In Depth Analysis of Deadpool's Opening Title Sequence

In this task I am going to do an in depth analysis on the film opening sequence of Deadpool to learn more about what's involved in a film opening and gather more ideas on what I could do when it comes to creating my own film opening. I chose to look at Deadpool as I think the opening sequence is quite intriguing and I like the ideas put into it. Its also a different type of sequence compared to the Skyfall opening I looked at previously so it gives me more of a variety of what's involved in successful films opening sequences.
 

Genre

As this is a mainstream film, you can immediately tell what the genre of it is during the film opening sequence. You can tell that it is an action film because of the mise en scene involved - there is blood, guns, sheds of glass, fire, and the lighting is quite dull / dark. Also at the end you can see the overall state of the situation where the car is in the air and looks like its about to explode, which also shows evidence of an action film. You can also tell its a comedy film because of the music which has quite a joyful tune and doesn't suit the situation (like its making fun of the situation). Also the titles have a sense of comedy because they make fun of the cast and crew as they don't day their real names but things like 'directed by an overpaid tool' which is quoted at the end of the sequence. Finally, during the sequence, mise en scene is also used to make the genre of comedy evident within the props involved as we see things like a People magazine of Ryan Reynolds as himself rather than the character he plays, a playing card of Green Lantern and a hello kitty children's lip gloss. As it is a mainstream film, the genres involved need to be obvious because that is one of the main properties people look for in films so this is a way of drawing in their target audience. Independent films don't normally have a specific genre as the target audience focuses on a niche audience so they look at different elements to grow an audience rather than the genre.

 

Narrative

The narrative of this film opening reminds me of a journey because of how the way it's been done which is that the viewer is taken on a journey throughout a frozen moment of time to see different aspects of the situation. The opening draws the audience into the film as it begins with lots of close ups so not a lot of the surroundings is revealed making it hard for the viewer to work out what's going on. Therefore, as the camera starts to zoom out and reveal more, we can start to figure out the situation so during the sequence, as there is so much going on and there is a lot to look out for, the opening immediately intrigues the audience. This is a very clever way to introduce the film because of the content involved and the way it's been done which makes the viewer immediately become a part of the universe of the film.

Character

During this sequence, it is made evident that the characters introduced don't have a big role in the story (excluding Deadpool) because of the situation shown as its likely they are going to be killed so we won't see them throughout the rest of the film. It is made clear on who the characters are because Deadpool is attacking them so they are random bad guys who work for someone who has conflict with Deadpool. And by the name of the film and all the marketing involved, people should have an idea of who Deadpool is and what he looks like so when we see him in the sequence, we have an idea of what's going on. The opening is partially being used to introduce the genre and to introduce Deadpool as a character by showing his courage to take on these people and the sort of situations he gets into.

 

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is quite dramatic and calm at the same time because in real life the situation going on would be a very big deal as people could get severely injured or killed. However, the non-diegetic background music is quite calming and doesn't emphasise what's going on. The setting is quite gloomy and dull as the weather is cloudy and a lot of dark/shaded colours seen which emphasises the idea of it being a deadly situation and also once we zoom out from the car, we see that the location is on the outskirts of a city which makes the genre of action more evident.

 

Themes

The theme of the opening mainly consists of low key lighting and action which suits the film opening as the genre is action and therefore it makes sense towards the narrative. It is quite terrifying as no one would want to be in that sort of situation but it is quite funny as we see the expression on the man's face at the beginning and we see Deadpool giving a man a wedgie who is flying out of the car commencing that sense of comedy towards the story.

 

Setting

The viewer doesn't see the location until the camera zooms away from the car as not a lot of the surroundings are revealed. Most of the film opening is set within a car that is in the air and is about to crash and then as the camera exits the car we see that the location is on the outskirts of a city on a motorway that looks like a bridge. The setting suits the genre of action because it is set in a city which is often were a lot of action films are shot because they are often capital cities which are well known in the real world and you can get a lot of good shots of the sky scrapers and famous land marks within the action scenes. The setting isn't completely introduced as it is revealed slowly throughout the sequence so as an audience we don't pay much attention to it but pay more attention to the car they are in (e.g. it doesn't begin with an establishing shot of the cityscape like in the opening from 'The Drive'). Therefore, the location isn't considered as important.

Sound

Throughout the whole film opening, the only sound we hear is the non-diegetic music. The impact this music gives on the film opening is a sense of comedy as it's got quite a joyful tune so it doesn't suit the situation. It is quite calming for such a dramatic scene but it works well because the situation is not taken seriously. I think the sort of music chosen for the sequence is perfect for the situation because it's a comedy as well as an action, so having quite a serious or dramatic tune wouldn't fit well the comedy aspect of the film. Also as the scene is a freeze frame, involving sound effects wouldn't work well as nothing is moving so there is nothing the make the noise.

Titles

As the film is a comedy, the titles quote funny ways to describe the cast and crew rather than say their real names which I think was a good idea as it doesn't take things seriously and makes the film slightly more funny. It begins with the institutions involved, then the cast, then the producer, writer and director, and then the name of the film. I noticed during the film opening that the placing of the title for Ryan Reynolds which quotes 'starring god's perfect idiot' is placed just before the People magazine showing a picture of him which works well as even though it doesn't say his name, it introduces him from the picture. The transitions used make the titles seem as if they are actually in the film and not edited in because they move with the objects in the shot as when the camera turns to a different angle, the text will stay where it's been positioned and then will disappear when something in the foreground moves in front of it or if the camera turns away from it so it moves out of the shot. I like how this has been done because it draws the viewers attention more towards the titles as they are a part of the shot and are moving across the screen and not kept in one corner, but they are also frozen with the surroundings in the shot like the titles are objects frozen in this scene too. The font is quite square-looking, the titles are written in capitals, the colour of them seem like an off-white colour so they are quite neutral and suit the action theme. The sizing of the font varies as they may begin bigger but as the camera moves away they get smaller.

 

Conclusion

To conclude, by doing this task I have learnt may aspects towards the film opening of Deadpool in a lot of depth to help me understand what's involved in the sort of film opening used in a recent mainstream film. This has helped give me some ideas of what I could use in my own film opening and how much a mainstream film can emphasise the genre in just 2 minutes. I also learned how music can impact the mood of the film opening no matter what's going on visually. Now I want to look at the aspects of an independent film opening to look at the differences and learn more about what they consist of. I could also look at a film opening made by students as well to see what they came up with and how it turned out as they wouldn't be working for an institution so they wouldn't have a big budget to work with.

Deadpool film opening: