My Favourite Opening Sequence :

My favourite opening sequence 

The opening trailer which I will always admire in Baz Lurhmann's "Romeo and Juliet", this is because of the contrast at the beginning of the opening sequence with the screen display being extremly simplistic with a black backdrop with a small television placed in the centre, which is then zoomed in , in order to draw attention for viewing purposes . The scenario, placed on the TV , shows a middle-aged women reading the news , the women is represented as emotionless which intrigues the viewer to listen attentively to what she is saying , after this scene ends , it then goes straight into a chaotic scenario where the location is then showed where the film is based which is being represented from camera angles which are created to look like they have been shot from air crafts , in order to recieve a bird eyes view of the city known as Verona . 

   The sequence then introduces snippets of the lead actors know to us as Romeo and Juliet , representing there family household with the camera angles mainly focused at eye level , this is an effective technique as it gives the viewer a sense of what the characters personality's are like , due to there emotions shown in there facial expressions, as well it also characterises stereotypes for example the vulnerable and young Romeo, as well as the aggressive Latin American known as Tybalt. The seqeunce then increases the tension with the use of a classic chamber choir , which crescendo's throughout the sequence, a full orchestra is used in order to create that sense of uprising danger, along with snippets from crucial scenes throughout the film, this is shown to represent the diversity of themes in the film such as drugs , violence , romance , family rivalry as well as death , this then absorbs the audience to think the about what areas of the film interests the viewers on a personal level as well it gets them thinking about when certain scenes are taken place in the film , this idea of showing extracts of scenes is crucial as it absorbs the strengths of what the film has to offer .

    It finally ends with Shakespeare's written introduction to "Romeo and Juliet" displayed on the screen, which is then rapidly replaced by the following title of the film placed in bold white letters , which is extremely distinctive against the black backdrop, this immediately gives the viewer the idea to what the opening sequence is influenced by , as well the whole idea towards the opening sequence is created to look like a film trailer, which is a clever technique as it absorbs the strengths of the film and captures the audiences attention .

   In conclusion I feel this opening sequence is highly effective as it creates a strong appeal for a target audience of the age twelve and above .