Brick ( Johnson , 2005 , USA)

Brick

The opening sequence begins with a close up shot of a persons distinctive shoes. The person is standing on some sort of concrete ledge,  this shot creates tension and prompts the audience to ask questions , such as ; Who is this man? Where is he?

We then see a blurred shot of this mans face, his hand is covering most of his face which helps conceal his identity and makes him seem mysterious.

An eerie score accompanies the beginning of the opening sequence. the score is of what sounds like a guitar and bells playing. The bells are louder than the guitar , this is done to create atmosphere and tension within the scene. Bells are also usually associated with death which go along with the meaning of the opening sequence. Ambient sound is also heard in the running of the water , this is done to make the scene seem more realistic and add depth and tension.The music used also adds a sense of tranquility to the scene which then contrasts with the horrific nature of the foreshadowed death.The mellow and tranquil notes could be a musical representation of the male characters feelings in this opening sequence

The first shot is of something ambiguous and unknown , this close up of the ledge and the mans shoes obscures information and makes the audience want to know more. The next shot is of the man in an isolated place looking at what appears to be a body. This again prompts the audience in to asking questions. We are shown a low angle shot of the man looking at the body , which makes the man seem in control and in power. The female is wearing heels and dress , stereotypically this is associated with females and their vulnerability , so the audience feels sympathy as they hold a thought of the female not being able to protect herself as a result of her weakness. The male is wearing casual clothing , he is also wearing glasses , stereotypically glasses are associated with people who are also weak and vulnerable , so the audience will think this man they're staring at couldn't possibly of killed this woman as he was too powerless to do so , if that is the case then who did it? The murder is out in broad day light we see this because of high key lighting , this takes away from the stereotypical thriller feel as most thrillers usually go with low key lighting to add to effect , however the director thought the scene was moving enough with out the use of low key lighting.

The audience are then shown alternating shots of the mans face and the females body. The females body looks a lifeless colour , she is face down in water, and she is not moving , this suggests to the audience she is dead. The females death prompts the audience in to asking more questions such as why is dead? Who killed her? Why are they in that location? A graphic match is used, when the females arm and distinctive looking blue bangles are shown, the next shot is of the same person with their distinctive looking bangles. This links the two scenes together and tells the audience they are the same people. There is heavy usage of shot reverse shot , this could indicate that the male character is so shocked by what he's seen he can't physically bring himself to look away from the body. This leads to audience to ask questions , perhaps the male character knew the female character and this is why he is so shocked. Eyeline match is also used as the male characters eyes are shown then a shot of what the male character is looking at.

A black title screen is shown , the title screen says ‘BRICK’ the name of the film. We are then shown the next part of the opening sequence. ‘TWO DAYS PREVIOUS’ is superimposed on the shot to make the audience understand the time difference between when the two scenes take place. We are shown the distinctive pair of shoes we saw in the opening part of the film, this as done with the bangles helps link the two scenes and the lets the audience know who the person is.

 Through out the whole of the opening sequence we are never shown the mans entire face and we never learn anything about him. He is always blurred out or obscuring his face this helps shroud him in mystery and makes the audience ask questions. We are shown a long shot of this man alone near some lockers and then a close up shot of the note he finds in his locker. The note lacks any real information , this is done to further conceal and withhold  information and shroud the opening scene in mystery.