Sound:
As soon as the clip starts, the audience can hear the sounds of crickets and other wildlife. This immerses them in the setting of the film and could also make them start to wonder about where the film is taking place.
At l:13 quiet background music starts again to make the audience feel like something is about to happen. Shouts are heard as a crate is moved, this could be done to show the audience that the situation is serious and that the people in the scene are anxious to get the crate in position. A man then directs soldiers to move in towards the crate and that he wants tasers on full charge, this also shows that the situation is high-risk and whatever is in the crate needs to be watched, which also increases the amount of suspense in the scene as the viewers curiosity to know what's in the crate. Directly after that a screech is heard from inside the box, this shows to the viewers that the thing inside the crate is deadly and keeps them questioning what it could be.
At 2:07 a man is heard giving orders to his crew again, this could be to show that the mission is important and needs to be completed, no matter how nervous the crew is. A electronic sound to show the audience that the crate is locked onto the gate. Dramatic background music is played as the gate is opened to catch the audiences attention and show them that something important is happening, the music also helps to builds suspense because the audience wonders what is coming next. As the creature grabs one of the crew, the dramatic music gets louder, I think that this is done so that the scene is more dramatic and that the audience feels immersed in the plot line and the tension of the scene. alarms sound as one of the men gets dragged into the cage, this could have been done to make the audience tense and anxious to know what happens next. The man who is taken by the dinosaur screams, adding tension to the scene as the audience wants to know what will happen to him. Orders and shouts from the crew can also be made out, to show how tense and serious the scene is, and so that the audience knows how dire the situation is.
At 3:09 the dramatic music swells as the crew member is being dragged into the cage, this is to create more tension in the scene and so that the audience will being to wonder if the crew member will survive. Gun shots can also be heard as the scene fades out, this is to create curiosity amongst the audience and to make them wonder if the crew member survived.
From 2:04 onwards growls are heard from inside the cage, this is done to create a sense of unease in the audience as they are still unsure of what is inside the cage and what it is capable of. Diagetic and non-diagetic sound are both featured in this scene e.g. music is non-diagetic, dialogue is diegetic. No dialogue is included in the first minute and a half of the film, this could be because the film makers wanted the audience to feel uncomfortable and tense and wonder what is going to happen next.
Titles:
The titles of this film tell the audience the studios that made the movie and the name of the film, this film could give a small amount of information so that the movie can start quickly but still has time to build suspense.
The font that is used could reflect the tropical island that the movie is set on, and the colour scheme also reflects this, the red line running through the brown/ beige text could also be seen as earth cracking open to reveal lava, which could also link to dinosaurs. The fact that the background is black also means that the readers are not distracted from the information given to them. The titles link to the genre of the film (action /adventure) as they could make the audience think about tropical places and jungles etc., which is where adventure movie stereotypically take place. The titles appear in the middle of the screen, therefore the audience is more likely to pay attention to whats on the screen, furthermore a sense of uneasiness is made by having the titles in the middle of the screen, as it makes the titles seem more dramatic. The titles coincide with the music that is playing, this could be to make the audience more engaged with whats happening on-screen and immersed in the movie.
When the title of the movie fades, the brown 'outline' fades faster than the red line does, leaving 'Jurassic Park' in red, this could have been done to make people more apprehensive towards what will happen at the start of the film, as red can be linked to blood and danger.
Shot choices:
In the scene a large amount of the shots are close up, this could be because the directors wanted the audience to feel immersed in the movie and to show them the emotions on the characters faces when certain things happen, this allows the audience to feel more connected to the characters in the film.
Extreme close ups also occur in the scene, especially when something dramatic is happening, again I think that this is done so that the audience can feel more connected to the characters and create a feeling of empathy between the characters and the audience, this also makes it easier to create tension as the audience is concerned about the characters safety.
An establishing shot is used as well, however not at the beginning of the scene, the directors first focus on creating an uneasy atmosphere before showing where the film is set. However an establishing shot is used to provide context for the audience and to show where the film is taking place. The directors use establishing shots so that the audience knows the layout for the scene and so they don't get confused with all the close up action shots that happen later in the scene, it also makes the audience curious about what the setting is.
Another shot that is used in the scene is a tracking shot, in this scene the camera follows the crate as it is moved to be sealed onto the 'pen', this tells the audience that something important is in the crate and also makes the audience more curious about what could be inside it.
P.O.V. shots are also used in this scene, they could be used to show the audience another angle to the scene and to make the audience more curious about what is inside the cage.
Shot composition:
Most of the shots in the scene follow the rule of thirds, this means that the shot is not too crowded and each third has a character/ object in it, the director could have done this so that the scene is easy to watch and that the audience is not overwhelmed by too much happening on the screen at once. The use of 'natural framing' is also used in the scene when the P.O.V shots are shown, the frame directs the audiences attention to the middle of the shot and the characters that are there
Setting:
This scene is set on the fictional island 'Nublar'. The scene is set at night, this is done to create a more dramatic atmosphere and so that suspense can be built more effortlessly, this happens because people tend to associate darkness with fear as things cannot be seen as easily in the darkness as they would be seen in daylight. Which means that tension is built as the audience can't see what is in the crate clearly, and can only rely on the limited amount of light given to see what is happening.
Costume:
The costumes in this scene are very technical, as most of the working crew are dressed in black with red helmets, this tells the audience that the characters are in an important and hazardous situation. The costumes could also show that the crew are professionals at what they do, which means that the audience is intrigued and want to know why so many people are guarding the cage.
However one of the characters in the scene wears beige clothes, this makes him stand out from the other characters and can be seen as an important character in this scene as the audience could wonder why he is not wearing the same clothes as all the other character in the scene.
This will influence my production as I will need to apply some of the techniques used here to make my opening scene effective.
Lucy, this is an excellent analysis of a well chosen opening titles sequence.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to use spacing to make your analysis easier to read and also may wish to exemplify some of your analysis through the use of screen shots.