Film Openings Research - Part 3

The next film I have decided to analyse and research is Contact by Robert Zemeckis, which I am using as one of my less detailed analysis'.

Mise-en-scene:

• View of the Earth from outer space which helps the viewer to understand whats going on in the frame. This also enables the viewer to situate where the opening scene is occurring, making it easier to link to the story. 

• Space seen moving backwards, putting all the different planets into view, which has a good effect and is also linked with the sound and editing, which gives the travelling back in time effect. This effect is interesting for the audience to watch and also includes a bit of Claude Levi-Strauss' theory of binary oppositions, as at the beginning it shows the Earth but then goes on to show the rest of space and all the different planets, which are opposites.

• Stars seen throughout which shows a sustained location, allowing continuity.
• Main colours are black (space background), red and blue (different planets and galaxy colours).

Camera shots:

• Zoom out gives the viewer almost a 3D effect because the planets are coming from the screen closely. 

Editing:

• Text has a fade transition in between different credits

• Zooming back effect through space
• Realistic galaxy editing

Sound:

• All non-diegetic sound, which means you cannot see the sounds being produced within the frame
• Starts with a 90s songs rendition and as it zooms back through space, it goes back in time and goes as far as the 60s, including different songs and news reports, including the shooting of President Kennedy.

Opening credits:

The film did not use the common opening credit sequence, and only includes the following:

1. Name of studio
2. Name of production company
3. Film title

Representation:

Within the opening to Contact, no characters are introduced but there is commentary. The commentary represented past events and times, from the 90's to the 60's, from Michael Jackson to the Kennedy assassination. The purpose of this is to show the audience that they are travelling back in time and allows them to relate to the time period, however this is not always appropriate for a younger audience as they may not understand the different time periods.

Genre:

The genre of Contact is science fiction drama, which is seen within the opening credits as you see the galaxy being shown through a zooming effect, which shows mainly the science fiction, but the opening doesn't actually give you any clue to what happens within the film, which leaves the viewer in suspense and is a clever way of opening it, as the galaxy is clearly going to have a link to the rest of the film. The narrative within the opening helps you to recognise what is going on as it enlists news items and songs going back in time which suggests that within the film, the time continuum is going to backtrack.

Ideology:

There are clear messages being perpetuated about the genre as it is science fiction and the opening scene is showing outer space which is the largest factor of science fiction, which is also the dominant ideology. This creates an effective opening as the director is demonstrating their chosen genre immediately.