Kiss Me Deadly opening sequence

Title of the film:

The title of the film appears across the page way into the title sequence after there have been many other titles; it seems as if they have put the title the wrong way round because it is presented as: 'deadly kiss me'. This could confuse a viewer, but it adds a good effect to the sequence because it gives a different audience interpretation of the film title and what it could be about because it now seems as if it more menacing or perhaps scarier with this new layout.

Starring/location:

The first name wee see is Ralph Meeker, which gives the audience this could be the main character of the film, despite the fact that we see a woman first running down the road. It then says with and several other names inducating that he is the big star of the film. All we see location-wise in this title sequence in a long stretch of road, which adds a sense of mystery to te film because you want to know where this piece of road is, what the woman was running from and where does it lead to.

Costumes:

The costumes are very basic but with one character very effective; this is the woman running down the road because all she has on is a large coat, which creates an impact on the audience, because we see that she is panicking about something and has run a long way to get away from somewhere. The man driving the car, from what we see is wearing a coat, which does not create a great effect from an audience perspective, but just shows he is an average everyday guy just incorporated into this part of the film as an introduction to his characer. The costuming for the police in this opening sequence is good because it's cleear from what they are wearing they are police officers which makes it easier for a viewer to understand what is happening in this scene.

Camerawork/editing:

The camerawork and editing is very basic in this opening sequence but does incorporate quite a good veriety of shots. They begin with a mid/long shot of the woman running down the road to help set the scene without needing an establishing shot, which worked to good effect because it is a different way to begin a film; this also helps show the fear on the womans face and makes an audience want to know what she is running from. There is however a long shot used while she is running which helps show the location of this opening sequence. We then see another mid-shot when we first see the man in his car after she stands infront of it in a desperate attempt to make him stop. During the title sequence when the credits are scrolling across the page we have an over the shoulder shot of the road infront of them as they drive down it, this is not very noticable because the title's are covering the whole of the page but it gives an indication that they are moving and what direction in. There is a good piece of editing here when the police are asking around about the escaped woman, and she grabe the man's hand asking for his help, because there is a match on action used so we see her grab his hand. There is a very minimal amount of close-up used here because se only see it used when the two of them are in the front of the car talking so we can see who as saying what to who.

Title/font style:

The font style used is just a big, bold, white font that scrolls down the page. This is effective because it is the main focus of the audience as it stands out, is clear and the only thing noticable that is on screen.

Story:

The opening gives you a very brief understanding of the story, because at the very beginning we see a woman running but we do not know what from, so we develop an understanding she has escaped from somewhere and is running away from someone/thing. We can tell from the sound of her heavy breathing she has been running from it for a long time and that she is clearly afraid of them/it. We do not get much reveald to us from this which is good because it keeps a sense of mystery, so the viewers are always watching wanting to find out what has happened. We eventually find out that she has escaped from a institute, but the man helps her get away which again adds to a sense of mystery and makes an audience member wnat to know why this is as well.

Genre:

The genre is clear that it is a thriller because there is a great sense of mystery because we do not know what the woman is running from or why.

How characters are introduced:

We are only introduced to two characters which develops an understanding that these are going to be the two main characters. The woman is introduced to us running down the road breathing heavily looking afraid, so we understand she is scared of something and the audience wants to know more about her. The man however, is introduced by the woman puttong herself infront of his car, in which he shouts at her 'you almost wrecked my car' which gives the audience an impression he is quite a mean character and does not care much for other but just himself.

Special shots/effects:

There aren't really and used except for the match on action that is used when the woman grabs the man's hand in the car as if she is pleading for him to help her.