Analysis of film opening - Fast & Furious 6

Analysis of film opening – Fast and Furious 6

Genre

I am going to be analysing the movie fast and furious 6. Moreover, from watching the opening of fast and furious I have noticed that there are a number of different genres that could be drawn from this film. The first one I noticed was action, this is due to the first 20 seconds where the two main characters Paul walker (the blonde guy) and Vin Diesel (the bald guy) look like they are going to go in a mission. Also they are holding props that are associated with action movies; these props are guns which connote action pact films. The second genre are concluded from this film opening was a thriller, this is due to the fast paced editing and fast paced music that is found within 5 seconds of the opening. Also, the flash brightly coloured cars that were seen to be jumping over roads makes me think that this film could be a bit of both. I think this film opening is quite clever as it doesn’t actually fully identify the genre that it is, this then leaves the audience to question themselves and think about it more. However, I believe this film is a action as there are quite a few generic conventions of action which lead me to believe this.

Narrative

This film from what I have seen on the film opening could possibly be an open narrative; this is because you cannot really tell if there is going to be a beginning, middle and an end.

Character

We can already tell from watching the opening sequence that there is going to be two main characters due to the fact that their names were showed within the first 30 seconds. The characters are Vin Diesel and Paul Walker and by what they have showed us from the opening for example they are seen driving recklessly, holding guns and had some sort stain on their clothing has connotations that these men are going to cause trouble due to the props they have on them. In addition to this towards the end of the opening you see one of the main characters in a prison outfit with handcuffs on, this connotes that in fact he has done something wrong. Also I am lead to believe that there is someone who is trying to stop these two, like a hero trying to stop the operations of these two. This character is Dwayne Johnson who is displayed just after the 30 seconds showing that does still play a vital part.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of the opening sequence is quite loud and buzzing. This is due to the loud, fast paced music that is played the clip and also the use of fast paced editing makes the clip energetic and attracts the audience’s attention. Also the use of the bright colours that are displayed throughout e.g. on cars, clothing etc. connotes that the film is going to very exciting and the audience will not get distracted when watching this. Also the constant fast pace throughout gives it an energetic atmosphere.

Setting

The film is set on the streets on Los Angeles, however there are scenes where they film in other locations such as Hollywood and other deserted areas of America, this is seen when Paul walker is jumping onto what looks like a lorry. These locations are a good place to film as Los Angeles is a lively place which fits perfectly with the atmosphere as explained above. Also In the scene when they are trying to hijack the truck the locations is set out of the way of the streets meaning it is a good location to film as when doing something criminal like that you need to be situated away from the public in order to not get caught.

Sound

The first piece of sound we her at the beginning of the clip is diegetic dialogue of Vin Diesel saying “Let’s go for a little ride…” this suggests them they two are going to go on some type of mission and also the quote above is usually said when people are angry and they want to get revenge on someone therefore this backs up my point that I thought it was an action as the fact they want to get revenge most likely suggest that they are going to cause trouble.  This also creates a tense atmosphere due to the way he said it. The next piece of sound we hear is a non-diegetic soundtrack played throughout the opening sequence; this is played in order to build a tense, up beat atmosphere to make the audience excited for the film. The music that is played is very clever as it plays accordingly to the clip, for example when the clip goes slower then the music started to slow down and get lower, I thought this was really impressive as it means everything runs smoothly. In addition to this thee are also other sounds that ca be heard for example car engines, horns, dialogue but these are not that important as they are only quiet which leads me to believe they have done that for a reason.

Titles

The titles that are displayed are good as they are all in the correct order, for example the main characters names were published within the first 30 seconds and the institutional logo (Universal pictures) was displayed at the very beginning. The institutional logo was displayed as the music come on which was really good as it meant that it had a big impact on the audience and meant that they will remember it.  Moreover, the font, size and colour remains the same throughout the opening, this connotes equality within the characters, for example just because one character is more important than the other it doesn’t mean their name has to be bigger or changed to make them stand out more. I think they have kept the font, size and colour the same throughout as they have kept the same high tempo of the clip throughout to make everything look the same. The connotes that they want the audience to not focus on the names so much, they want them to watch what is going on in the clip and make the audience think about what is going to happen next.