G321: Analysis of Film Opening

Catch me if You Can From watching the opening credits of 'Catch Me if You Can' you can get ideas of what the film will be about. The genre of the film of is a hybrid Action- Thriller, as well as having mystery to it. You can tell this because of the many different disguises and settings the men go through , it is also made clear by the brief taxi and police car chase which leaves the audience asking question, which is a key feature in a film opening. The multiple settings as well as the car chase help towards a mysterious atmosphere.  The use of iconic settings and props (e.g. the cab) allows the audience to connect with the film and identify with the film which lets the audience become involved and intrigued by the film leading them to want to know more. The opening of the film gives away a lot of the plot without  the audience realising. In the opening credits us see many settings as well as a man being chased, this tells us a lot about the film but not in so much detail that we don't need to see the rest of the film. The themes of the film are also made clear by the opening credits, such as 'disguise and undercover'. The sound of the piece is very mysterious which adds the the theme and atmosphere of the film. The sound changes throughout the opening credits to show how to mood will change throughout the film. The music also sounds retro which gives a hint to the time in which the film is set. The titles are integrated into the scene. this means the titles are involved in the piece and have become part of the scene. The titles of Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks show up as air port signs pointing to the cartoon character of each actor. The other titles are also integrated, the 'me' from the film title, catch me if you can becomes a cloud. Names turn into road marking and so on. these opening credits follow normal conventions as the institution is first, followed by production company then main actors then title and the director will always be last. 

My Best Friends Wedding


The opening of 'My Best Friends Wedding' makes it clear that the genre of the film is again a hybrid of romantic-comedy, we know this because we see themes of marriage and comedy from the bride and bride-maids dancing. We also get an idea of the narrative being at a wedding but something bad happening as the bride catches her own flowers, but has a happy ending. From the song and the 4 women dancing we can see that the film has a happy atmosphere/ mood, and that the film is set around the 1950's/60's because of there outfits and the lyrics to the song. There are things however that aren't clear in the opening credits, we don't know where the film will be set other than a wedding as there are no hints in the scene, we also don't know all of the characters because the women in the credits are not the characters in the film. The titles in the credits are not integrated, they go round the girls dancing, the font is posh, looking like wedding invitation writing, it is also in yellow which connotes happiness.