Analyzing and comparing three opening sequences.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is one of my all time favorite films, the opening sequence is bold and comical, enticing the viewer to watch more.

       Johnny Depp plays Hunter S. Thompson, a journalist who's work and lifestyle are tainted by  hallucinogens and intoxicants.  Such a character makes for interesting viewing. 

   The film starts with a quote by Dr. Johnson on a totally black screen, "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." This is a powerful quote and instantly seizes the audience's attention. Then comes Thompson and his trusted attorney Dr. Gonzo racing across the Nevada desert in an exquisite 1960's esq convertible. The bright red color of the car is attractive and interesting, against the bright, clear blue sky, the scene is picturesque. Dust plumes off the back of the car, exaggerating the speed of the vehicle. Prior to the car coming into shot, Johnny Depp's voice comes in, he says "We were somewhere near Barstow when the drugs began to take hold." It is at that point when the car comes screaming past the camera which is positioned on the ground facing up towards the car. The camera pans as the car drives past and roars into the distance.

The director then employs a long mid shot to capture both characters. The camera faces through the dust-covered windscreen and shakes violently to exaggerate the panic and danger of the situation, but in a "they're both very high and are most likely going to have a comical traffic accident" kind of way. The camera pans to a view of both men from the driver's side of the car, again the camera is shaky and involves the audience in the scene, also the camera is canted, making the moment irregular and strange. Thompson starts to hallucinate and is being traumatized by imaginary bats, the camera snaps to an extreme close up of his eyes to exaggerate the fear and to hep the audience understand his emotions.

        Dr. Gonzo finally turns his random grunts into words in question to his colleagues strange behavior, the an upward shot is used to make him look odd and not normal.

   When Thompson exits the vehicle to check on his drugs, we watch from two different angles:  point of view of Thompson and upward from the box's perspective, as if we were with him.          Throughout the clip the camera moves around the car and the two characters in a hectic fashion, constantly reminding the viewer of the mental state of the two men.

Donnie Darko

                                                                             

                
Donnie Darko is also one of my favorite films, Jake Gyllenhaal stars at sixteen years old....he is my favorite actor.

    The scene starts with a shaky zoom in on Donnie, who is lying down on the road. The camera is shaky to make it seem as if we are walking towards him, we feel part of the moment. The setting is beautiful and peaceful, gentle piano music begins to play as we get closer to Donnie, the camera pans around him until we see his confused face, again the camera is unsteady and it is as if we were walking around the side of him to check if he's alright. There is then a point of view shot from Donnie's perspective, the camera pans, giving us a view of the intense scenery. Donnie stands up and turns around in the still mid shot.

Donnie smiles as he is amused by the fact that he's sleep walked so far from home, and to such a beautiful place. He walks out of the shot and the title appears above the mountains.

The screen goes white, and then quickly fades into a shot of Donnie riding his bike, we face him front on, the camera tracks backwards so that Donnie stays in the shot the whole time, despite moving quickly.
"The killing moon-Echo and the Bunnymen" plays in the background as Donnie rides his bike home from the unknown place. As the music changes key the camera moves around to a different                                                      angle:

The scene gets lighter as Donnie gets closer to his destination, gradually taking him out of his state of confusion and unknowing (darkness) and bringing him into a place where he's comfortable.

 After Donnie makes it home on his bike, there is a shot of each of the family members. Donnie rides past his father, the camera pans and focuses on him, Donnie's sister walks into the shot and the two characters interact, showcasing the relationship between the two.

There is then a craning shot of Donnie's younger sister, she is jumping on a trampoline, again we the audience get another view of the family dynamic.

The mother is on a deckchair reading a book, but she looks up and watches Donnie enter the house, we can see that she is concerned about the fact that Donnie has been missing over night.

To end the scene Donnie enters his kitchen and opens his refrigerator, on the fridge is a sign saying "Where is Donnie?" this is important as it is a trend throughout the film due to Donnie's weird tendency to sleepwalk without his parents knowing where he is, this plays a crucial part in the story.

Pain and Gain

Pain and gain is a good film, it has a variety of well-known actors and is well directed. There is an abundance of camera angles and movements to write about and analyze which is why I chose it as one of my three choices.

To start there is an extreme long shot of the main character, Daniel lugo, doing sit ups on a wall rail, this tells us his immediate surroundings and who else is with him. The camera zooms in on him slowly as the music starts to fade in.

We then get a close up of his face, the camera tilts with him as he does his sit ups, this is an interesting shot and makes us feel as if we’re exercising with him. There is a point of view shot from Lugo’s perspective, the camera tilts and pans as his head would to face the hoard of police cars and military vehicles approaching him. We are afraid with him. The camera zooms out to a long shot as Lugo jumps down from the bars, so we can see how desperate he is to get away.

 

We are then dragged bag into the action by the use of a very shaky point of view shot, this makes us feel as if we are him running away. It is especially effective when he runs through laundry hanging up on a wire. When the camera changes view to an upshot of Lugo running the camera shakes violently, again dramatizing the scene. This becomes a trend as we follow Lugo from an upshot ange just behind him, making the small man seem intimidating and notorious as he is running from such a large fleet of police cars. There are interludes of shots of the army pursuing him, dramatically darting between police officer, making the mood more intense and dangerous.

One particular thing I like about this opening sequence is the slow motion in time to music. There are shots of police officers jumping out of a van in slow motion and also a shot of Lugo screaming and running in slow motion, capturing the emotions of fear and anger on two different sides, making the scene more intense, also there is an awesome shot of Lugo being hit by a police car in slow motion but the shot speeds up when he hits the windscreen.

The opening sequence is a flash-forward to the end, we know that Daniel Lugo gets arrested and we know that the crime he has committed was serious due to the extensive force of the law after him, however we don’t know what he’s done so we want to watch the film to find out. An excellent opening sequence in my opinion.

Fear and loathing in Las Vegas' opening sequence is more successful than Donnie Darko's opening as it is more exciting and invites you to watch the rest of the film e.g the bright red convertible zooming erratically across the desert and the two drunken men behind the wheel is different and dangerous, the bright red colour of the car against the bright blue sky is also visually nice to look at. However Pain and Gain's opening sequence is in my opinion more successful than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' opening sequence as the camera angles make the scene more interesting, also the choice of movement and nature of the scene is more exciting and unique, like i said, we want to find out why this man is running from the police..and why there are so many police after him..did he kill someone? Steal something? We don't know, and we're not going to stop watching until we find out. Although Donnie Darko's opening scene isnt as successful as the other two's, it is still successful. Like Pain and Gain we are intrigued as to why this boy has ended up way out in the wilderness by himself asleep on the road...and why he's so casual about it and simply bikes home, where again his family act casually about the situation. This is odd and we want to watch on.