Research - Intro Analysis

Analysis of 3 Films

The first opening scene I am going to analyse is from the film “The Godfather”, a film from the gangster sub-genre of crime. The Godfather is a 1972 American crime drama film, set in New York.

The film starts off with very eerie and slow music; I feel this sets the scene well. A man then starts speaking in a dialogue; the lighting is very poor and you can only see the man’s face. The camera angle used is close up. The man’s speech then turns into a story about how his daughter was attacked. As the story slowly unwinds, the camera slowly zooms out to a medium shot. The man telling the story is clearly upset.

As the story is climaxing, the camera completely zooms out into an over the shoulder shot and by doing this, revealing a new character, ‘Don Corleone’. Due to the lighting, you cannot see him clearly. The man then says how he wants justice for his daughter, and asks Don Corleone for this.

This is the first time Don Corleone speaks, he speaks in a monotone voice and you cannot hear him well, also due to the camera angle and lighting you can still not see him. After having something whispered in his ear, the camera swings round to reveal the Don for the first time. The lighting has now improved vastly and reveals two other men in the room.

The Don refuses the man’s request for numerous reasons, during this; he is stroking his cat and a relaxed manner. The man asks how much money he wants. Obviously, Don Corleone doesn’t like this as he gets up from his chair, walks to the window and explains he doesn’t want money, he wants respect and friendship. During this, the camera is swapping between two reverse shots to allow the viewers to see facial expressions. The Don then accepts his request of justice and is thanked by the man. During this, lively music comes on and the man leaves, the music uplifts the audiences mood.

After watching this opening scene, I believe it effectively opened the film by providing a glimpse of the film and by showing the main character. This was done by editing techniques and camera work building up suspense.


2nd Film

The second opening scene I am going to analyse is from the film Trainspotters. During the first few minutes of the film, you can immediately see the type of characters in the film, low class people, often drug users. The film uses a voice over which introduces each of the main characters, by doing this it creates a link between the audience and characters straight away. The music used helps create the atmosphere and mood of the opening few minutes. The atmosphere created by the music gives the audience a sense of excitement. It starts before the pictures and launches you straight into the film. This is called a Sound bridge. The opening starts with instant action/fast-paced which keeps the audience interested. In the opening two minutes there is a lot of use of tracking shots following the main characters running, there is a point of view shots from main character running and another from the car driver. When Renton is in his flat smoking drugs, a medium close up shot is used. Also lots of fast paced camera shots at low angles of the characters playing football. And a low close-up of Renton on his floor, the camera starts at his head then tracks down his body and away from him.

Darker colours are used to fit in with the area, being dark, gritty and gloomy. The characters daily lives are portrayed through pictures, which is a montage of different scenes that introduces the main characters. When introducing each character the frame is frozen and their name is shown, Renton’s name is shown first so you assume he’s the main character. The Mise-En Scene-From the opening sequence and the main character’s accent enable the audience to understand the film is set in Scotland. The film is also based about the early 90’s, you can tell this from the way the characters are dressed and the vehicles involved in the opening scene. The lighting used is natural lighting, even in Renton’s flat.

There is two wide angle shots showing the main characters football team, and then it compares them to the opposing team. This makes the main character seem unorganised, anti-social and have a very low standard life style, compared to the other team who are in matching kits. There are quick cuts of Renton in different scenes falling backwards, one where he’s been hit by the football and one where he is taking drugs in his flat. The two scenes demonstrate the contrast between social and unsocial behaviour.



3rd Film

The 3rd film I am going to analyse is Sin City. Sin City is a 2005 American crime thriller film written, produced, and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. It is a film noir based on Miller's graphic novel series of the same name.

The film starts with an establishing shot of a woman standing on a balcony, overlooking a busy city, a typical setting for a crime film. There are also police sirens in the background. A voiceover then starts spoken by a man; he describes a story in a past tense which follows with the video. The man speaking in the voice over then appears and starts conversation with the woman.

The woman then turns round for a reverse shot, they exchange conversations and he explains how he loves her. The camera then zooms in on her eyes when he is describing them. The voiceover then appears again as the camera pans out for a wide angle shot of them kissing over the city. The man is still describing her very vividly. The camera zooms in and they are holding each other, the man says to her “I love you” then shoots her with a silenced gun.
The camera then proceeds to zoom and pan out while the man is holding the body and zooms right out to reveal the city in full.

The lighting is very dark and dull, this is typical of the film noir genre and due to the fact it is a dark and twisted crime film. The colours used are dark and red, this emphasises the blood and death aspect of the film.

The characters we see seem very well spoken and high class which is usual for a film noir but not necessarily in crime films.


Overall after analysing all three films, I have found that the colours used are very important in introducing a film along with music choice and the type of camera shots. The opening scene should also build up tension without giving too much away about the film, they are made to make the viewer want to carry on watching and enjoy the film.