AC: Film Openings - Research

Quantum of Solace (Forster, 2008)

Techniques:

• There is an establishing shot, which is also zooming into the action to open the chase sequence, this helps emerge the audience into the film, creating suspense. 
• Non-diegetic sound is used for gun shots, and the car sounds, it makes the chase scene more intense and dramatic, by highlighting the sound effects used.
• The colours used are very bleak and boring, but the location is set in a foreign land, making it exotic, and interesting to the audience.
• The fast cutting rate, and continuity editing helps make the film flow smoother, and is more enjoyable to watch for the audience, as the chase appears more intense and faster paced.
• Different shot distances are used towards the end, as well as different angles, it allows the boring drive down the tunnel, to be more entertaining for the audience, by viewing from various angles and distances.

The Matrix (Wachowski, 1999)

Techniques:

• The colour used is conventional for 'The Matrix', and easily recognisable by the audience when used.
• The narration over the top of the opening also adds tension to the clip, enticing the audience as the film begins.
• The raiding of the room is similar to a stereotypical 'cops and robber' plot, however we are positioned to see the police as the antagonists through the use of sound and mise-en-scene.
• The lighting used is minimal, and creates a gloomy atmospehere, making it more dramatic for the audience, as well as adding a thriller aspect to the film.

The Dark Knight (Nolan, 2008)

Techniques:

• Throughout the sequence, a parallel narrative is used to show the different lines of action. We slowly see all the characters killed of, leaving the Joker, which adds to the thriller genre of the film.
• The dialogue used at the end, between the Joker and the bank employee is a memorable quote, which portrays the character of the Joker well, and introduces us into the dark and twisted nature of his life.
• There are cross cuts used during the scene, moving to different lines of narrative, but through fast cutting rates, it is continuous, ans well as sound bridges used, to make the cuts invisible.
• Panning shots are used during the bank robbery sequence, which positions the audience with the antagonists, and with the use of CU and LS of the characters, we can see their gestures during the scene.