angle is from inside the gun you can see down the barrel and who the person firing the gun is aiming at so it makes the audience wonder who he is going to fire at.

• Eventually the bullet gets fired in a gang battle and goes through the head of a young child soldier it then cuts to black and the music stops to represent his death. This is used to discomfort the audience and is preparing them for the violence that will occur in the film

The Incredible Hulkhttp://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-incredible-hulk/

• The sequence starts off with a lot of close ups of x-rays and cat scans which is obviously referring to the medical side of the hulk and how it is physically possible for someone to be able to turn into the hulk.

• There is only one colour that is primarily used in the sequence which is obviously green as this is the colour that the hulk turns into when he is mad and transforms.

• The music for the opening sequence is quite intense and is supposed to keep you in suspense when he is in the machine getting blasted with gamma radiation

• When the camera is in the perspective of the hulk there is some yellow distortion around the edge of the screen suggesting that the hulk only focuses on what is directly in front of him. It also suggests that he is not actually in control of himself.

• Only mid shots are really used in this sequence this is because it is quite an action packed opening it also creates a claustrophobic atmosphere as this is what hulk will feel as he is very large compared to the room and if long shots were used the audience would feel as if they were out of the action and not feel as involved.

Reservoir Dogs http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/Reservoir-dogs/

• The Opening sequence starts with a side view long shot walking in slow motion just as the music starts

• One by one each of the characters get a close up and their credit appears at the bottom so the audience knows who is who and who the actor for each character is.

• There is then a long shot from behind which shows them getting into the car as the title “Reservoir Dogs” comes onto the screen

• There is then a cut to black and more credits come onto the screen, the music is still playing so its still watchable for the audience.

• Dialogue then starts half way through the credits coming on to the black screen which is going to Segway into the actual film when it comes back.

• The colour of the film is natural as possible nothing really stands out, but the slow-motion is very disjointed because is was because Quentin Tarantino chose not to have it look natural and wanted it to resemble technology at the time

Machetehttp://www.artofthetitle.com/title/machete/

• The opening to machete is in a montage type format but instead of using clips they have chosen to display stills for the opening sequence.

• The colours used for the opening are very vibrant and not natural colours

• There are mostly mid-shots and close ups used in the sequence as it is introducing the characters and you need to get a good look at who they are so that you can recognise them later in the film.

• As soon as the sequence starts we get a close up of a lot of knives or “Machetes” which gives us a clear indication of what genre the film is going to be.

• The picture of the opening sequence has a lot of small markings on that only appear for a second this is to give the illusion that the film is being shown from a film reel even if it is digitally shown

• The title machete when it is shown is in big bold letters to show the dominance and integrity Machete has but the colour of the letters are worn down to show how old and battered he is from his years of violence

Beetle Juicehttp://www.artofthetitle.com/title/beetlejuice/

• Beetle Juice’s opening plays music before actually showing anything, the production company's logo comes up and also Tim Burton’s name with a black background.

• The title of Beetle Juice looks like it has been carved into stone from the black points in the graphic that are missing, there are also 6 very worn down skulls that look like they have been there a long time, Beetle juice has been carved in black into a white background so it almost looks like a mural

• The music then changes to something more upbeat and the black background changes into a establishing wide shot over the trees, the camera then pans over the trees so that you can see a little town.

• There is then a series more of establishing wide shots blended into eachother following a long road down, we then come to a big house on top of a hill which is where the movie is set.

• The music then stops and a tarantula climbs onto the roof of the house most audience members will not like spiders so this is an effort to disturb the audience and make them feel small. this is then the transition into the actual film as the house is actually a model house on a big table.