This sequence opens with a pan across a city at a low angle, which instantly indicates to the audience the location of the film, which appears to be New York due to the tall buildings and apartment building staircases. The fact the camera is placed at ground level gives an impression of a human running. As the camera moves across the setting lights are seen to be turning on in the apartment windows, which reveals attention, or possibly suspicious in being raised among society, which creates an enigma for the audience, as they are intrigued to find out what is causing this reaction. The city appears to have a slightly urban feel to it due to the showing of staircases linked to low budget apartments. This gives a sense of the film taking place is a slightly more run down area of New York such as Brooklyn.
The whole sequence is portrayed in cartoon graphics, which
give a comical effect to the opening, and indicates a Film noire, murder
mystery genre to the film. This added with the lack of colour resembles the
discolouration on the pages of stereotypical crime novels.
The non- diegetic music added to the scene is a classic film
noire based piece of music. It is a mixture of low and high tones which creates a sense of mystery. An increase in sounds at certain points is to create tension or
possibly show an increase in enthusiasm in the crimes case. The music is used to resemble the development of the story and how the crime comes together thus the confusing mixture of volume, tempo and instruments as the case in itself isn't simple therefore the music shouldn't be either. The use of this
music sets high expectations of the film as it is expected to meet the
standards of the classic film noire genre, which is popular in cinema. The effect caused by music is mysterious, and gives a sense of someone hiding in the shadows. This is an intentional effect given to the receiver as it suits the storyline and indicates themes of crime, detective passion, and undercover. Which all work simultaneously together to deliver the genre of the film to the audience.
The sketchy outlines of certain features in the scene give
the whole sequence a drawing effect which indicates to the audience it is going
to be a very cliché crime story much like one found in books. However the fact
that aspects of the scene are being drawn shows the start of a new story and
the progression of the case as it starts to from together into it’s own
original story.
A long shot is used to reveal a character climbing over a
wire fence. The fact the shot is far away makes the character seem more
obscure, which creates an impression of the character being mysterious and
slightly unknown as he is going through to a place unnoticed. The use of a long shot indicates the action
genre as they are frequently used in this genre to reveal locations and capture
elements that are occurring in the background for example an explosion. The
fact the character is portrayed in black adds to the mystery theory, it also
makes him appear to be in the dark which reveals he doesn't have a clear mind
on what is actually happening in the story.
The wire fence show a crossing of lines, and also gives a
sense of breaking and entering as it is clear the character is not meant to be
entering this location due to him climbing in. This reveals information about
the film as it show boundaries are going to be pushed which creates excitement
for the audience as it makes them want to watch on due to being lured in by
daring actions.
Bold red font then appears on screen, this writing is
presented in upper case, which suggests bold heroic actions, which are going to
stand out and make a difference. The fact the font is a bright red colour for
one makes it eye-catching, but also connotes blood that again adds to the genre
of the film as typical iconography of a crime or action genre is blood. This red also connotes passion and romance, which allows the audience to identify themes of the film simply through the choice of colour.
The music then has a high-pitched chime sound, which
indicates to the audience the finding of clues, and creates an enigma for the
audience as they are left in suspense and what to know of the discovery. The
fact this has been placed after the character breaking into a location shows
the significance of the place and also shows the chronological order of the
film.
A pair of eyes then appears in the sky, which appears to be
out of place in the scene and create confusion for the viewer. The fact the
eyes are higher than the character gives a sense of the character being looked
down upon by this person. It also gives an impression of this person being dead
due to the look of sorrow in her eyes, and the fact she is in the sky, which
intrudes the audience, as they want to find out who she is. From the
presentation of the eye it is clear to see the woman is female due to the
femininity caused from the long eyelashes. The depressed look in her eyes also
gives a strong sense of her wanting to be discovered, or possibly what happened
to her to finally be known to others. Also, the fact her eyes only are being
presented reveals she is being forgotten about due to people lacking to
discover her story.
As the title sequence is progressing, an actors name appears however unlike the other names this one gets pierced by bullets ,causing it to shatter and non-diegetic sound is added of a firing gun shot. This has an effect of confusion on the audience as it creates an enigma as to whether or not this character is going to die as the story progresses or even be shot. This could also have a more subtle deeper meaning and could be a simple representation of the deterioration of the character, as maybe they could be the one experiencing the loss of someone very dear to them.
