Opening Scenes

In Preparation for my  main task I have been looking at opening scenes of films. in class we have explored the different elements that make an opening of a film, such as the content (how it doesn't tell the whole story) also the titles and sounds; how the delivery of the titles eg. fonts, colours, size , can set the initial idea of the type of film it will be. The music and sounds are also very key to making sure you are inviting the audience into the right sort of film, the music can tell what genre the film is and it is important that what the music is telling you in the opening scene is continued throughout the film so that the audience is not miss lead into the story.

The way that the first few minutes are edited is also a very important type of film language that subconsciously speaks to the audience about what is to be expected through the duration of the film.

Sound

In this opening scene from 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' there is a soft background track that is played. The song 'Moon River' is recreated as just an instrumental with very little voice harmonies toward the end. although an instrumental of a soothing song seems simple, the intricacy of the instruments played and the layers of sound created suggest complications. The use of this music is possibly suggesting the complexity of  the main character's life but in a very simple way, as the film goes on we begin to see the character's innocence and simplicity of life only to realise that her life is in fact quite complicated, this may be what the music is reflecting at the start. The song 'Moon River ' is also played again during the film as 'Holly' is playing it on her guitar.

Editing 

The cutting rate of this scene is very slow for example the first cut of the film is only around 27 seconds in, further on in the clip when we see her looking in the window the clip lasts for 35 seconds before it cuts to the next. This technique mirrors the peaceful, placid character and the life that this character is living seems very slow and delayed/not rushed. The way we watch her in her daily life, getting out the taxi, eating her breakfast, walking down the street all suggests that the film is about following this character and watching her develop as a person. The slow cutting rate of the first scene is subconsciously implying that this is not an action/adventure genre or the type of film that you have to think about to keep up with.

Titles

In this opening scene, the titles start roughly a minute in. The first person it mentions is Audrey Hepburn (the main character) followed by George Peppard , the titles end with the director of the film and always almost do. The names of the two main characters and then the editor are in a larger font- showing importance. Title of the film 'Breakfast At Tiffany's ' is the third title to appear and is again in a larger font. The font used is of a rich yellow/gold colour suggesting high class, it is also an almost rounded serif font making it look more formal and giving it more value.

costume

we see the main character wearing a long, very smart black dress with a 3 layered pearl necklace with long black gloves, this is also screaming to the audience that this film is not about action or adventure or thrilling, it is an innocent story of a very innocent woman who likes to be classy.

Lets be honest, the opening of this film says it all, Audrey Hepburn is eating breakfast outside of Tiffany's the jewellery shop. These elements alone make the audience aware of the type of film they are about to watch.  however that is not to say that the parts that I have mentioned; sound, titles, editing and costume aren't crucially vital when opening a film... or making a film all together.