RESEARCH: FILM OPENING ANAYLSIS AE FOND KISS

1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences? There are 9 titles in total during the opening of the film, including credits such as 'Sweet Sixteen' which notify to the audience that this is a Ken Loach directed film. Moroever, the credits also state how the film is a mutlicultural production through presenting the different co-production companies. 

2. What images are prioritised in the opening sequence? The film opens with a night club, that can be seen to contain different races dancing with each other. This is followed by an establishing shot of Glasgow, panning over the city complex. Then we are introduced to the father's shop, where we are shown a various dogs peeing on his shop sign. One of the backdrop in the night club is a Bollywood film, which portrays a scene of love, but due to the how Bollywood never has intemate scenes, this symbolises the two characters will come into a block that does not allow them to fully be toegether.

3. What connotations do the images carry? The night club carries the connotation of being free and happy, shown through the mixed races enjoying time together with segregation. Whilst the establishing shot of Glasgow helps to introduce the setting. The father's shop helps to ground the film back into reality, introducing the hardship of being having a different background to the typical Glaswegian. The choice of a 'bulldog' peeing on the shop's sign is very symbolic of the steriotypical 'British' verses the people with a different heritage, this is because the 'bulldog' is often interpreted as a symbol of Britain. 

4. How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? The genre of the film is romantic comedy. The romantic side of the film is potrayed through the two main characters, the son or older brother and the music teacher, who have a love for each other. Whilst the comedy value is respresented through the dogs peeing on the shop sign. 

5. How does the film establish an enigma from the outset? The film establishes an enigma through the love of two characters that share different backgrounds. The older brother is a Muslim and his life is shown to be set up already, presented through a scene that sees the family planned an extention for the brother. Whilst the music teacher is from a Catholic background. This creates an engima or problem as it would be difficult to convice their families to allow them to get together. 

6. What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? The film has a wide target audience, including Pakistani's, Glaswegians, working class and maybe younger teenage audiences. The use of Bhangra music and Pakistani actors would appeal towards the Pakinstani audience. Whilst the choice of setting the film in Glasgow would appeal towards the Glaswegian as well as the working class, due to the choice of place in Glasgow. Lastly, the choice of young actors would appeal to the younger target audience. 

7. How has technology been used effectively? The use of camera movement helps to create the illusion of freedom, shown through the loose camera movement in the night club. Whilst the ultra wide, bird's eye view, shot that pans over Glasgow helps to establish the setting. The use of a POV from the older brother looking through the window into the music room at the teacher, helps to further enforce and increase the impact of the character's love. The use of Bhangra music that carries on playing throughout the cuts to the establishing shot and the shot of the father's shop, helps to root the film to its culture themes as well as symbolises the diversity in Glasgow. 

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE LORD OF WAR

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This title sequence is effective in introducing the audience to the key themes and problems that will appear in the film. It illustrates the story's wry, tongue-in-cheek tone, whilst also portraying to the audience the primary motif of the film (shown through the bullet). The most unique aspect of this opening is most likely the use of a object-oriented POV shot, which is generally rare in to see in film, but is effective to make the audience feel helpless as they are carried on this journey from manufacture to voilence. As the audience we are helpless as we are shoved into the barrel of a gun and fired straight into a child soldiers head. The shot that sees us looking at the voilence taking place through the barrel of a gun, deliberatly has a limited field of vision, which means the audience is forced to look where the gun is pointing. This further enforces the helpless feeling and the inevatibility of ending the journey with voilence. 

The opening starts off with non-diagetic sound (guns firing) and the first set of titles coming up on a black background. This is then followed by ominious music and a cut to live action, where the camera slowly pans up from looking at a floor covered in bullets to a man standing, with his back facing away in which we find out is the main character. This is effective as the slow pan helps the audience to take in the bullet covered floor, considering the theme of the movie, as well as take in the main character as the camera tracks up. The main character then states a fact, which helps to further enforce the theme of the movie and his role. Throughout this there is still the faint sound of firing guns off-screen, which helps the audience feel negative to the character, as we start to realise he helps to 'fuel' this voilence. 

The fact that it is also continuous shot, meaning it has, or gives the illusion of having, no cuts, makes the journey even more impactful. This is becuase audiences are given time to think and see events unfold, which increases the dread in audience as well as highliting the inevitibility of a bullet's lifecylce. This journey also symbolises the main character Yuri's inevitable and deadly course, as he is the lone bullet with a single journey in mind. 

The music used acts as a cocky opposition to what is unfolding around us, 'For what is worth'. The song carries more humorous and joyful qualities, which contrasts heavily to the cold surrounding enviroment of the conveyor belts. However, to help ground the audience back into the reality of the situation is the diagetic sound, which helps to increase the realism of the opening.

The lighting used also changes throughout the opening, starting off with cold and dark feel in factory followed by more brighter colours of Africa, to end with the dull red of the soldier boy's blood. By having planning the lighting in this fashion, it shows the cold hard enviroment of business and manufacture, as well as making the red of the blood more impactful. It also helps to clearly state a change in location. The flashing of the gun being fired helps to increase the feeling of dread in the audience as they the bullet gradually gets closer to the end of its journey. To make the sensation of 'traveling on the back' of a bullet more realistic, the camera shakes and moves as the bullet is tossed or shaken. Moreover, a deep depth of field allows the audience to see the world around the bullet enfold. 

