Multiple Genre Research

Multiple Genre Write Up

A Nightmare on Elm Street:

In the opening sequence to a Nightmare on Elm Street there are several things that happen. For example, at the very start we can see Freddy in his lair/workshop creating the glove of knives that he wears on the end of his fingers. This is done for several different reasons, one of them being that it allows the audience to know where the majority of the movie will take place, and it lets the audience see the main character (Freddy Krueger) for the first time so they can what he looks like and get their first impression of him. However in this opening scene you don’t see Freddy’s face as all you can see is him dragging the knives across a piece of metal which makes an ear piercing sound and makes you feel uneasy. The reason that you don’t see his face is so that not much is given away and it creates lots of different questions in the audience’s mind. During this scene, it is also very dark which invokes fear in the audience as you can’t see much and it makes you wonder what is going to happen. Another great thing about this opening scene is the non-diegetic music that is playing in the background. This once again creates an ominous atmosphere that makes the audience feel very uneasy and on edge as it sets the tone for the entire scene.  During this scene there are many different short scenes as it cuts back and forth between the setting and Freddy Krueger scratching at walls. This is done to make the audience feel uneasy and unsettled because it makes you wonder if he’s going to jump out at you.

Shrek:

In the opening sequence to Shrek it shows a book that Shrek reads to the audience and sets the story and introduces the main character (Shrek). This is done so that the audience has some idea of what the movie is about. Then after this, it cuts straight into non-diegetic music in the background and the camera shows Shrek’s swamp so that the audience have an idea of where the movie is set. The majority of this opening scene shows Shrek getting ready which has a comedic effect on the audience as you can see that he doesn’t take things very seriously as he is laughing a lot. Then later in this scene it shows him painting a ‘beware’ sign as it is getting dark. This has the effect that it is getting near the end of the day which makes the audience realise that this is normal, everyday behaviour for Shrek and it also makes it much more relatable for the audience.

Jason Bourne

At the start of this opening scene, there is faint thunder and lightning in the background which sets the mood for this certain scene. Then quickly after, it switches to people aboard ship playing cards together. This sets the scene as it clearly shows the audience that some of it will be set at sea. Furthermore, throughout this scene there is an slow, quite non-diegetic music in the background. This makes the audience feel uneasy as it makes the audience question what is going to happen as it makes you anticipate something bad coming. After this, it switches to a very short clip of the sea moving violently which makes the audience yet again anticipate something terrible happening to the people on the boat. Afterwards the music speeds up as it shows Jason Bourne (played by Matt Damon) slowly floating unconsciously towards the boat as they slowly pull him aboard and place him on the floor. As a result of the music speeding up, it puts the audience on edge as it increases your heart rate. Moreover, the fact that he is not moving makes the audience wonder whether or not he is alive.    

Back To The Future 

In this opening scene, it starts off with a slow ticking sound of a clock that slowly gets faster as the title appears on the screen. After this, it shows the clock and the camera slowly moves backwards revealing more of the scene. This allows the audience to know where the movie is set. Afterwards the camera continuously moves to the right which reveals different types of gadgets/machines that have been created. This gives the audience many questions as it makes you think and create an image in your head of what the protagonist may look like. Furthermore, as the camera keeps moving right, it reveals more of the plot as it switches to a newspaper article with the words ‘BROWN MANSION DESTROYED’. This gives a slight hint and implies a little bit of the story. This is further backed up by a news report which gives information about a missing case of Plutonium, after which the camera slowly reveals the Plutonium under a desk which gives even more information about the plot of the film. Then, it switches to a machine opening a tin of pet food and making breakfast. This makes the audience think that the character is lazy and that’s why they’ve made all these machines. Finally, when the door opens, you hear a voice saying ‘Hey, Doc?’ which reveals that the character in question is a professor. Furthermore, that fact that you don’t see the guy’s face makes the audience wonder what he looks like and again, makes the audience create a mental image of what he might look like.