Zombieland-Opening Sequence

http://openingsequences.blogspot.com/2011/01/zombieland.html
the video is not working so here is the link.

Opening conventions- The films starts off with a shot of the american flag and the national anthem of USA being played. The shot rotates and we see the flag was actually upside down and it's on  what looks like one of the president's cars. This shows that the world has been turned upside down and everyone and everything is manic.

Narrative Function- The function of the narrator is to explain what is going on in zombie land and almost give a satirical how-to on surviving the treacheries of living in zombie-land. This is relevant to the genre because it takes away the audience from the situation and adds funny commentary to things that shouldn't be funny. As a comedy this is the aim. If it were a horror film the chances of having a voice-over here would be less.

Characters- You cannot see any main characters from this opening sequence. You can see people getting eaten, thrown out of cars and beaten up. But the main characters remain to be seen. The audience could assume that the narrator will be one of the main characters because he's the only voice we can hear so far.

Film Lang- MES, Cinematography, (Light and Sound)-  The appearance of the whole sequence is manic. There are overturned bins, damaged buildings, and debris all over the place. The use of non-diegetic sound takes the audience away from the scenes which put more emphasis on the voiceover. The narrator has a calm,slow and controlled voice, which is in contrast to the crazy surroundings.

Film Lang- Movement, framing, Editing and Sound-  The credits and titles constantly get destroyed by the zombies and the people getting chased. The music is very contra-puntal as it doesn't reflect the attacks,killings and chases taking place. The slow motion makes everything dramatic and bold. You can see the very little movements in people's facial expressions as they run for their lives. This adds towards the comedic value.

Jaws-Opening Sequence

http://openingsequences.blogspot.com/2011/01/jaws.html

Opening conventions- The opening sequence starts off with the "Universal" ident and then the it then "a Zanack/Brown" production. Then the camera angle is the POV of a shark travelling through the water. The credits are now directly in the middle of the screen and fading out as the shark goes on almost as if the shark is eating up the cast

Narrative Function- There is no narrator in this opening sequence and I think it's better that way as it makes the whole sequence more authentic and the lack of non-diegetic sound makes sure the audience is not taken away from the film. This is key as the suspense needs to built leading up to the shark attack. And hearing a voice over would reduce that impact.

Characters- There are 3 main characters in this sequence. The first two were the boy and girl that run away to the shores from the rest of the group. We know that they are the main characters because the shot stopped moving and focused in on them(the boy especially). The last character is the shark itself  and we never get to see it. This is relevant to the genre as many horror films do no show the "villain" clearly and rely on the audience to build their own perception on how scary the villain actually is.

Film Lang- MES, Cinematography, (Light and Sound)- The lighting is quite low key at the start with the use of natural light coming from the campfire. You can also see the use of a key light to amplify the effect of the natural light . Then a filler light is used to soften the harsh shadows the key light creates. The moment where the girl enters the water the sunset is in clear view which implies that something bad is about to happen. Also the whole colour scheme of the sequence changes into dark colours as they run from the campfire the shore. This again show the impending doom as the dark colours bear the connotation of something bad or mysterious.

Film Lang- Movement, framing, Editing and Sound-  The camera follows the two of them up until the girl gets into the water. This is very important the following of the couple increases the expectation of something happening to them. There are a lot of underwater shots and shark POV shots which puts the viewer in the eye of the shark. The now famous Jaws soundtrack just increases the suspense as the audience knows the girl is going to get attacked.

Opening Sequences-Cleaner

Opening conventions- The film starts off with an indent and then the credits play over the scene. The camera zooms in after every scene change. This entices the audience as there's an element of uncertainty present. The music played is initially is quite demure and morbid. Then the element of contrapuntal music is used when the jazzy tune is played.

Narrative Function-The role of Samuel L Jackson being the narrator is to describe what his is and what is basically going on. On the contrary to the job he is actually supposed to be doing(cleaning up dead bodies) his voice is quite upbeat and cheerful. It's almost as if he is very indifferent to the situation he's in. Which is a quality he needs in a job like this. The interesting part of this narration is that he's reveals as the main character at the opening sequence

Characters- There aren't many characters at all in this opening sequence. We can already see that Samuel L Jackson as the cleaner is obviously the main character. Other than him we can see the woman whose just witnessed her dead in her kitchen. After that there are cameos of dead bodies, funeral attendee etc. Then we see the flabbergasted woman at the end. Samuel L Jackson is supposed to be the narrator but we can see shots of him during the opening sequence as the cleaner. This is non-diegetic sound but at the end of the whole sequence it becomes diegetic as he starts talking to a group of people.

Film Lang- MES, Cinematography, (Light and Sound)-  Throughout the opening sequence the colours primarily used are greys, blues and blacks. These colours are not associated with happiness and positive feelings. But the music and the narrator's voice tone doesn't reflect that. There is hardly any on -screen sound and it's overshadowed by the narrator and the music. This takes the audience away from the scenes and brings the narrator closer to audience.Most of the scenes contain a lot of shadow with a little bit of light. This can emphasis the fact that it's a depressing, demure profession but this film is portraying it in a satire kind of way.

Film Lang- Movement, framing, Editing and Sound-  The camera zooms out throughout nearly every scene, showing a bit more of the surrounding with each zoom. The titles and credits appear on rooftops and on other surfaces. This makes the titles sequence more unique.