Opening film analysis (1)

Need for speed opening two minutes:

I decided to analyse the opening two minutes to need for speed. The first scene the audience sees is an establishing shot of a city and night time. We can see all the cities lights glowing, and can see a lit fire burning on top of the building. This immediately, makes the audience think that something dramatic has happened to the city which captivates the audience into the film, so that they will reveal what has happened.  The use of diegetic sound is used with the sound of police cars and people rushing around. This further enhances the idea that something has happened in the city that the audience do not know about.

The scene then jump cuts to a slow motion clip of man putting on a jacket and walking away from the camera. The camera is placed in a medium shot as the man begins to walk over to, what looks like a cars n the background.  The jacket the man is wearing is leather, with bold letters stating "block" and the number 43. Due to the title of the film, we know its going to be about cars. Due to the characters clothing, we can suggest that he races cars, as stereotypically, leather jackets and numbers on them, have strong connotations with racing and race car drivers.

Next, we see a close up shot of a mustang car, and the lights light up and the screen shakes, with a sound effect of a cars engine drumming in the background. The use of shaking the camera, suggests that the engine of the car is powerful and overbearing. It shows a strong link to the title of the film, making the tension build up to the audience.

We then see a medium shot of an Asian man looking at the camera with a mysterious look on his face. He is wearing a hoodie, which has strong connotations with "chavs" and is seen as very informal. In the background we can see a key hook with many keys hung up on it. This immediately shows the audience that there Is more than one car in the garage like area where the beginning of the film is set. We can also see a skull poster, a plastic cup and a lamp. It suggests that it is a rural setting where many people work.