HW 2a - Existing opening sequence analysis (DYM)

My chosen movie: Back to the Future, is a fantasy, science fiction film. We can come to this conclusion due to the title that appears as it is quite bright and flashy, showing fantasy, and the font is quite futuristic, showing science fiction.
This movie is set in America (as we can tell from the accents) in 1985 (information that we also find out in the opening).

The opening:

The first thing we see is Steven Spielburg's name which immediately sets a high standard for the movie (due to the large success of 'Jaws' in 1975). The audience expects the movie to be good and this builds tension.
To add to the tension there is the ticking sound of clocks in the background, this is effective as usually when you are paying particular attention to time you are most likely waiting for something exciting. this also makes it quite intriguing for the audience as it creates the desire to find out the cause of the sounds.
Then we see the title, this is quite impressive as it bold and brightly coloured, it shows that the movie will be exciting, the futuristic font also builds on the idea of time travel as the title clearly gives away the theme.
When the clocks finally appear on screen there would have undoubtedly been some confusion; there's such a large number of random clocks that it's very odd - usually only one or two clocks would be necessary, so the fact that there are dozens of them is just excessive. But this acts as vital symbolism for the main character as we understand that he is clearly quite eccentric but also has an obsession with time. Obviously, time is a very important element as the whole movie pivots around it. Some of the clocks are also very weird and not something you'd see every day and this highlights how unique the main lead is.
As the camera pans we get an insight to the characters past with several articles, we find out his name (Brown) and also that he experienced hardship as his mansion was destroyed. As the articles are framed it is clear that this was a very big event in his life and one that greatly impacted him.
The radio then proceeds to inform us that we are in 1985, this was done to establish the setting and further add to this fixation on time.
It then pans to the coffee machine which is just spurting boiling water. This shows that the person that lives in this place is not there, making the coffee look very much like a failed experiment.
The TV then automatically turns on by a small alarm clock, this reveals how inventive and innovative the person that made that is. But the TV also acts as a source of information, revealing to us that a lot of plutonium was allegedly stolen by terrorists.
Then we see the toast and the dog food: the toast is burnt black and the dog food is over spilling from the bowl, just like the boiling water this shows the absence of the owner but also how the experiments can be considered a failure. As well as this, using mechanisms to open a can of food can be seen as slightly excessive and unnecessary which could imply that the main character is a little bit dramatic. The food bowl has the dogs name 'Einstein', people always say that dogs are a reflection of their owners and so the audience begins to form this image of a mad scientist as the main character.
But despite his eccentricity the protagonist is still quite a normal man, living a normal life. This is represented by the key hidden under the mat, it is something that is very common and that most people do.
As the new character comes in through the door he calls out "Doc" and so we can deduce that the protagonists name is 'Doc Brown'. Although we haven't yet seen him we are quite familiar with the character due to the morning routine we see; the man is quite odd and eccentric but also very smart as he managed to create machinery to aid him in the mornings. He seems quite organised as everything works continuously (such as the coffee or TV) but this is also represented through the on-going pan. His whole morning routine is taken in just one shot which shows how smoothly it works.
The new character that comes in has a skateboard and so we expect him to be quite generic, conforming to the norm. But as he pushes the board back it bumps into a box of plutonium (linking to the report on TV) and this creates juxtaposition. It's metaphorical for how normal people will be thrust into an unexpected situation.
Throughout the whole opening there is a build up of tension, firstly by showing Doc Brown's morning routine and expecting him to appear and then seeing a new character come through the door but never actually seeing what he looks like. This tension is shows through a visual metaphor - the buttons and dials on the amp accompanied with the increasing electrical hum. And eventually when we do see the character this is seen with a large explosion of the speakers.
The opening ends with the shelves falling down onto the boy which could link in with the other failed experiments.

Conclusion:
In the opening quite a lot is revealed about the personality of the main character, this is done to allow the audience to connect with him and so that the movie can move onto all of the action without leaving the audience dissatisfied that they do not know enough about the protagonist. The audience finds out that there will be some trouble with plutonium (as on the news it claimed that terrorists were involved and so this automatically creates an element of danger) but they also see this fixation on time and how important it is to the plot. As well as this juxtaposition is used to show that whatever strange things will occur in the movie will occur to completely normal, average people.
This is all the audience need to know as this leaves an element of wonder and curiosity as to what is yet to happen in the movie.