Storyboard of my Opening Sequence

Opening Sequence (Lokir) Script

The films starts with a black screen showing the opening titles, we can hear a battle raging in the background, with slashing and clanging of swords. When the titles have finished the scene cuts to establishing shots of the English countryside. Lokir of Rorikstead is then running through the forest after escaping the battle, injured. He collapses to the ground. He moves around a bit and eventually finds a Legendary sword on the ground, the Fabled Erynhathol. Lokir immediately feels stronger and sets out on another adventure with his new weapon.

Analysis of The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

The second installment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy begins spectacularly. It starts with massive establishing shots panning around the mountain Cahadras. It pans for some miles around the mountain range and the landscape behind.

Then after a while sound effects can be heard echoing around the mountain, such as crashes and shouting from Gandalf, the camera then proceeds to pass through a tunnel in the mountain and opens out onto a large chasm with a bridge extending over it. On the bridge there stands Gandalf and a massive Balrog who are battling each other, Gandalf destroys the bridge sending them both into the chasm much to the dismay of the protagonist, Frodo, they then lock into a fiery battle whilst falling down the pit which ends when they fall into a massive underground lake to which Frodo wakes up from the nightmare.

The establishing shot of Khazad-dum clearly depicts the protagonist (Gandalf) and antagonist (The Balrog) in an establishing shot, which is also in fact an over the shoulder shot of Frodo. The Balrog is an un-earthly monster which shows that the film is of a fantasy genre, furthermore Gandalf is holding a staff with which he performs magic with which is a typical convention of the Fantasy genre. Gandalf is dressed in robes which clearly shows he is a wizard. The setting is very dark and involves a huge chasm which is a few miles deep which also is very fitting of the fantasy genre, the only light is being emitted from the Balrog which emphasizes its significance and massiveness.

The battle which then follows is full of special effects and explosions which draws the audience in because it is fast paced and action pact. The editing is fast and the camera is shaking which emphasizes the action. When Frodo wakes up it gets us asking who won the battle and whether the nightmare was real or not and who it becomes relevant to the movie.

Analysis on the opening sequence of Gladiator

Gladiator is a historical action film about a roman general (Maximus) who is betrayed and enslaved as a gladiator who slowly makes his way up the ranks up the gladiator industry of ancient Rome where he eventually faces the emperor, the man who betrays him, and kills him in the arena. The opening sequence takes place in Germania where Rome has one final battle against the Germans to establish peace throughout the empire. At the beginning of the scene we see an establishing shot of the forests of Germania, the setting is very dark and the camera pans round to a roman legion to establish what is happening (A battle is about to take place). We then see Maximus walking through his legion, he is wearing better armour to the rest of the soldiers and he is a lot cleaner to establish that he is an important character and is the general of the man because they all salute him as he walks past. The barbarians then appear out of the woods with the head of a roman diplomat which clearly shows they will not be conquered so easily, they are a lot hairier and scarier than the romans which shows they are clearly the enemy. Maximus has a conversation with his second in command, Quintus, who goes to say, "People should know when they're conquered" to which Maximus replies "Would you, Quintus?" which makes it clear to the audience that Maximus is a man of honour and integrity, further establishing his character because it shows that he has respect for his enemy.

The setting is very exotic, quite clearly deep in Germania with a very dark setting with dark woods which is very realistic, furthermore the costumes of both romans and barbarians is very realistic in terms of armour and props. This film would appeal to mainly adult audiences especially ones who have an interest in Roman history. The film is clearly a historical action film. The only title added into the sequence is "Germania" at the beginning to set the scene, they use the Latin word for Germany to fit in with the time period and genre. The sequence makes you wonder what the outcome of the battle is and how Gladiators are integrated into the film. The sound in the film plays a big part; the soundtrack is from an orchestra to fit the time period and the music makes Maximus seam more important. The German war cries also create a dangerous and scary atmosphere because they echo over the wind talking in hard Germanic speech

Analysing an opening sequence Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

 There is a massive spaceship floating in space over a planet which clearly suggests the sci-fi genre straight from the first few seconds. The camera then proceeds to follow two smaller space fighters flying along the bigger ship, then dives underneath the bigger ship into the thick of a battle taking place in space which further emphasizes the science-fiction genre. The two fighters don't seem to be trying to take part in the actual fight itself and are making their way through the battle towards some objective which is the beginning of the narrative. There is no dialogue or characters in the sequence however it can be established that the two fighters are the main protagonists. The breath-taking special effects and intense action scene draws the viewers in. Star wars were a popular series in the 80's so therefore its audience is mainly middle-aged men. However there was a 20-year gap between the original movies and the new ones therefore the series would have gained new fans, whom are mainly young people on top of the original fans.
 

There is a big spaceship battle in the middle of space, there are 2 smaller fighters being tracked which shows they are of some significance and they appear to be on their way to something. There appear to be 2 main subjects in the film who are in 2 identical fighters apart from one is red and one is yellow; they are both in sync with each other which shows they are on the same team. The setting is in space above a spectacular planet, there are many spaceships fighting each other, there are lots of explosions which shows a big space battle is taking place. There are loud battle drums at the beginning of the sequence to build up the action tension. When they enter the battle you can hear the sound effects of many lasers and explosions, there is a supposed natural light from the solar systems sun and there is also light radiating from the planet below, the lasers are very colourful which makes it seem exotic and futuristic.

The camera is tracking the fighters from all angles in one single continuous shot, the position of the camera is constantly changing to show the absence of gravity in space. The sequence is definitely of the sci-fi genre due the exotic setting of outer space and the many futuristic devices we see and hear in the sequence such as lasers, spaceships and explosions. The sequence makes the audience ask whether the two main characters achieve their goal, also it makes them ask why the battle is taking place and whom it is between. It's clear the movie is going to follow a typical narrative of quest with a dilemma in the middle that the protagonists have to overcome with a series of action sequences. There are no titles in the sequence to allow the audience to focus on the action taking place.