The Godfather

The Godfather In the opening sequence of The Godfather, we first see the words 'Mario Puzo's The Godfather' this text introduces the film and lets the viewers know what the film is called and the image that is shown is of puppet strings and that they may have some significance further on in the film. we also hear slight music starting to play in the background, it starts playing just before the text fades out. we then see a black screen and the viewer is left playing wondering what will happen next. The music then stops and there is a silent pause for about 2 seconds and with the black screen this creates suspense and makes the viewer even more interested in whats going and why the sound has stopped and why the screen has gone black. A man then starts talking and an image of a man fades in as he is talking, he starts with 'i believe in America' this makes the viewer realise that the film is going to have something to do with America and possibly Italian people as the man talking sound like he has an Italian accent, also the image is only of the man which indicates that the center of attention at this point in the film, we then hear the man talking about his daughter and we get to know more about his life, and all the time we are getting hints of what the film could be about. The camera then slowly moves backwards, and the viewer gets the feeling that they are the ones the man is talking to and that he is telling the viewers his kind story, this makes the viewer interested in what he is saying. towards the end of the scene we start to see another man, and we realise that he is talking to someone sitting opposite him, the man then starts to get emotional and he starts crying, the viewer can then tell that then man is talking to someone of a possible higher authority to him because of the way he is addressing him, and how he apologises to him when he starts to get emotional.

How i met your mother

The target audience for this TV show is young adults, this is because there are sexual references. This TV show is a comedy. It is about a man telling his children about his life and his friends and how he eventually came to meet their mother, hence the name of the TV show.

Forrest Gump - Opening sequence

In the opening sequence of Forrest Gump we first see a small feather falling from the sky, the camera is at a low angle which gives the viewer the feeling of looking up at the sky and seeing a feather fall as they do. The camera then follows the feather down and then the viewers get the see the surrounding and get to visualize the place,the whole time the feather is falling we see the opening credits; we see the producers, directors, actors...etc. We then see the name of the movie in simple white font against a background of buildings, trees and roads. This is quiet a simple opening/introduction to a movie, but it is also effective as it shows the viewer all the information before the movie has started, also the slight music playing in the background sets the atmosphere as calm and quiet, almost as if the music and images together were giving a feel for the next scene or even for the whole movie, it could be introducing a theme. The camera still follows the feather around, while the opening credits are going on, the camera angle moves along with the feather giving it the effect that the viewer 'is' the feather and is seeing the surroundings (buildings, trees, roads) with its own point of view, seeing it all from the top (a high angle). We follow the feather back up into the sky again, this gives the effect that there could be some wind as the feather is flying around up and down, this also gives the viewer a sense of atmosphere as it creates an image, a feel of what that particular place is like. We see the feather being pulled down by the wind and we see cars and people walking around below, we see a women crossing the road and a taxi, the main character is in this shot but as he is not the center of the image we do not see he is the main character until later on. The feather falls onto a man's shoulder and immediately the feather moves again as the man moves so the wind carries the feather off again, this whole time the simple music (without lyrics) is still going on in the background as well as the opening credits. The feather falls onto a car and like on the man, is straight away brushed away by the wind as the car starts to move. The feather travels very near to the ground and the camera angle is from the top so it is a high shot, we then see a pair of feet, the viewer at this moment gets the feeling that this might the be the main character as the feather has almost 'guided the viewers through a journey to the main character' in this case Forrest Gump.The camera is still following the feather this whole time. The feather lands near one of his feet and he picks it up, the camera is still following the feather so was the feather goes up so does the camera and the viewers, we then see the person, he looks at the feather for a bit then opens up his suitcase and puts the feather is a book, this is effective as it gives the viewer a feeling of what this character is like, seeing him put a feather he found on the street into his book, shows that he is maybe quite a naive person as usually people would just brush away the feather, not pick it up and keep it like he did,the viewers at this point get the music and how it fits in to his personality and the feather. He then closes the suitcase and sits back in his original position, the viewers then get the feeling that he looks like he is waiting for something or someone, We then hear a vehicle approaching and we see a bus pull up in front of him, the viewers then know he was at a bus stop. The camera is slowly backing up and then we see a wide shot of the bus in front of the man, as we can no longer see him.

Children Of Men - opening sequence

In the opening sequence for Children Of men we first hear the voice of a news reporter, reading the news, with no image, only a black screen, this is effective as it makes the viewer pay attention to what the news reporter is saying. As the news is still being read the camera cuts to the image of a group of people standing in a coffee shop, all of the people have a look of despair on their faces and they all look upset and shocked. The camera shot is at a high angle, as if the viewer is watching the people from the point of view of the television, we then see a man (possibly the main character) coming in through the crowd, we also see him looking at the television, the camera then cuts to a shot of the TV. The TV shows images of the news that is being shown. the TV shows BCC which shows the viewers that the film is not made in a time that they live in and it is in fact in the future as the TV also shows an image of 'baby Diego' who was born in 2009 (3 years after this film was made) and died in 2027, which would be present day for the people watching the news. Also the shown emphasis on how he was the 'youngest person on the planet' gives the viewer an indication on what the rest of the film might be about. Music starts to play in the background as an image of baby diego plays on the screen, this gives the viewers a sense of emotion as it makes them feel the sadness the people would be feeling and also it makes then feel a sense of mourning as the youngest person on the planet has died. Also in the background you can hear people crying which also shows how upset they are. The man then walks out of the coffee shop and the camera follows him , this gives the viewer a sense of them following the man out of the shop, this makes them feel involved.Before leaving the shop we see another TV screen with 'baby Diego's' image still playing on it, this keeps a hold onto the sad and mournful atmosphere this scene has created. The man and the camera are then outside of the shop, and the viewer gets to see what the surroundings are like, we see a dull, very boring looking place, it also looks like a dirty place as we see bin bags sitting on the pavement in a heap. we also see huge billboards with moving images on them which suggest that the movie is set in a different time period to the one the viewers are in, the date is then shown: it is the 16th of November 2027, so the viewers now know that the movie is set in the future. On the roads we see cars and vehicles that look old, this place doesn't look like it is set in the future at all. This makes the viewer think about how their idea of the future and the movie's idea of the future is very different or perhaps even the same. The camera then follows the man along the pavement until the man stands still and looks around. The camera rotates around to go onto the other side of the man so the viewers are now facing the side they had been before. As the camera is rotating it gives the viewer a chance to really take in all of the surroundings and see the things that are the same like the red buses and the things that are different like the moving advertises on the buses. We then hear a loud unexpected explosion, this makes the viewer jump and be suddenly aware as the quiet, people chatter noise that was going on in the background before, suddenly changed into this loud almost deafening sound. Also this gets the viewers attention as when this explosion happened they were probably still taking in the surroundings and waiting for something else to happens, but the explosion would have been somewhat unexpected.