The camera continues to follow this unknown character as they are seen running towards a spot light, this could could have a number of meanings depending on how deeply the light is looked into.The most basic meaning is a simple location change from New York to possibly Hollywood, as lights are symbolic objects of Hollywood due to their production of films. With this, it is clear to identify that the case will show a strong progression throughout the film as already, the character is moving away from the original starting point portraying only one thing, the character is one step closer to uncovering the truth. As the light is drawn in with black, which has negative connotations, this could show the character putting themselves in danger, thus running into a villains spotlight.
Once the character has entered what appears to be some sort of film set, a mess of plants is seen merging together, these plants are red so as they combine they appear to form a puddle of blood. This represents death, as plants are living things and then suddenly they are being transformed into blood. This creates an enigma for the audience as lots of representations of blood have been presented and they are intrigued to find out whose blood it actually is, thus creating an aspect of excitement which leaves the viewer wanting to watch more. The order in which these plants appear, once place is entered, seems significant as it creates an effect on the audience due it appearing that once this place is entered bad events will occur leading to death.
The film's title then appears, the title in itself is yet another indicator of the themes of the films for example 'kiss' suggests a romantic undertone and 'bang' suggests action.The writing has a slight smudged effect to it causing it to resemble red lipstick, or possibly bleeding this gives a sense of the death of a woman in the film or could simply be a way of presenting a love in the film. The writing has then been placed onto a simple white background which connotes innocence and purity, by combing this with the red creates an effect on the audience as it resembles death of something innocent.
A silhouette of a woman is then shown, showing a certain woman is of great importance in the film. The fact this shot is placed after the name of the title appears could be suggesting this character is the one who dies. However this hypothesis is juxtaposed with the fact she is holding a gun, creating an impression she is simply out for revenge and because of this the audience now know this character has/had a strong relationship with the victim. The posture of the woman is a very sexual one, as she is standing strong with her legs slightly spread, which emphasis her curves. This reveals that the film is aimed at the male gender as already evidence of the male gaze is being shown in the opening sequence.
A close up shot of a gun is used, this adds to the genre of the film as close up shots of guns are commonly used in film noire to simply create tension for the audience as they are unaware as to whether or not the character will take the life of someone else, especially if it's the hero pointing the gun. Suddenly swirls emerge from the barrel of the gun, with juxtaposes with guns representing violence as the swirls appear to be rather flattering to the eye. The use of this technique appears to be an interference to the opening sequence of Casino Royale as the same swirls also appear from a gun, which convey a message to the audience that this film will contain similar qualities. The swirls then bloom into flowers, which grow tall and fill the screen, this shows a progression in the case and all the clues finally coming together to form something beautiful or natural, due to the flowers, which is most likely to be the truth being revealed. However this truth may not be as beautiful as it is being mad out to be as the flowers suddenly turn red and the tempo of the music excelerates.
What appears to be a cinema or a club is then shown in the background of a shot, and in the window the woman can be seen once again, this conveys to the audience that this character is likely to take matters into her own hands and go undercover. In the foreground of the shot is a chalk outline of a body, which could reveal possibly the death of the female character or as it has been placed after t close up of the gun could be a way of portraying the audience that an action will lead to death.
A long shot is then used to reveal a party scene occurring in the distance this is clearly identified through the bright lighting and substantial number of people present in the single location, also they are holding glasses designed for alcoholic beverages which is a cliché form of iconography found at a party.This scene is seen through the trees which shows the audience are being shown the scene through what appears to be the perspective of the protagonist, the same person the camera has been following throughout the whole sequence, thus the perspective changes from third person to first person creating an effect of the viewer getting closer or becoming one with the protagonist.This also allows the viewer to become part of the story as they are viewing the scene as the protagonist is, giving a sense of realism to what is being shown. The way this has been filmed creates a sense of spying, or eavesdropping as the location is being watched, which leaves the audience questioning as to who is actually looking, as it isn't fully clear that it is being shown from the protagonists view. The trees bordered around the building are constructed from basic shapes and the use of the simple colours black and white create a visual illusion of them forming into the shapes of skulls. By the tree's forming skulls allows the audience to identify that evil is present at this location whether it be a person or a sinister event.
Until this point the opening has been a continuous sequence with the camera speeding up to hurry the viewers attention, this technique is then broken at this point as the camera cuts to inside the party. As this has yet to happen at any other point and this is the first location the audience are taken into it has a strong significance as portrays that an important event of the story takes place here which creates an enigma for the audience as they desire to know what is going to happen here. Inside the camera remains slightly lower than an eye level shot which gives an impression or blending in or being unnoticed which is a strong element of film noire, being unnoticed. This film noire genre is then also again identifiable through the costume choice of fancy evening gowns and tuxedo's which are stereotypical film noire iconography. This also makes the style of the film, film noire also due to the clothing choices and crime book effect used throughout.
