Analysis of 3 Opening Sequences

 Zombieland

The first opening sequence I have chosen to analyze is from the film Zombieland. The opening shot is of an overturned car, presumably from an embassy, or somewhere representing the USA, judging by the waving American flag.

The camera zooms out on the car, revealing others burning around it, suggesting chaos and disorder, the camera then tilts to and establishing shot, showing the White House, and the shaky camera control and bad quality suggests handheld camera, adding to the somewhat odd effect of the sequence. A roar is heard and the camera pans round quickly, to a low shot, looking up on a zombie, clambering over the upturned car, and chasing the camera man, a tracking shot follows the zombie in question, adding an adrenaline rush to the audience, before he leaps onto the person filming and devours them. The camera then zooms out, to an establishing shot of planet Earth in disarray, accompanied by the narrator's voice over, explaining how Earth fell into such a state.
The narrator then explains his set of 'rules' when regarding a zombie apocalypse. This sightly comedic approach to the end of the world sets the tone for the rest of the film. This is then followed by an establishing shot of a football ground and then descending into a tracking shot of a chase between a man and a zombie. Followed by the narrators first rule. This continues through the next rules.

Jackass 3D

The Jackass films have developed a reputation for their introductions, most commonly containing some variation of a ridiculous stunts, therefore, even for those who aren't familiar with the series, the Warning at the beginning of the film lets the audience see a glimpse of what to expect, this builds tension and anticipation for the upcoming carnage.

The opening mid-long shot is of a plain white background, heavenly music is playing, a door reveals the entire cast walking on screen in various ridiculous costumes. This again presents the audience with a taste of the eccentric nature of the film, the cast form a line, and the names of each cast member appear beside them. The camera switches out to an establishing shot of the entire stage, the camera alternates again to a mid shot of 'Johnny Knoxville' as he delivers his well known lines 'Hi, I'm Johnny Knoxville, and welcome to Jackass'. This almost trademark phrase is included mainly for the fans returning to the series, as it adds a slight nostalgic feel of the first film to the new installment.
The scene continues to each character's own small segment of mayhem. While being hilarious in the creative ways the stunts are performed the director evidently chose this introduction to have the audience laughing from the start.The music also changes to a heavy rock song, contrasting the peaceful aura we saw early on in the clip.

Trainspotting

 The introduction to Danny Boyle's 'Trainspotting' features our protagonist sprinting down a street, the camera staying at a mid shot but alternating between the protagonist's face, and his feet. The speech included also adds importance to the scene, as the clip progresses 'Renton' the protagonist mentions all the things you could have in a normal life, causing the audience to consider what life he possess. After we are introduced to Renton, we see a mid shot of him smoking a cigarette in a dingy flat, that is evidently neglected and not cared for. The mid shot switches to a long shot, where we see Renton start to fall.     

                     

We are then transported to a football game between the other characters 'Begbie', 'Sick Boy', 'Spud' and 'Tommy' and another football team, from this game we find out a little more about each of the characters, for example, Spud, playing Goalkeeper, tries to save a ball but does not succeed, which is then proceeded by various insults from his teammates, this could suggest Spud is the child of the group, who is somewhat bullied amongst the friends.
A free kick is conceded and Begbie, Tommy, Sick Boy and Renton line up in a human wall. The ball is kicked and the camera switches to a close up of Renton's face as he is hit by the ball, square in the forehead. As he begins to fall the camera again switches to him in the dingy apartment beginning to fall, mirroring the football scene. The camera switches between mid long shots of both these scenes, until Renton finally hits the floor, of the dingy apartment.
 The camera stays on a close up of the side of Renton's head and it begins to pan around his body, while it is in a state of ecstasy.
As the camera pans it zooms out, we notice a belt strapped around his arm, as the camera pans, until the whole body is visible, and we hear Renton utter the words; 'Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?'

Each scene differs from the other, due to factors such as; genres, directors and the plot lines of the films in general, for example, the introduction to Trainspotting takes it's time showing the audience the characters and their mannerisms, whereas the introduction of Jackass 3D is purely to show the audience the kind of stunts they will perform, and remind them of the bizarre nature of the film series.