V for vendetta

Analysis of Film OpeningV for Vendetta

Opening Sequence (01:00)The opening of this movie begins just like any other.

The first forty seconds purely consists of the institutional logos rolling onto the screen. They seem to all be in black and white connoting that the movie, and its plotline may be quite dark. As the opening progresses to its forty-third second, a voice over begins of the female protagonist speaking of the fifth of November, Guy Fawkes night. This shows that the movie involves real life historical content and toys around with it. Eventually, as the first minute of the opening is about to end, we catch a glimpse of light and witness someone moving around.

Opening Sequence (02:00)The second minute of the movie begins with a pan from the

bottom upwards of a man moving a barrel. The voiceover continues from the first minute, making it a sound bridge. Developing from this, the man is eventually caught and begins to run away from some guards, and there is a mid-shot of him as he sees all of them. The camera is shaking quite a bit throughout this sequence to emphasize the chaos. As the man is taken by the guards to be hung, there is a close up shot of his face as they are placing the rope above his head. There is diegetic sound of the audience screaming and chanting as this happens. This minute ends with a few close up shots of a couple of people from the audience looking distressed and helpless.

Opening Sequence (03:00)

The third minute of the movie begins with a slow mid shot pan of the mans body after he is hung. The non-diegetic sound of the music is very loud and vicious, and the volume of the sound increases after he dropped down from being hung. The scene then fades as it pans down and leads onto the title of the movie appearing. The voiceover ends with this, and the narrative of the story then properly begins. There is a close up of a different man on TV. The camera then zooms out of him, and continues to show parallel editing of the two main protagonists sitting at a mirror and getting ready.

Opening Sequence (04:00)

Continuing on from the third minute, the fourth begins with the parallel editing. Both protagonists are getting dressed and preparing themselves as they seem to be going somewhere. Throughout this whole sequence the man from the TV is constantly speaking, another voiceover, however it seems as though both characters do not agree with what he has to say. To emphasize his speech, the camera is constantly flicking to him from one screen onto the next, also implying that he is being watched by many.

Opening Sequence (05:00)The final minute of the opening of the movie begins with

a medium long shot of the female protagonist as she turns to speak to the man on the TV from her room, and then switches it off. There is then a short establishing shot of what seems to be an alleyway. There is diegetic sound of a woman speaking and warning people of the streets as it seems to be that they have a curfew. As the female turns her corner, she bumps into a man and there is then a shot-reverse-shot of her speaking to him as she is trying to get away. The ending of the opening of this movie raises many enigma codes, why is there a curfew, and why is the female protagonist outside past the curfew?