HW 2a - Existing opening sequence analysis (DYM)

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

• Genre: coming-of-age/crime drama.
• The story takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb County in Alabama.
• It is set in 1932 over a few years.
• The whole opening is the camera panning over a mix of random objects, dissolving between shots, making a long, slow feel to the opening, reflecting he opening of the novel.  
• The opening is happening in chronological order in real time. The scattered nature of the objects makes it seem like there is no particular order the audience should see them in, extending the child's perspective of the film. At 0:05 there is an inter title crediting the production company, Universal, as well as white titles over the video throughout, crediting the production crew, with the title shown through a drawing from the main character Scout.
• The events in this opening link together, as they are all part of the same scene and setting. All of the objects seem random, and create dietetic sounds within the scene. Also, each of the objects has relation to Scout, the main character and the girl humming, as they are all either used by her or come from her box.
• The only character introduced is Scout, as we can hear her humming and we see a CU of her hands as she is drawing and colouring in. We also get a sense of her personality as we see her box of toys and symbolic objects, which represent part of her character. Despite never seeing her face, we get a sense of her character from what we do see and hear of her, combined with her objects.
• Some of the objects seen foreshadow later events in the film, as they are the same as the objects Jem (Scout's brother) and Scout find in the tree as a gift from Boo (a 'mockingbird', rarely seen character), such as a pocket watch and old coins. The child-like voice singing in the soundtrack, as well as the toys scattered around the set, contrasts with the serious and important nature of the film. There is make-up and jewellery, which symbolises the coming-of-age narrative in the film, as well as contrasting with Scout's lack of a mother. The tearing of the drawing of a mockingbird also foreshadows the death of Tom Robinson (another 'mockingbird' character) during the film. The mismatch of objects also makes it look childish and ambiguous, highlighting the child-like perspective of the film, as well as representing Scout's innocent character.
• In a film opening, the audience need to get a sense of the mian character, weather that is just hearing about them through other characters/props/events, or actually seeing them immediately. They also need to get a strong sense of the genre, as this is important in setting up the expectations of the film, while also gratifying the expectations the audience already have of it.