Research: Case Study of Effective Film Opening - Casino Royale (2006)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNvzNWuzI9Y


Micro
The opening shows the effects of the company logo MGM which is in black and white to show mostalgic purposes. Harasher black and white is used when Bond completes his first kill to show the characters anger to the audienceWhen bond completes his first kill the is a harasher black and white. The establishing shot is a long, low angle shot, there are subtitles at the bottom left hand side of the screen so the viewer have an understanding of where the narrative is located. There is use of a dutch angle of the screen slightly tilting, so the audience sense the unease and mystery of the film. Shadows are also used by low key lighting to give Bond's character a mysterious edge. This is seen when Bond is hiding away and you can just see his face shown in shadow. The lighing used in the mise en scene is dark this is to show that it is more of an action/spy film. The sound used is non-diagetic the music in the film starts getting sinister. Many shots are used in this opening scene such as low angle shots to show a man getting out of his car, close up of the numbers to show it's a lift leading to a cut of him coming through the corridor and then a close up to show the safe has been opened and shot reverse shot and then Bond starts talking and the action begins.

Macro
As shown through the iconography used in the opening of the film you are able to relate it to a spy genre by the guns and suits as shown in the picture above. The opening shot of the film is a long shot of a sophisticated big business building but then shows the 'reality' of a spy buisness from the shot of a dirty bathroom. The violence in the opening scene is shown when two characters are killed.

Casino Royal is an effective opening sequence to a film as it  reinvents the Bond franchise by going back to the roots of the series. The hand held camera and the black and white film stock makes the film mysterious and the narrative to the films shows a different aspect to the usually Bond character. The use of over exposured mostly white shots was hand held camera to show how frantic the actions are.