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1. OPENING ANALYSIS 12/14/2014
Film Opening analysis – Back to the Future - 1985
Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis created Back to the Future – an
original, ground-breaking adventure that sparked one of the most successful
trilogies ever. The carefully thought out technical elements helped to make
the first film as much of a success as it is and was. Props are an important
aspect, the plutonium box especially which is coloured bright yellow colour
to stick in the audience’s mind as a hazard. It also comes back into the plot
later and after watching the film the audience realises the significance of the
first scene. Another important prop element in the first scene are the loudly
ticking clocks that take up the first 2 minutes of the 4minute 25 second scene.
They are shown in one long panning shot. As it is the first thing we see, we
presume that it is an important element of the main narrative, which is later
revealed to be a key element as the whole film is based around the concept
of time itself as Marty travels in a time machine. Rubbish is scattered across
the room which suggests that whoever lives there is untidy and perhaps
unsuccessful. Photographs of Benjamin Franklin suggest that the owner of the
property is an inventor. The props used for Marty Mcfly’s character are all
used to make him appear cool and nonchalant such as his skateboard and
guitar. His costume furthers this young, cool attitude, with Nike trainers, skinny
blue jeans and a shirt and bomber jacket. This appearance will make him
recognisable throughout the film, especially next to the scientist appearance
of Emmett Brown. It is established that Marty is confident in himself by the
way he dresses and speaks. The sound of the TV tells us that a plutonium box
has been stolen, and with the next piece of information that reveals that
Marty has it, then audience want to discover the mystery of why and how he
has come to possess it.
There are long shots in the first scene such as the medium panning shot and
the shot of Marty and his skateboard. This denotes a relaxed atmosphere
which conforms to the established appearance of Marty.

2. OPENING ANALYSIS 12/14/2014
Film Opening analysis – Donnie Darko
In the opening scene of Donnie Darko, the audience is shown an
establishing shot of a mountain road at sunrise, with a body lying in the
middle of the road. It is unclear whether the body is dead or alive for the first
30 seconds, until the boy sits up. The first main prop is now visible: his bicycle.
The music is tranquil, quiet and calm to go with the peaceful surroundings.
The shot pans around the back of him and slows on a close up of his face
which displays a confused expression. We now see his costume: pyjamas.
From the audience’s point of view, the take is becoming odder and out of
place. The next shot cuts to a wide angle establishing shot of the sun rising
over the mountains. The protagonist stands, interrupting the audiences view.
The performance of Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie) is becoming even more
confusing to the audience and he now smiles and turns away, suggesting
that he has become familiar with his situation and comfortable with where he
has woken up.
The scene then cuts to a tracking shot of Donnie cycling down the road. The
sun is now out and the music changes to The Killing Moon - Echo & The
Bunnymen, which is upbeat and a massive change of mood. Donnie cycles
into a town. The lengthy tracking shot tracks into the garden of a mansion
shot where other characters can now be seen. Donnie arrives at his house
and the next shot is of a young girl bouncing on a trampoline, connoting
innocence and immaturity. The mother sits up off her garden chair as Donnie
walks through the door, showing concern. The most important prop of the
scene is revealed when Donnie opens the fridge: a whiteboard saying
‘Where is Donnie?’ This suggests that Donnie goes missing frequently and that
it is not a surprise when he does, all it calls for is a note on the fridge.
The editing sets the pace for the scene at the beginning with long, slow shots
and infrequent cuts, almost telling the audience that Donnie has been in a
dream like state and this slow, tranquil pace of the opening scene brings the
audience into this state with him. A tracking shot is used to follow Donnie
down the road on his bicycle, suggesting that the audience is coming with
him and will therefore find out why he has been lying down on a mountain
road.

3. OPENING ANALYSIS 12/14/2014
Film Opening analysis – Blade Runner
Before anything much else, the sound of a siren can be heard,
suggesting disaster and disruption before anything else is given. Blade runner
begins with a written description that sets the storyline for the main narrative
to follow. Blade runner was released in June 25, 1982 and the scrolling
narrative’s final piece of description states that the film is taking us to Los
Angeles, November 2019. This is of course decades after the film was
released and we are being taken into the future. The first scene is a wide,
high angle establishing shot of a city. Explosions come out of sky scrapers as
non-diegetic, synthetic, tense music builds suspension until a flying machine
(spinners) speeds ‘beneath’ us. This unusual machine shows us that we are in
a dystopian world and this is confirmed further by the appearance of the
building we see later. A big city is not somewhere that we would presume to
find this much lack of control and we presume that this has somehow been
allowed or organised. This whole scene suggests that something disastrous
and chaotic has occurred and we need to find out exactly what that is. The
shot is filmed at night time- furthering tension and mystery.
After a threatening strike of lightening, the scene cuts to a medium shot
which shows the audience a closer view of explosions. We seem to be
nearing the chaos, as the scene cuts to an eye. The scene of the city we
have seen before is in the pupil of the eye. We see this character to be
viewing the madness calmly and understandably as he shows no sense of
panic. We near a giant building as we cut to and from the watching eye until
we are inside the building. A giant fan moves slowly around a silhouetted
man, suggesting juxtaposition between it being hot and no urgency to cool
down. The man is smoking, furthering a contrast between the calmness that
he seems to hold and the chaos outside.
The director wants the audience to feel isolated from this unknown dystopian
looking land, suggesting that the audience is an outsider to this new world
and that the audience will find out more about it as the film progresses.

4. OPENING ANALYSIS 12/14/2014
Film Opening analysis – E.T.
The first shot in E.T. is an establishing shot of a navy blue sky panning
down to a silhouetted line of trees in a forest. The colours and locations of this
connote calmness and tranquillity. This is supported by the calm, instrumental
soundtrack. Birdcall and crickets can be heard to suggest we are in a natural
environment that humans are familiar with. This, however, is thrown off when
the scene cuts to a wide shot of a spaceship. A panning shot allows us to
view this through trees, as if we are trespassing and we need to hide
ourselves. The non-diegetic music becomes tenser, diegetic sounds come
into the scene such as animalistic sounds which we are soon to find out
about. We see a close up shot of two fingers pulling on a branch that we are
‘near’ to as a strange and unusual shaped being walks through the door of
the spaceship in the background. The audience feels that it is not their place
to go with it. At this point it is confirmed that we are not looking at human
figures and that we, the audience, have no place in the world of these
creatures.
We now see many of these creatures coming into the forest with their
red light showing their hearts. This colour suggests a hazardous continue in the
story. We are led to believe that this is significant for the main narrative as the
music fades out slowly. One of these creatures takes a small tree out of the
ground and then the scene cuts to a wide establishing shot of a single
creature on its own. Low angle shots of the tall trees puts into perspective
how small and venerable this creature is. This particular creature climbs a hill
to get a view of a very large city below. This tells us that it is intrigued by the
human world and it wants to explore its surrounding, also confirming to the
audience that it is new to the world that we live in and our world has been
invaded by an unknown species.