Analysing Film Openings - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Scene Summaries- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One

The first thing we see on the screen is a misty night sky, and emerging from the mist approaches the Warner Brothers logo covered in rust. As it gets closer to the audience the sound of scratching metal begins and the volume increases until it is extremely loud, then stops suddenly and goes straight to an extreme close-up of what seems to be a significant character’s eyes. This creates a disorientating effect as we do not know where we are all we can see is the strong portrayal of emotion through the characters eyes. Also he is looking straight into the cameras lens, creating transparent editing.

As the diegetic sound of the man speaking can be heard, underneath it a non-diegetic hum sound creates a heartbeat. The non-diegetic sound under the serious voice of the character creates a tension and anxiousness in the audience.  The shot then changes to reveal the whole man’s face. This allows us as the audience to make a judgement on him and to reveal his identity. Shallow focus is used, as you can see the blurred figures standing behind him in the background, blurred so you cannot see who they are creating an element of mystery.

We can now see the man very clearly. The use of mise en scene in characters works well here as you can see the man looks as though he could be in high authority. Also he seems to be making an important speech due to the large emphasis on the words and the emotions the audience can feel while he is speaking. All of a sudden the shot changes to a POV shot of the same man from behind with large, bright flashes of lights from cameras in front of him creating a silhouette. It looks as if the man is standing on his own watching all this happen making his character look extremely vulnerable. The flashing lights also cause the audience to question why he is having pictures taking and who he actually is. This first scene leaves us questioning him and the situation he is in.

The next scene jumps straight into a graphic match, as the character, Hermoine, is looking straight at a newspaper after the man who was speaking was assumedly having his picture taken by the paparazzi for a newspaper. This creates a link, making the transition from the scene before smoother and less abrupt. A POV shot and a close up is used to show the significance of the newspaper, especially the heading ‘Muggle Family Murdered’. The close up shows us that this has some importance to the character or some sort of meaning to her and the letters are bold and large, grabbing the audience’s attention. There is then an establishing shot of Hermoine standing in the centre of the room. The lighting and colours make her and her room seem very dull, as she is in the human world however in the first shot of the man speaking the colours are brighter and create a more majestic look as they are not in the human world. The use of colour shows us when we are in the different locations, the wizarding world and the human world.

Straight after the shot of Hermoine in her room we go straight to another POV shot of someone looking out a window at a high angle, looking down on a Father and a boy. As they are being looked down on from a high angle it makes them look smaller and more susceptible. We then find out who is looking at them as a close up is used on Harry Potters face to show what he is feeling. It also almost tells us how he feels towards the people as he is hiding when looking at them and looking down on them. This then cuts straight into an establishing shot, showing us a change in location. The colours used are a different tone, telling us we are in the wizarding world. The shot then changes to a shallow focus shot of Ron in the foreground and his home in the background. This draws our attention straight to Ron and his facial expressions. It shows the audience what he is feeling, worried and unsure. Also the house in the blurred background’s door allows us to look slightly inside the house which is lit dimly and you can see his mother and sister bustling around. It looks homely and cosy allowing us an insight into Ron’s home making the audience more familiar with the character. The last shot we see is a POV shot of Hermione’s Mum and Dad from behind. They are oblivious to anything that is going on. The camera men move the camera closer to show that Hermoine is coming up behind them. This leaves the audience on the edge of their seat as they don’t know what she is about to do.

The use of POV shots in the extract creates a personal story to each one of the characters. We can see what’s important to them at that time, how they are feeling and the emotions portrayed clearly on their faces as they do not speak that much. Also the producers use cross cutting very effective as it shows us that there are four different stories going on at the same time. The scenes with the old man, Hermoine, Harry Potter and Ron show us four different things that are happening at the same time.  It also creates an impression that there is a lot happening at the same time. It shows the audience a series of events leaving them on the edge of their seat or questioning what’s just happened.

Screen Shots- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part one

1)      The emerging Warner Brothers logo from the mist covered in rust. As this approaching the volume of the sound of scratching metal increases. This creates a ‘bomb under table’ effect as the sound climaxes so the audience expects something to happen as the volume is getting louder.

2)      The extreme close up of the man’s eyes tell us the age of the man and how he is feeling. As you can see the eyes are squinting and the voice we can hear also supports that this man is being very serious as he is talking about a serious matter. It also creates a disorientating effect as it leaves us to question where we are.

3)      The extreme close up of the man’s eyes tell us the age of the man and how he is feeling. As you can see the eyes are squinting and the voice we can hear also supports that this man is being very serious as he is talking about a serious matter. It also creates a disorientating effect as it leaves us to question where we are.

4)      This shot shows the extreme light created from the flashing cameras. As you can see it makes him look solitary and vulnerable as the bright lights expose him. The silhouette created from the flashes creates the illusion of mystery as we do not know his position. But the silhouette makes him look powerful.

5)      The close up of the title ‘Muggle Family Murdered’ shows us that there is some meaning or importance of that headline to the character who is reading it. The large thick font grabs the audience’s attention. Also you can see that this is no ordinary newspaper as the images are moving, showing that this film is not solely based on reality. It shows the genre of the film is fantasy.

6)      The mid shot of Hermoine in her room shows us how she is feeling and her surroundings. This shot is important as it shows us the dull colour scheme of the ‘Muggle’ world that she lives in.

7)      The two shot of Mr Dursley and Dudley is a two shot and it shows forced intimacy. Mr Dursley wants to get away from Dudley and by putting them in the same scene it shows his aggravation. Also you can see that this shot has been taken from a high angle to make them look small and irrelevant. The high angle also shows how Harry feels towards them.

8)      This shot is of Harry looking out the window. The effect that the shot has of being taken from outside the window showing us what’s inside makes us question why he is hiding from them and why he is looking at the family in the first place.

9)      This is an establishing shot. It shows us that we have changed location. It also shows the abnormality of the house that we have come too as it looks extremely comical but the mood in the scene is solemn.

10)      In this shot you can see they have used shallow focus to draw the audience’s attention to Ron’s posture and facial expressions so we can figure out how he is feeling. This shows that this must have some sort of importance to what is actually going to happen so it makes us as the audience look closely.

11)      The last shot we see is a POV shot prom Hermione’s perspective of her approaching her mum and dad. They are completely oblivious that she is coming up behind them. We can see this as they make no hesitation to turn around. This creates the effect of the ‘bomb under the table’ effect as we are waiting desperately for what Hermione’s actions will be.

Ideas

This is a great sequence to analyse to look at how to create tension. The non-diegetic sound really helps this, so we will have to look into whether we are going to use music or something mroe orchestral. The use of camera angles and distances we are not expecting - being behind people or closer in than expected - also works to make the viewer feel tense.