Brick-Opening Sequence

Brick had a very interesting opening sequence, as it built up enough suspension to really engage it's target audience.
The first image shown has the main image centered in the middle of the frame. There is no mise-en scene used, but uses contrasting, basic colours so that the title of the movie really stands out. The colours connote with the font of the title, as bold, capital letters are used to grab the audiences attention. The style of the font appears to be quite sharp and dangerous around it's edges, which could also connote the danger that may lie ahead during the rest of the film.

The second image shows a hand opening a locker; the high key lighting could be a representation of the positivity during the course of this part of the film. Positive imagery could be used to throw an audience off track, mis-leading them to perhaps believeing that things could turn out ok. However, in the opening sequence of Brick it is clear from the very beginning that this movie isn't going to end well, as it opens with the ending of the film. This also engages the reader as it's sort of like a race against time to figure out what happened, before the story unfolds itself. This image not only shows some of the girls skin, but her clothing aswell. I believe that the colour of her clothing was chosen carefully because white is a colour that easily gets ruined; therefore by allowing the character to wear white it proves that nothing bad has happened to her yet, otherwise she would have dirty stains on her clothes or bruises and marks on her arms.

The third image is a mid-shot image, where dull, washed out colours have been used to blend in with the mood or theme of the movie. Perhaps the washed out colours were used because she had died, and therefore as she has no life longer left in her it would be to much of a contrast to use bright, vibrant colours. The low-key lighting informs the audience almost immediately that something bad has happened. The dead girl is shown wearing a skirt and heels, which could most certainly suggest that she had been out to a party or a get together the night before. Infact this could confuse the audience as perhaps her death had been accidental? Maybe she had been drinking the night before and her death had been of her own cause, although arguably if that was the case then they wouldn't have subjected the audience to this image so early on in the film.

The fourth shot is of an extreme close-up of a boy. I believe that they have used an extreme close-up to capture the mood and essence of this seen- to either comfort the audience and leave them feeling intense. Yet again there is low-key lighting, tricking the audience subconsciously as to what mood they're in. In movies you will find that they generally stereotype characters, so an audience are more able to relate or adapt to the subject of the movie. In this case, this character is wearing small rounded glasses, suggesting that he is the geeky-type, that quite often falls for the popular, pretty girls. The heels and dress in the other image suggest that this girl is very sociable, or perhaps she was dressed up to meet her boyfriend and the geeky boy became jealous?
Moreover, the fifth image is of the Focus Features, the speciality films unit of Universal Studies. Focus Features is a well known movie company, and have made very popular films previously such as; Milk, Burn After Reading, Brokeback Mountain, Lost in Translation and Shaun of the Dead. Focus Features is a very modern logo, using warm colours, which could arguably said to be used to confuse people, as the horror genre would have dark, edgy colours, and romantic, uplifting films having bright colours. So if the colours used are neutral, what kind of movie was this? Once again this connotes back to the idea of the movie, having suspense and feeling confused.

The sixth and eigth image are pretty similar in terms to the lighting and the props used. Like throughout the opening sequence so far, neutral, washed out colours have been used to address the scene of death, like the colour of nature has been washed out, just like the colour and warmth of the girls face that was now gone. In the sixth image it's a mid-shot of a set of hands holding this note. This arises suspicion within the reader as they're wondering who left this note, just like the boy in the movie. As the audience are relating to this character, the audience are becoming vulnerable to the situation, therefore the movie is then ready to throw them off track. Just like in the eigth image, where a close up is used to show a photo of him and what appears to be the dead girl. The photograph that is being used is cut up small, which could represent how much he remembers of her, as his memories are fading away. Like I mentioned before, this vulnerability and saddness could be used to throw the audience off track.

The seventh and ninth images are of the actual girl dead. The seventh image is of a close up of the girl, her hair is wet and is cassading over her face. Her hair has been presented as looking very dull and flimsy, you could say even lifeless. This connotes with the actual girl herself, and her body is flimsy and lifeless; you're unable to see the girls face, which has been covered by her hair. This causes more suspense as it doesn't give you a clue as to how she died, like if you were to say for example she had marks around her neck, this could suggest that she had been strangled. However, people could say that she had been drowned as she was completely soaked, but how are we as an audience not to know that it hadn't rained down hard let's just say the night before? If the audience are questioning themselves then they're questioning the whole entire movie. The last image is of a long shot, allowing the audience to intake the entire mood and setting of this scene. In the centre slightly off to the right of the image there appears to be a dark/black cave type hole. The body of the girl is to the right hand side of the image, as if she's just escaped out of the dark hole and then been captured. Her posture is extreme or over-dramatic, but looks quite peaceful, as if she hadn't struggled when being killed. The geeky boy is on the left hand side of the image, peering down gazing at the dead girl. The fact that he is bending down suggests that he is vulnerable, as often in films height equals power. Because the image looks really silent, I suppose that could confuse the audience even more, as he isn't screaming or running off to call the polie; but just staring at her.