6. Research: Film Openings - 9 Frames (Harsh Makwana)

Spectre (Sam Mendes, 2015)

Analysis

• The opening of "Spectre" (Sam Mendes, 2015) gives the audience a sense of what the film is about through visuals, audio and institutional credits. 
• There is a total of 25 institutional credits and 29 different visuals. 
• There is one soundtrack playing throughout the whole opening: "Writing's on the Wall" (Sam Smith, 2015), which sets a mysterious tone for the film ahead. 
• The Director's name (Sam Mendes) always appears at the end of the credits of all his Bond films which makes his name stick in the audiences' minds. 
• The high budget of the film is reflected by the elongated opening of 03:43. This high budget is highlighted at 00:09 with the institutional credit of "Eon Productions Presents:". This is the production company that only produces Bond Films.
•  The actors' names appear before the names of those involved in the production process as these names would appear more to the audience. 
• James Bond is the only distinguishable character throughout the opening, with the rest of the people only seen as silhouettes. This highlights the importance of Bond's role within the film. 
• The actors' names are shown in the order of importance of their role, with Daniel Craig stealing the limelight, which would further appeal to the audience. 
• The Spectre logo is shown on a ring at the start and end of the opening sequence, which suggests it has importance in the film. 
• The title of "Spectre" appears at 00:29 in an easy to read white font juxtaposing the background of fire, making the title stand our further. 
• The majority of images in the opening are all moving, with the only still images, such as pictures, still possessing a moving effect. 
• Although everyone knows what genre Bond films are, the genre of the film is easy to distinguish with the use of the soundtrack and the ambiguous setting. 

"Skyfall" (Sam Mendes, 2012)

Analysis

• The opening of "Skyfall" (Sam Mendes, 2012) gives the audience a sense of what the film is about through visuals, audio and institutional credits. 
• There is a total of 14 institutional credits and 17 different visuals.  Throughout the whole of the opening sequence. 
• There is one soundtrack playing: "Skyfall" (Adele, 2012). This use of convergence and synergy is very beneficial for the film as it is a way of promotion through the music industry.
• The high budget of the film is highlighted by the length of the opening sequence of 03:53.
• The names' of the actors all appear in order of the importance of their role.
• James Bond is the only distinguishable character throughout the opening, with the rest of the people only seen as silhouettes. This highlights the importance of Bond's role within the film. 
• In terms of tone,this opening is melancholy and mysterious. 

Conclusion

From films openings, the audience can:

• Establish the genre of the film
• Tone
• Atmosphere
• Characters
• Narrative
• Title
• Credits
• Genre