Deconstruction of a film opening

Deconstruction of a film opening

Drama

I am going to look at the film opening for 'The Blind Side' as an example of a film opening in our chosen genre.

Plot

The opening of this film is a monologue over a video of an old american football game. The non diegetic voice over explains the beginning of an american football game over a video of the players get into position to start. You then see an establishing shot with typography saying where the game is.

The shot then changes back to the game, the first four seconds of the game is played at full speed, it is then reversed and each second is looked at individually. After each second is played the video stops and you hear the non diegetic voice over analyse what is happening including the names of the players, their positions and what is happening.
After the tackle you see the reaction of Lawrence Taylor after he has clearly injured the quarterback, this links to the next shot of the  injured player being carried off the pitch on a stretcher.

The next shot is of a photo of an entire american football team, the voice over explains the pay for the players and why they are paid the amount they are. Following this there are a sequence of images from previous football games and explaining the features of a good left tackle.

Camera angles

The camera angles commonly used to film sports are tracking shots normally following the ball in games like american football. This is used in the opening for 'The Blind Side' while the game is playing. 

When the play stops the camera is still tracking the injured player so that people that are watching the game when it was originally aired could see what was going on during the game. The camera angles conform to the common conventions of the drama genre as the camera tends to follow the action.

Sound

The sound is non diegetic as you do not see the person that is talking. However you also hear the diegetic sound of the commentator and the crowd of the football game every time the game is playing.

00:11 - 00:14 - No image just the non diegetic voice over saying "There's a moment of orderly silence before football play begins." 

At this point the footage of the game starts playing and you can hear the shouting and whistles that are related to a football game.

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene for these opening credits are standard for an american football game including the field with markings, fans in the stands with merchandise supporting their favorite team, the football and the players are wearing standard uniform with helmets.

The mise-en-scene subverts common conventions of this genre as a drama tends to be based on problems in society where as this opening scene is based on a simple football game as demonstrated by the mise-en-scene.

Location

The location as shown in the typography is Washington, D.C. This conforms to common conventions of a drama as it is set in a city. However, it is normally the outskirts and rough parts used in a drama as opposed to the well populated areas as shown in the opening scene for 'The Blind Side'.

Evaluation

From this task I have taken away the idea that a voice over is very effective in some dramas that are slightly factual. Unfortunately ours will be completely fictional so I do not think this idea would work in our film opening. We could still use non-diegetic sound of perhaps a quite soundtrack in the background but I suggest not using a voiceover.