The credits displayed use a war themed font and are lined very neatly, which gives the illusion of order even though later on chaos is all that unfolds. It also helps to further enforce the war genre of the film. Lastly, the use of sound is very naturalistic, the gun firing, the bullet clinking together and so on, which helps to increase the realistic feel of the opening.  

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

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'Napoleon Dynamite' opens and displays around 30 titles, shown in different ways that help to portray the movies themes on 'rural' life and childish nature. For example, portrayed through writing using ketchup or on a school ID card. The camera is framed the same throughout the opening, medium close up and bird's eye view, occasionally an object would be drawn closer to the camera, becoming a close up. This locked in camera style helps reinforce the symmetry of the opening sequence, which in turn hints at the character's own personality, that they might be neat and tidy. 

The sequence prioritises images of different items laid upon different material backdrops, mostly being carbet that would become a different colour as a new credit (or prop) was brough onto screen. The images of neatly laid out slighly basic meals, such as burger and chips or fish finger and peas, gives the conclusion that the character is young or meant to be throught as being young. Whilst the school ID card reinforces this as well as presenting a possible setting this movie might take place in. The toy cars and childish drawings further help to illustrate the age of the main character, whilst the use of having a hand (assumingly the main character's) bring the different props/items onto screen helps to link the ideas and themes we are presented with. The genre is also illustrated through the use of tabletop photography, as it helps to astablish the scale of this movie, we do not get the idea that this is a large blockbuster but instead a smaller more grounded, lower budget film. Moreover, the audience start to understand that this movie is likely to be a comedy, due to the way in which the credits are presented and the childish colours. The editing and transitions are ordely and the same until the very end, the item would come into view, then be taken out, there would be a quick transition which is portrayed through the material backdrop changing colour or texture. This gives a fairly Wes Anderson style, which could intrige audiences that take interest in his unique style. It could also pull in younger audiences due to the films topic on school as well as the character's supposed age. 

The sequence opens with non-diegtic sound in the form of bird song, when the production companies' credits are presented. This gives the first impression that the movie might take place on a camping trip or out in the open, as well as establishing the nature of the film as being light hearted. This is then followed by simple song, a singer and guitar, which helps to enforce the happy nature of the movie. 

The titles end through the character hastely and over agressivly placing the top half of the burger bun ontop of the rest, followed by a non-diagetic smirk. The fact that the burger is finish helps to symbolise how the sequence has ended in an abrupt and comedic manner. The editing helps to illustrate this further, by cutting to black ubruptly as the top half of the burger comes down on the bottom half. The use of a sound effect in the form of a smirk brings the theme of children back into the picture, reminding the audience what this film is likely to be about before the character is fully introduced.

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE VERTICO

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'Vertigo' almost has prodimently two different sections of its opening sequence, in which it shows a large number of credits using a see through font that is outlined in white for the 'eye' section of the opening, and a white coloured font for the 'spiral' section. This makes it easy to see the different words come up on screen. The two different sections helps to symbolise the two main driving forces in the film. The first images portraying a woman, which is a major driving force for the main character, whilst the second shows abstract spyrilling patterns which are meant to represent the effect of vertigo and are a major problem for the character. 

The first section uses clever camera movement and framing to help make you feel uneasy and intrusive, whilst also symbolising beauty which the character is drawn by. The camera is framed as an extreme close up, eventually moving from the mouth to the eyes, then zooming closer into the eyes. This helps to create a slight feeling of unease in an audience, as it feels too intimate, disregarding personal space. However, through the pan up, from mouth to eye, helps to enforce the theme of beauty, whilst the washed out colour makes the audience feel uneasy. The way in which the woman moves her eyes left to right help to further enforce this feeling, as it gives the illusion of nervousness. Moreover, as the camera zooms closer to the eye, the woman looks into the camera, causing this feeling to grow even stronger, as it seems she is looking at you directly. The use of colour/lighting changes in this section when the movie title comes up, as a wash of red is present. This creates a contrast to the beauty of the woman, as it symbolises how the characters yearn for a certain woman may be deadly. Introducing the main enigma for the movie. This helps to potray the romance genre of the movie, whilst the red lighting helps to establish the secondary thriller genre of the movie. 

The second part of the opening takes the form of spiralling patterns, that take slighly different forms and shapes. Designed by Saul Bass, this section would have been unique and groundbreaking for the time, it portrays an interesting use of technology. The spirals draw closer to the camera, coming from the woman's eye to start of the sequence before the background fades to black, the spiral grow and turn slowly before fading, to be replaced by another. This is meant to portrayed the feeling and effects of vertigo, which also helps to link the sequence to the title. Each spiral becomes a different colour which helps to make it stand out. 

The music helps to establish the genre as well as creating tension, due to it being fairly charring in parts and dramatic in others. For example, occasionally when a title would appear, the music would become more 'full' and dramatic.