A woman is then shown being pushed off of a balcony, which reveals she is going to die and clarifies the victim is a woman for earlier hypothesis. A non-diegetic sound of a push has been added at this point however it is rather subtle which reveals this push was unnoticed and the person who did it is a rather sly character. This represents women as being weak as the character is being pushed off a balcony at a busy party scene which shows her to be rather careless and vulnerable. The camera follows the character as she falls using tilt down cinematography, however this tilt is very slow movement and actually appears relaxing and emphasis that she is falling slowly. The fact she is moving slowly, conveys to the audience that she needs to be saved and that time is running out for the hero to save her, thus making her a typical damsel in distress a key aspect to any murder mystery. However this falling could simply be a metaphor for the character being in trouble and falling into a pit of danger and needed to be rescued, this impression is created due to the character falling in front of the moon and changing colour which makes her appear mysterious and that she has got herself into trouble rather than her falling to her death.
The female character then hits the floor, and the volume of the music increases to emphasis how hard she hit the floor. This gives more clarification that the death is of a woman and again acts as evidence for women being shown as weak in this film. Lines cross over her and have been edited to cross over her at a fast pace, showing the quick discovery of the body, these lines simply represent crime scene tape.
The audience are then taken back to New York where the opening originally began, and the cinematography follows the original pattern of using crap camera movement to reveal the location. This indicates to the audience that the answer to the case was right in front of the characters and they possibly followed a false lead causing them to go off of the case leaving the trail cold. This allows the audience to identify information on the characters and that they have strong determination.
A car quickly rushes past the camera, blocking the view, this car is black which connotes it was an enemy. Foley sound is used to great a wind sound to show the speed, this car could be used to represent the character being distracted as it distracts the audience from seeing the location. It could also be a way of mocking the protagonist due to the character going astray from the case, and the car driving past is a way of showing his obliviousness. The sound of the scale of piano key being played from high to low at an intense speed is used, the fact this going from high to low shows the story going from good to bad, which adds to the characters falling astray.
Book pages are then pasted onto the screen, which appears to being fragments from crime novels due to blood splatters falling on the pages which would look more horror based however the music works alongside the visuals to reveal it isn't horror. At this point the music calms down slightly and consists of mainly the backing music used as an undertone of the more dramatic track played on top. This conveys a sense of everything falling back into place, this could possibly be from the help of a book guiding he character in the right direction. The fact the help could be coming from a book rather than a character creates an enigma for the viewer as the question whether the protagonist is a fake hero, trying to be someone who only exists in fiction.
A lipstick mark has also been placed onto a page of the book creating a connection between the book and romance, which could show a form a romance within the book becoming a reality as the protagonist falls in love. This similarity between what the protagonist is doing, solving a crime, and the lipstick conveys a sense of foreshadowing that the protagonist will get the girl. At the end of he sequence the books fall down which portrays they aren't going to be what fully helps the case become uncovered in the end and actually something else will reveal the truth as the characters aren't living in a fictional story.
Overall the sequence uses many techniques which only work together to provide information and allow enigma's to be created. The editing in the sequence is used to show the location and the following of a character. The comic book effect added which creates silhouettes of characters works to give the film a murder mystery style to it. The fact that a continuous long sequence is used up to the point where the audience is taken into a location allows the audience to identify significant locations. Also, towards the end of the scene the editing is faster cut, showing an increase in action. The cinematography is used to reveal certain themes to the audience, for example the fact the camera glides around freely creates a sense of mystery and almost makes the audience feel like they are blending into the shadows and going by unnoticed which is a deliberate intention due to this film being a film noire. The music is used to ensure the viewer that the film is action based as the constant use of blood representation is used which without the music could create a confusion for the audience as it would appear rather horror based. It is also used to show the progression of the story as it subliminally indicates certain things which will happen for example, the Foley sound of the car rushing past indicates a character being mislead. Towards the end of the sequence the music consists of a single note being held which sounds rather pleasing and revealing this alone, creates an effect of the story having a happy ending. The choice of colour is also by far an extremely important aspect to the sequence as it allows the viewer to create impressions on character due to the associations of colour. From this sequence it is clear to see the genre of the film is action and film noire with themes of romance and crime.
As the title sequence is progressing, an actors name appears however unlike the other names this one gets pierced by bullets ,causing it to shatter and non-diegetic sound is added of a firing gun shot. This has an effect of confusion on the audience as it creates an enigma as to whether or not this character is going to die as the story progresses or even be shot. This could also have a more subtle deeper meaning and could be a simple representation of the deterioration of the character, as maybe they could be the one experiencing the loss of someone very dear to them.
