Film Opening

Here are analysis of two film openings…

Film Title: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Film Studio: Miramax Films

Year of Release: 2008

Director: Mark Herman

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlonl, Vera Farmiga, David Thewlis, Henry Kingsmill, Cara Horgan, Amber Beattie, Jack Scanlon, Rupert Friend, Sheila Hancock, Richard Johnson, David Hayman

Mise-en-scene

A full red screen first appears as the name of the studios, director and film is mentioned. This red hints that the film will be violent in some ways and it later on appears that the red was a part of the Nazi flag in a plaza. The white architechture at the plaza helped highlight the red Natzi flags. Nazi-flags and soldiers appear everywhere, establishing the historical background and political viewpoint of the movie. This makes the reader understand what the “darkness” of the quote in the beginning of the film is because during the years when Nazi started ruling, Jewish people were like criminals, almost every Jew was seized out from their comfortable homes and sent to concentration camps. This is further foreshadowed at the end shot of the film opening which is a shot of soldiers forcing people to get onto a car. There were also soldiers hurrying people out of houses at the background. The reason why the audience know that these people are not the same group as the ones seen in other shots is because of the clothing they wear. The people in the other shots wore very clean and tidy clothes while these people had older looking outfits and they all had very big suitcases. The setting also helps portray the difference between the two groups of people too. There were at least three servants working in the huge mansion shown in the opening. The size and delicacy of the mansion has strong comparison to the crowed building block people the Jews live in.

Sound

An inharmonic piano tune is played from the very beginning to set the depressing mood of the film. It gradually becomes rich as it adds a higher key of piano melody into the tune and other instruments such as violin. At the very end, the tune turned minor and this was when the shots of Jewish people going on cars came in. The tune went through the whole opening but it did not cover up the original sound source of the film. This allows the audience to still hear what is going on in the scenes. In the beginning, innocent laughs of the children could be heard frequently, the background noise made by the people on the streets is peaceful, just like what the audience would expect normally on the streets. In contrast, the last shot where Jewish people were sent onto cars, there is a lot of screaming, shouting and dog barking etc. The peacefulness of the shot before helped emphasize the chaotic atmosphere at that last shot of the opening.

Camera

An establishing shot of a very busy but high class neighborhood with Natzi flags on the plaza opens the film. It later on follows three kids running through the plaza and through the streets from different angles. The different angles help the audience understand that these kids are traveling a long way through the streets because they had different backgrounds behind them as they run. The first face we could see clearly is the main character Bruno. The film cleverly spaces him as the lead of the running kids which gives him more chance to be right in front of the camera. There are many single person shots of him in the running street shots, which helps emphasize that he will be a main character in the movie. A single long shot is used at the end of the opening and that is when the running kids finally ran out of the shot. This shot brings the audience to a different setting compared to previous ones. The shot shifts from focusing the kids to focusing the military vehicles in the foreground and then it moves up and right to the building at the background. The fluency of the shot helps the audience see how inhuman the conditions were for Jewish people during that era.

Editing

The film started with a quote and this briefly gives the idea to audience that children are innocent. This is a way that makes the audience have some background information before they consume the film product.

The main story in the opening is three kids running through the streets. The producer had half of the time on them running and half of the time on other parts which would help hinting the audience on the film that follows. I believe that having most of the shots focused on what the main character is doing is a great way to make the audience remember him and know his personality(innocent).

Here is a order of the shots in the opening:

Different shots following three innocent kids playing on the streets (1min 18sec-1min 38sec)

A closeup of a servant wiping crystal glasses, two other shots of servants cleaning up a house (1min 38sec-1min 52 sec)

The shot returns back to the kids, on the foreground, there are soldiers (1min 52 sec-1min 58 sec)

And then to a clearly high class women that enters a huge mansion, going up the stairs (1min 58sec-2min 22sec)

The shot returns back to the kids again (2min 22sec-2min 46sec)

Then to the house with a lot of servants (2min 46sec-2min 59sec)

Then back to the kids, this is where the soldiers punishing Jews enter. They catch Jews out of their house and puts them onto cars (2min 59sec-3min 21sec)

Film Title: Avengers:Endgame

Film Studio: Marvel Studios

Year of Release: 2019

Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Tom Holland.

Mise en scene

The producer uses various aspects to hint that the family on the screen is unusual. The clothes the family wear is very casual and they’re having a picnic outside their house which is quite normal. But the fact that they are living in such a remote place is very queer for a family with three children. The little girl is practicing shooting, the target has many holes in it already which means she has been practicing this for a long time. She gets right in the middle of the target shows that she’s very skilled. This castes a doubt on the audience because it is unusual for a young girl to practice shooting at a young age. Audience may also notice that the dad character has an electronic device on his leg. This is again abnormal because normal human would not have some kind of high technology on them.

Sound

The background noise helps creat a realistic environment for this fantasy movie. The only noise excluding people talking is sound of the nature. However, as the man’s family disappeared, the noise of birds and insects fade away. Noises of thunderstorm appears instead. This is a binary opposition that signifies a break in equilibrium of the nature because animals represent peace while storms represent evil.

Editing

A low saturated yellowish filter is added onto the shots to emphasize the bleakness of the place. As the young girl disappeared, a special effects is used in the shot. Where her body should have been has broken into little fragments. This effect gives the audience a clue that something has changed. Combining the anxious expression on the dad’s face, he/the whole family does not know what is happening.

Camera

The camera is goes around the dad as he turns around and around to find his family. When he turns left, the camera goes right which is the opposite way. This helps emphasize his nervous and anxious feelings for his disappeared family. The opening is mainly consisted of handheld shots. Only the establishing shots are settled on machinery to make is stable. These handheld shots helps the audience feel the actions of the characters. A very significant handheld shot is when the dad runs around on the field to search for his family. This handheld shot jolts in his pace. This helps portraying that the dad is running at a very fast pace and it’s also representing how eager and keen the dad is feeling at the moment.