Analysis of film opening zodiac

Zodiac

Analysis of Film Opening

The introduction begins with the logos of the institutions which produced the movie, such as Paramount and Warner Brothers. On minute 00:29, as the intro then fades into the movie, a title sequence appears on the black screen explaining how the movie is ‘based on actual case files’, as this is shown there is non diegetic music in the background. The music which is playing is similar to music from the 1960’s, giving the audience a feel, as well as a hint at the time period which the movie is set in, which is in fact the late 1960’s. The scene then dissolves into an establishing shot of the place which the movie is set in, in this case San Francisco. The fireworks which are seen in the background connote that there must be some sort of celebration going on. The sequence then progresses into a perspective shot of a person driving through a typical American neighbourhood in the suburbs. There is a small title which appears as the car is moving with the date and location, thus the fireworks being set off in celebration of the 4th of July festival in America. The lighting in the sequence is quite dark implying that the scene is set during the night. The music from the introduction is playing throughout the whole first minute of the movie.

Opening Sequence- (01:00)

As the scene progresses from the first minute, the camera angle continues to be in a perspective shot, as stays that way until the car is approached from a man. As the dialogue begins, the shot then transitions into a shot reverse shot of the man and women conversing. As the man enters the car and the couple drive away, the camera tracks their movement. The scene quickly cuts to them then driving into a diner, and progresses to move into the inside of the car, where there is a two shot of the couple inside the car. The final shot of the second minute of the opening is of the car driving up and parking in a space. As they are doing so the car comes closer to the camera, until it stops and remains at a mid shot.


As the opening of the movie moves into the third minute, another shot-reverse-shot of the couple speaking is shown. The place which they have stopped at seems to nearly be deserted and quite creepy. The shot then cuts to another part of the area, where there are another two cars driving away. As they do so, they throw fireworks towards the car of the protagonists which leads to a medium shot of the man poking his head outside the window and shouting out at them. Most of the third minute of the movie consists of the two protagonists speaking. The minute ends with an over the shoulder shot of the woman putting her hand onto the mans shoulder and speaking to him.


As the fourth minute of the movie opens there is a short tracking sequence of a car stopping behind the vehicle of the protagonists. There is then a two-shot of the characters as they turn around to look at the car behind them and question why it has stopped there. There is diegetic sound in the background as it is the radio playing music. The lighting remains dark, which allows as an audience to connote that this movie may belong to the genre thriller as the setting of the place as well has a unpleasant and frightening feel to it. The fourth minute ends with the car driving away and the music in the background changing and having a slightly more sinister feel to it.


The final minute of the introduction of the movie begins with an over the shoulder shot of the female protagonist speaking to the male. They seem in a quite panicked and intense mood as they car drives off, but then comes rushing back. The scene then moves into a two shot view of the couple turning around and watching the vehicle approaching them intently. The opening sequence ends with the man leaving his car and approaching the couple and killing both protagonists. This sequence is shown as a quick montage like scene and finishes with the murderer leaving the couple for dead and getting into his car and driving away.


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Analysis of film opening zodiac