The camera continues to follow this unknown character as they are seen running towards a spot light, this could could have a number of meanings depending on how deeply the light is looked into.The most basic meaning is a simple location change from New York to possibly Hollywood, as lights are symbolic objects of Hollywood due to their production of films. With this, it is clear to identify that the case will show a strong progression throughout the film as already, the character is moving away from the original starting point portraying only one thing, the character is one step closer to uncovering the truth. As the light is drawn in with black, which has negative connotations, this could show the character putting themselves in danger, thus running into a villains spotlight.
Once the character has entered what appears to be some sort of film set, a mess of plants is seen merging together, these plants are red so as they combine they appear to form a puddle of blood. This represents death, as plants are living things and then suddenly they are being transformed into blood. This creates an enigma for the audience as lots of representations of blood have been presented and they are intrigued to find out whose blood it actually is, thus creating an aspect of excitement which leaves the viewer wanting to watch more. The order in which these plants appear, once place is entered, seems significant as it creates an effect on the audience due it appearing that once this place is entered bad events will occur leading to death.
The film's title then appears, the title in itself is yet another indicator of the themes of the films for example 'kiss' suggests a romantic undertone and 'bang' suggests action.The writing has a slight smudged effect to it causing it to resemble red lipstick, or possibly bleeding this gives a sense of the death of a woman in the film or could simply be a way of presenting a love in the film. The writing has then been placed onto a simple white background which connotes innocence and purity, by combing this with the red creates an effect on the audience as it resembles death of something innocent.
A silhouette of a woman is then shown, showing a certain woman is of great importance in the film. The fact this shot is placed after the name of the title appears could be suggesting this character is the one who dies. However this hypothesis is juxtaposed with the fact she is holding a gun, creating an impression she is simply out for revenge and because of this the audience now know this character has/had a strong relationship with the victim. The posture of the woman is a very sexual one, as she is standing strong with her legs slightly spread, which emphasis her curves. This reveals that the film is aimed at the male gender as already evidence of the male gaze is being shown in the opening sequence.
A close up shot of a gun is used, this adds to the genre of the film as close up shots of guns are commonly used in film noire to simply create tension for the audience as they are unaware as to whether or not the character will take the life of someone else, especially if it's the hero pointing the gun. Suddenly swirls emerge from the barrel of the gun, with juxtaposes with guns representing violence as the swirls appear to be rather flattering to the eye. The use of this technique appears to be an interference to the opening sequence of Casino Royale as the same swirls also appear from a gun, which convey a message to the audience that this film will contain similar qualities. The swirls then bloom into flowers, which grow tall and fill the screen, this shows a progression in the case and all the clues finally coming together to form something beautiful or natural, due to the flowers, which is most likely to be the truth being revealed. However this truth may not be as beautiful as it is being mad out to be as the flowers suddenly turn red and the tempo of the music excelerates.
What appears to be a cinema or a club is then shown in the background of a shot, and in the window the woman can be seen once again, this conveys to the audience that this character is likely to take matters into her own hands and go undercover. In the foreground of the shot is a chalk outline of a body, which could reveal possibly the death of the female character or as it has been placed after t close up of the gun could be a way of portraying the audience that an action will lead to death.
A long shot is then used to reveal a party scene occurring in the distance this is clearly identified through the bright lighting and substantial number of people present in the single location, also they are holding glasses designed for alcoholic beverages which is a cliché form of iconography found at a party.This scene is seen through the trees which shows the audience are being shown the scene through what appears to be the perspective of the protagonist, the same person the camera has been following throughout the whole sequence, thus the perspective changes from third person to first person creating an effect of the viewer getting closer or becoming one with the protagonist.This also allows the viewer to become part of the story as they are viewing the scene as the protagonist is, giving a sense of realism to what is being shown. The way this has been filmed creates a sense of spying, or eavesdropping as the location is being watched, which leaves the audience questioning as to who is actually looking, as it isn't fully clear that it is being shown from the protagonists view. The trees bordered around the building are constructed from basic shapes and the use of the simple colours black and white create a visual illusion of them forming into the shapes of skulls. By the tree's forming skulls allows the audience to identify that evil is present at this location whether it be a person or a sinister event.
