Analysing Opening Sequences - Harry Potter

Scene Summaries – Harry Potter first 2 minutes

Before the film starts the first thing we see is the Harry Potter logo emerging from a night sky of clouds. This is a traditional start to the franchise as each movie starts with the known logo as well as the same music known to the Harry Potter movies. As the logo gets closer, the known theme tune volume increases. The gloominess from the clouds already states that the film may not start on a cheerful note.

It fades to black then cuts quickly to the first shot. The first shot taken is an extreme close up of  what it is suggesting to be a significant character in the film. The extreme close up is used to show the expression on the character's face which seems to be serious to create tension in the audience. As the diegetic sound of the man speaking can be heard, underneath it there is a non-diegetic humming sound to create a edgy atmosphere.

The next shot is simply a close up of the same character showing more of a gloomy emotion and giving us a better view of the facial expression judge properly. We get a bit of the background to see and the mise-en-scene seems dark and dismal looking, Non-diegetic sound of a low bass is played to set the scene of what looks to be a serious and apprehensive start to the first scene. There are continuous photographs being taken of the character, the lighting is in bright flashes, making the character seem vulnerable.

The next bit of filming comes quite quickly, we see a POV shot of the newspaper, possibly suggesting significance as it focuses on the words ‘muggle family murdered’ the scene again is quite dull continuously suggesting that something bad is happening or happened. Diegetic sound is used as the newspaper is being moved by the character.

It then moves on to an establishing shot of another character possibly connecting the two scenes, a female in her bedroom, her clothes are ordinary as is her bedroom, however she looks miserable. The atmosphere is still gloomy used by simple dark colours. The next shot is a POV from a high angle looking down on two other characters which seem to be father and son, possibly moving away, we get this impression as the road looks disserted and they are trying to work quickly.

The character looking down on the father and son is then seen with a close up looking wary about what is going on outside.

Then another establishing shot is used as we move another location, the establishing shot is an aerial shot. A house with person standing outside it, possibly showing another character's whereabouts.

We then become familiar with the unknown character as a close up is shown with a shallow focus to see his setting as well as his emotion, which again looks tense. His mother then shouts him for dinner which suggests he may have it easier then the other characters that have been shown.

The last shot given is a POV shot of a two shot of two parents having tea together. The POV shot may suggest something bad is going to happen because the character hasn’t been shown.

Although very little happens in the first two and a half minutes it gives us a clear indication of the atmosphere and situation the film is already in. Each character seems to have the same facial expression, worry. This suggests they could link together further into the film. The sound/music used is perfect for the atmosphere and tension.

 Screen Shots

 

The opening shot is an extreme close up which has a disorientating effect. We see the emotion of worry and possibly scared/sadness due to the way his eyes are and the colours used. His eyes stare right into the camera lens, creating non-transparent editing.

The next shot is a close up of the same character, confirming the emotion we expected, however we still wonder where he is.

We then find the character is of some importance as there are flashing camera lights everywhere which is highly effective, which confirms why his emotions are as they seem to be, we feel sympathetic for the character but apprehensive as we want to know why this is happening.

The POV shot of the newspaper shows its of some importance as the object is shown without the characters emotion. This draws our attention to possibly a link between the scenes.

Establishing shot in a girl’s bedroom with the girl inside of it. The girl seems normal from the décor of her room and her clothing yet her body language and emotion looks hurt and uneasy.

 

A POV shot from a high angle from another character showing the setting and the situation occurring. The street seems dark and dim suggesting that the two characters are trying to get away swiftly.

We then see the character from the window he was looking out of as a close up, his emotion seems perplexed yet concerned at the situation.

This establishing shot shows the setting of another characters whereabouts. We need this shot to show it seems far away as they are contrasting settings, the one before on a street and this one in a field possibly far away.

We then see the character that we slightly saw in the shot before, he again like the others looks worried accept his location seems more approachable and ‘soft’ as we see his mother in the background although it is in shallow focus. This may lead us to think he is more fortunate and safe than the other characters we’ve seen.

 

The final shot of the 2.30 minutes is one of the characters parents from a POV shot. We find the parents are quite happy as they are doing a stereotypical thing that parents do, sitting down together having tea. This only become suspicious as it’s a back shot of the parents.

 

 This was a useful film to research as we are hoping to create a troubled, uneasy atmosphere at the start of our film without actually showing anything going too wrong. I have taken several ideas from this:
- use of non-diegetic sound - we have assumed that we will be using eerie music, but I also think that the humming sound / low bass is a good option as it has a similar effect while being much lower key
- extreme clse ups of characters are disorientating and create a troubled atmosphere
- contrasting worry with one person who is happy is effective
- you can use camera angles to create suspense - the shot of the parents having two is very ordinary but the camera position behind them makes the scene feel odd and creates tension.