Fantasy: Peter Pan
The opening two minutes of 'Peter Pan' starts with low non-diegetic sound which builds up and becomes louder. A tinkling sound is then layered on top of the music to give it a very fairytale like feeling. The title of the film then appears which is very bold and eye catching because the first 'P' is bold and made to look like both a sword and the cover of the book, which again gives off a very fairytale like feel. All of this is a huge indication to the fantasy/fairytale adventure genre.
We are then introduced to the character Wendy who is in her room with her brothers acting out a story which involves Captain Hook, which is a form of dramatic irony because the audience all know that Hook is real but Wendy and her brothers don't yet know this. During her story telling the camera looks up at Wendy putting her into a position of power, this is part of mise-en-scene and tells the audience that she is one of the most important characters in the film. Next the audience is introduced to the hero, Peter Pan who's looking in through the window, during our first glimpse of Peter a voice over starts and talks through what's going on and who he is. Once more this is very fairytale like.
In this opening two minutes we get a very strong feel of adventure through the music and the voice over and the title that is seen makes it clear to the audience that this will be a fairytale.
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QY5l4jG8xo
(only watch the first two minutes)
Thriller: Panic Room
The opening two minutes of 'Panic Room' starts with the sound of police sirens and a view of a skyline with tall buildings, so automatically the audience knows the film is set in a city. The camera then changes to different views of buildings and sky scrapers, because the camera is showing shots that are far from the ground the audience feels isolated, this feeling of isolation is then reinforced and intensified by non-diegetic. The music that's being used is very low in pitch and due to this it sounds very menacing and intimidating. The names of the production company, distributor, actors and the film title appear in bold lettering around the tops of the building, the boldness of the lettering once again gives off a intimidating feel because of its size and the fact that it draws the attention of the audience by appearing in the middle of the screen when there isn't anything else to look at except for the tops of buildings, which all look the same.
The music then gets faster and a ticking sound is placed on top of it which is used to create a tense, rushed and panicked atmosphere, however the sound of traffic and cars is heard from below and this give the audience a sense of familiarity which is in contrast with the music. The shot continues to change from different buildings but there is a shot looking down on the street and the cars and people below which separates the audience from everyone else, making them feel secluded. This builds on the isolation the audience is already feeling.
More non-diegetic sound is layered on top of the audience. There is a contrast between the slow, low pitch and the fast, high pitch building on the panicked, confused atmosphere.
We then see a drastic change as the scene changes from buildings with an industrial feel to a park which gives of a very calm and suburban feel. The green of the park is very calming which is part of mise-en-scene, however this coupled with the sound makes the audience on edge as they feel as though the peace will only be short lived and will soon be disturbed.
We her the voice of a woman's before we see her. When we do see her she is among the crowd on the street, this takes the audience from feeling secluded to feeling claustrophobic due to the number of people there are in the shot. By doing this the camera goes from one extreme to another.
Through out the opening two minutes of this film the music is the only indication the audience gets of the genre and this feels very eerie all on its own because the characters appear not to know what's in store and the audience are completely blind to the on coming danger.#
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUg2UGGGZDU
(only watch the first two minutes)
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