Until this point the opening has been a continuous sequence with the camera speeding up to hurry the viewers attention, this technique is then broken at this point as the camera cuts to inside the party. As this has yet to happen at any other point and this is the first location the audience are taken into it has a strong significance as portrays that an important event of the story takes place here which creates an enigma for the audience as they desire to know what is going to happen here. Inside the camera remains slightly lower than an eye level shot which gives an impression or blending in or being unnoticed which is a strong element of film noire, being unnoticed. This film noire genre is then also again identifiable through the costume choice of fancy evening gowns and tuxedo's which are stereotypical film noire iconography. This also makes the style of the film, film noire also due to the clothing choices and crime book effect used throughout.
A woman is then shown being pushed off of a balcony, which reveals she is going to die and clarifies the victim is a woman for earlier hypothesis. A non-diegetic sound of a push has been added at this point however it is rather subtle which reveals this push was unnoticed and the person who did it is a rather sly character. This represents women as being weak as the character is being pushed off a balcony at a busy party scene which shows her to be rather careless and vulnerable. The camera follows the character as she falls using tilt down cinematography, however this tilt is very slow movement and actually appears relaxing and emphasis that she is falling slowly. The fact she is moving slowly, conveys to the audience that she needs to be saved and that time is running out for the hero to save her, thus making her a typical damsel in distress a key aspect to any murder mystery. However this falling could simply be a metaphor for the character being in trouble and falling into a pit of danger and needed to be rescued, this impression is created due to the character falling in front of the moon and changing colour which makes her appear mysterious and that she has got herself into trouble rather than her falling to her death.
The female character then hits the floor, and the volume of the music increases to emphasis how hard she hit the floor. This gives more clarification that the death is of a woman and again acts as evidence for women being shown as weak in this film. Lines cross over her and have been edited to cross over her at a fast pace, showing the quick discovery of the body, these lines simply represent crime scene tape.
The audience are then taken back to New York where the opening originally began, and the cinematography follows the original pattern of using crap camera movement to reveal the location. This indicates to the audience that the answer to the case was right in front of the characters and they possibly followed a false lead causing them to go off of the case leaving the trail cold. This allows the audience to identify information on the characters and that they have strong determination.
A car quickly rushes past the camera, blocking the view, this car is black which connotes it was an enemy. Foley sound is used to great a wind sound to show the speed, this car could be used to represent the character being distracted as it distracts the audience from seeing the location. It could also be a way of mocking the protagonist due to the character going astray from the case, and the car driving past is a way of showing his obliviousness. The sound of the scale of piano key being played from high to low at an intense speed is used, the fact this going from high to low shows the story going from good to bad, which adds to the characters falling astray.
Book pages are then pasted onto the screen, which appears to being fragments from crime novels due to blood splatters falling on the pages which would look more horror based however the music works alongside the visuals to reveal it isn't horror. At this point the music calms down slightly and consists of mainly the backing music used as an undertone of the more dramatic track played on top. This conveys a sense of everything falling back into place, this could possibly be from the help of a book guiding he character in the right direction. The fact the help could be coming from a book rather than a character creates an enigma for the viewer as the question whether the protagonist is a fake hero, trying to be someone who only exists in fiction.
A lipstick mark has also been placed onto a page of the book creating a connection between the book and romance, which could show a form a romance within the book becoming a reality as the protagonist falls in love. This similarity between what the protagonist is doing, solving a crime, and the lipstick conveys a sense of foreshadowing that the protagonist will get the girl. At the end of he sequence the books fall down which portrays they aren't going to be what fully helps the case become uncovered in the end and actually something else will reveal the truth as the characters aren't living in a fictional story.
Overall the sequence uses many techniques which only work together to provide information and allow enigma's to be created. The editing in the sequence is used to show the location and the following of a character. The comic book effect added which creates silhouettes of characters works to give the film a murder mystery style to it. The fact that a continuous long sequence is used up to the point where the audience is taken into a location allows the audience to identify significant locations. Also, towards the end of the scene the editing is faster cut, showing an increase in action. The cinematography is used to reveal certain themes to the audience, for example the fact the camera glides around freely creates a sense of mystery and almost makes the audience feel like they are blending into the shadows and going by unnoticed which is a deliberate intention due to this film being a film noire. The music is used to ensure the viewer that the film is action based as the constant use of blood representation is used which without the music could create a confusion for the audience as it would appear rather horror based. It is also used to show the progression of the story as it subliminally indicates certain things which will happen for example, the Foley sound of the car rushing past indicates a character being mislead. Towards the end of the sequence the music consists of a single note being held which sounds rather pleasing and revealing this alone, creates an effect of the story having a happy ending. The choice of colour is also by far an extremely important aspect to the sequence as it allows the viewer to create impressions on character due to the associations of colour. From this sequence it is clear to see the genre of the film is action and film noire with themes of romance and crime.
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