Textual Analysis - Students Opening Sequence

This is a textual analysis of another AS students Opening Sequence for an action film.

To the left is the students ident, it has some very clear font and it's eye catching and simple it also has a strong soundtrack over the top that fades out however, the ident itself doesn't move. The transition between the ident and the first scene flows which is very good. The first shot is a long shot of someone walking very slowly away connoting a very calm atmosphere and that nothing is going to happen. There is no sound almost unbearably silent. There is minimum light, the only light coming from a street lamp. Personally, I think the shot should of had some more light as I struggled to stay focused on where the person in the shot was as they blended into everything else in the frame. The camera was handheld as it was slightly shaky which seemed to fit into the dark and mysterious atmosphere as though the person was being followed.

Yet again the transition between scenes flowed keeping the atmosphere calm, the character also walks into the frame which i find is a very good in keeping the scene flowing. There is still no soundtrack but there is some digetic sound when the character unlocks their car and you hear the click of the locks which is followed by some narration saying "he was the only one." This starts to introduce the character to the audience, they now know he is a male and he's all alone but it also adds even more mystery as it adds more questions the audience wants answers to. As the scene goes on and he gets into the car the narration picks up and swearing is involved which would connote that their target audience could be 12PG or higher as it's only mild swearing. The lighting is the same again, it's clear that they have films during nighttime to add effects but it is a strain on the eyes to focus on the main character in the frame and they aren't well lighted.


In this shot the narration fades out as a soundtrack fades in, the soundtrack itself is calming, constructed by string instruments and drums. The shot itself is a tracking shot as it follows the car as it drives away, as it does you can hear the digetic sound of the car engine and it getting quieter and the car gets further away. The shot then pans upwards towards the sky where font is then edited in saying "Fifty Fifty" which is the title of their production. Looking at their description of their production I noticed that they had a copyright strike due to using that soundtrack which meant that they didn't use royalty free music which is there to avoid copyright or certain rights to your film can be owned by someone else which is something you don't want. Instead of using the track they did they could of made their own through a software like garage band or found a non-copyrighted version through royalty free music, the youtube library, freesound etc.

The left screenshot is an establishing shot which is the duration of 10 seconds and it gives an over view of the surroundings giving the audience a feel of the location. The location itself is an ordinary setting with cars passing by which links back to the beginning of when the narration says "he was the only one." it's clear that it was not meant literally as we can see that there are other people driving around which then keeps the audience gripped to see what was actually meant by it. The screenshot to the shot is an over-shoulder shot of them driving. Also, by the positioning of the car mirror, camera and the character you can see a part of the characters face in the car mirror without the camera being visible which shows that the student(s) have paid close attention to detail. 


This is the same shot except slightly closer up. The shot continuous for 16 seconds of credits, which include the production distributor that the student(s) created and who it was directed by, the credits are slow paced in fading in and out of the shot which keeps that calm atmosphere which can be typical of an action film as if to lead the audience into some false idea of calmness before the action and chaos
s breaks out. The soundtrack is the same and you can also hear the diegtic sounds of the car and passing cars.

The shot to the left is a first person view which makes the audience see what the character sees but also makes the audience feel like they're apart of whats going on. You can the digetic sounds of the seatbelt, the opening of the car door and the calm breathing of the character. The next shot is a long shot of the character locking the car followed by the digetic sound of the clicking and footsteps. During this shot a name fades in, in the same font as the credits connoting that it is part of the credits however, i found that it was confusing as to whether that was the characters name or if they also directed it. I found it interesting that as a lyric in the soundtrack said "you just, walk away" the character is walking out of the frame, not sure if they was planned but i found that it was very good and interesting.

In the shot to the left we have a long shot of two people standing very far apart and you can tell through body language that they aren't there to hang out but more of a business type meeting. Through this shot we can see a clear view of the clothes they're wearing and it's ordinary everyday clothes, hoodies, jeans no special suits or anything out of the ordinary. I think that the location that they have used for the exchanging of the bag should of been a place that would of been seen as more private. I think that the location used in the previous shots of him getitng out of the car would of been good as there was no one around and it was much darker which would of added to the secreacy of this exchange.

This production was does by an AS student called Grace White.

Textual Analysis by Maddy Flaherty