Brick Opening Sequence

Title-

Brick was an interesting opening sequence to watch from the viewers point of view, as we were trying to work out what the director was trying to communicate to us. The way the title appears is very fitting for the type of film it is. The very normal, straight forward white writing on the black background makes the title of the film stand out. The title is also a Verb, so this confuses the audience as to why it is named this way, and makes the audience want to watch the film.

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How the setting/location is revealed-

The setting of the sewer is revealed in a very strange way, as the first time we see where they are, we see that there is a girl lying face down in the river. This immediatley poses the question to the audience of how and why is she in the river. Straight after this shot, we see that the boy is also in the river, looking at the girl. At first i thought he had had something to do with as to why she was there, but as i saw the strange confused and sad expression on his face, i realised that maybe he is, during the rest of the film, going to find out why she is there. The next location we see is by the looks of things a school, as we see someone's hand put something in a locker. This shows the audience the age of the actors, and that they are no older than 18. The third location is a strange location chosen, as it seems very isolated and derelict, as nothing seems alive and nothing seems to be there. This is strange for the audience when they see a car go speeding past, and the audience want to automatically know was it a coincidence that the car went past as he was there, or was it planned.

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Costume and props

The way that the bangle is shown on her arm is very important as this perhaps connotes to the audience that she is a school child, as it is a cheap piece of jewellery, as school kids do not have that much money. Also this bangle is a very important prop, as we see it as she is lying in the sewer, then 2 minutes later we see this arm with the bangle again, so we can tell it's the same girl. The costume that the dead girl is in is very well chosen, as she isn't dressed normally like any other day, but she is in a smart dress, shoes and shirt, and we can tell that she was dressed up to go somewhere smart. The clothes that the guy is wearing show that he wasn't out to look for this girl, as he is on what seems like school shoes, casual jeans and a shirt.

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Camera work

A lot of close ups are used on the boys face, to show the expression of how confused he is about the girls death. There is also a very important close up of the bangle on the girls arm, which shows how much importance it has to the opening sequence. My second image is of a high angle shot of the guy, which is showing the low status that he has at this particular moment, and the audience are wondering why he has this low status. Also my first image shows a medium shot of the cigarette on the floor. This straight away tells the audience that the cigarette has great importance to the film, and whatever was on it, obviously this is of great importance to the guy as well, as the way he reacts is a puzzled epxression.

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Titles and companies

The title or company saying 'Focus' is very cleverly portrayed in the opening scene as you can see that this company have great importance to the film as they get a big shot on their own, not a little mention in the corner. Also the company are called 'focus' and this is very cleverly portrayed as the 'o' in the word, is out of focus, so it contrasts the companies name. The colour scheme associated with this company also helps create the mood of the film as they are dull brown colours, contrasting exsquisite blue colours which creates a weird effect on the film.

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How are the characters introduced

The character of the guy is introduced well at the beginning of the opening sequence, and the director is trying to make the audience see him as sitting by the edge of the river staring at the dead body. We also get a lot of close ups of his facial expressions which perhaps show that he is deep in thought and that he is an emotional person. The character of the girl is portrayed strangely, as at first obviously we see her dead, but after that, we see her put a note in the guys locker, and then next shot we see him in a deserted place. This portrays the girl as evil as she, by the looks of things, has set him up.