Micro Elements in Film Openings

By Ryan.A.Henson

Close Up

This close up foreshadows the overall emotion of the upcoming film, the character looks deep in

thought and he clearly isn't happy with what he is either thinking

about or the scenes he is seeing.

Medium Close Up

This medium close up is close enough to show the emotion and passion in

this persons speech but the audience can still see his hand movement and costume, the audience can see from his hand movement his emotion and

from his costume they can see he is a high ranking official.

Medium Shot

This shot allows the audience to see the character’s costume which is black, provoking emotions of sadness and

mourning. This indicates to the audience the mood of the film through the

character’s costume.

Long Shot

The long shot used here is to give the audience some information about the

location but it mainly hints toward the plot of the film, people are shown in what looks

to be a makeshift medical bay.

Extreme Long Shot

Extreme long shots give the audience a hint into the setting of the film, this shot

hints that the setting here in this seen is a harbour due to the boats and land

surrounding the waters.

High Angle Shot

This high angle shot was used to show the audience the amount of people that are piled onto a small boat. Indicating that they are perhaps fleeing danger as they

would rather face the risk of the boat sinking.

Panning Shot

This panning shot begins with a scene showing a Cuban flag and ends showing boats at a harbour, perhaps indicating to the audience a significant historical event

in the film, involving these two scenes.

Zoom Shot

The zoom shot is used here to highlight the emotions shown on the face of this

character as they are helped off the boat. They clearly don’t look happy to be arriving

where they are, giving an insight into the mood of the film.