Analysis of a Similar Opening Sequence

Battle: Los Angeles

                           
The film opens by zooming out to a clip showing the name of a production and distribution company- Columbia Pictures (0:00-0:16). It the shows the name of another production company- Original Film (0:21-0:30). It then quickly cuts to black. At 0:33, the date August 12, 2011 the appears in the bottom left hand corner. This tells the audience when the film is set and allows them to get some sort of context before they see and action. The first action that the audience sees (at 0:35) is a shot of a warzone filmed with a green filter, which gives the effect of night vision goggles, and is either a point of view shot or hand-held. This gives the audience the impression that they are a part of the action and pulls them into the film from the very beginning. (0:36) Explosions are seen in the sky and people are seen running in the streets, which creates a sense of panic. The cuts are quick, which increases the pace, and it shows that the threat is violent and everywhere. The scene then moves to a news report from Los Angeles with a Sergeant Major who is talking about the situation (0:48). The lighting for this section has low saturation, which gives the effect of the news being dark and sad. This dialogue turns into a voice over which overlays more footage of people running and explosions. This then moves to a scene in a military base (0:56), which shows people gathering around a television screen watching the same news report as seen earlier. (1:09) There is a shot of people running which has an effect to make the picture move as though there is static affecting it like it would on a TV. This makes the audience feel as though this could actually be a real news story that they are watching. There are close ups on soldiers' faces (1:12) to show their scared facial expressions. (1:14) There is a medium close up show of a soldier on a computer rubbing his head, which shows the stress and the pressure of the situation.