Opening Sequence Analysis - Quantum of Solace

 

 

The opening two minutes of Quantum of Solace makes the audience want to watch the whole film because it gets straight into the action.

The first shot of the movie is an establishing shot of a mountain and water. This suggests that the film is set on an island in the middle of nowhere. The camera then cuts to an extreme close up of the front wing of a black car which is driving at speed, and then cuts to several other extreme close ups of different parts of the car. These shots show off the speed of the car and excites the audience because they don't know where the car is going or even where it is driving but they know it is extremely fast.

The camera cuts back to the establishing shot which starts to pan along the water as if you were on a boat, getting closer to the shore. You then see another close up of the car and then cuts again to an extreme close up of a roll of machine gun bullets. This lets the audience know that the reason for the car driving so fast must be because someone is shooting at the car. it also makes the audience wonder who the characters are because you haven't seen a single person yet. the camera cuts to a close up of two cars driving close to one another, you cannot see the people driving as the windows are tinted. this confirms to the audience that it is a car chase but still doesn't show you the characters. The tinted windows suggests that there must be someone important in the cars who doesn't want anyone to see him/her.
The camera cuts to the establishing shot getting closer to what looks like a bridge, this may suggest that's where they are heading. the camera continues to cut to extreme close ups of the car driving and then quickly cuts to an extreme close up of a mans eye and nose. The way the shots are linked together suggests that this man is the one driving to car. The camera then cuts to the establishing shot getting closer to the bridge and the music reaches a tense climax. over the next few seconds you see many cuts, from the car overtaking traffic, to the wing mirror of the car, which you can see the other car coming up behind.
The camera cuts dramatically to a man hanging out of the window shooting a machine gun at the other car. This suggests to the audience that the man shooting is the antagonist because he has an evil look in his eye. The next camera shot is a low angle shot of the wheel of the car, this is showing two other cars following behind one of the has the man shooting. This shot is effective because you are able to see all of the cars in the shot. The camera ten shows an over the shoulder shot of a man driving with a cracked windscreen. The camera keeps cutting between the car that is being shot at and the car that is shooting. This allows the audience to follow what is happening.
The next shot is a dramatic scene of an ordinary lorry being shot at which causes it to swerve and crash into the wall. One of the black cars manages to move around it and you see a mid shot of the man driving that car. This suggests to the audience that this is the main character because he is surviving all the dramatic crashes. In the next few cuts, a part of the lorry goes through the mans car and they get stuck to one another, they get free and the man swerves around all the oncoming traffic, this shows off his skills. The last shots of the opening sequence show one of the cars crashes and wiping out and the other left to fight it out.

In this opening sequence there are over 50 dramatic cuts. This is the factor of the opening that draws peoples attention because the amount of cuts shows off the pace of the film. The opening camera shots are what draw you to the film making you want to watch more.

The music is the opening sequence if very tense and dramatic showing the importance of the car chase. The music begins very tense. there is no beat to the music, only one note playing with what sounds like a violin in the background. the music stays very straight forward and the violins play the same tune over and over until they reach a dramatic climax and cut out all together when the close up of the man changing the gears. The sound then changes to the diegetic sound of the car engine and the sound of the car swerving. When the guns start shooting the shots take over the all the noises which shows how powerful the gun is. throughout most of the rest of the sequence, there is no music, only very loud sounds of crashes, gun shots and tire squeaking, which makes the shots look more dangerous. As the car chase gets more exciting the music starts playing again to portray that, but you  cant really hear it because of all the other diegetic sounds.
The music in the opening sequence really portrays the excitement of the scene which only makes the scene look better. The music creates the tense atmosphere and dramatic climaxes which really make the opening scene what it is.

The lighting in the opening sequence is very limited. The scene is shot in what looks like a tunnel. this doesn't have very much light which makes it hard for you to see sometimes. The only source of light is the natural light coming through the archways on the tunnel, this makes you only able to see the cars when they are going past that section. This excites the audience as they want to be able to see everything that is happening.
The camera is facing away from the arches of light for most of the scene which makes you only able to see glimpses of light. this creates drama and excitement.

he music, lighting and camera shots join together in the best way possible to create an incredibly dramatic and exciting opening scene.
The only negative aspect of the opening sequence for me is that it doesn't show or tell you much about the characters in the film or the storyline. the only hook for the audience is the dramatic car chase which makes you want to watch more. if they had a small shot in the sequence of the main character talking, I think it would make the opening much more hooking to the audience.

Overall this opening sequence has lots of cuts which makes you keep watching because you don't want to miss an important shot or clue to the storyline. The sequence is exciting and hooking and makes the audience want to watch more.