Opening scene analysis: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood - what do we expect from film openings?

 Introduction

I was tasked with analysing the opening to the film 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood', and to look at how the opening works to establish the exposition of the story along with which techniques it uses.

What we expect from film openings 

Film openings should have just about enough information to tell the audience a bit about the setting, themes and characters they are about to be witnessing the stories of whilst still not revealing too much or getting too deep into the story. It serves as a way for the exposition of the film to be laid out and the credits to be shown before the film actually begins - like an introduction in a book.

One thing I found really interesting about how this sequence was shot was the camera zooming out of the photo of Rick Dalton slowly, as the credits play, and into the car where Rick and Cliff are sitting. The camera stays in the back of the car as they pull out of the parking spot and start driving and that is where it stays for almost a minute of the sequence (almost half the duration of the opening). I think this really shows the director, Quentin Tarantino's intentions with this scene; making the audience a part of the two character's lives whilst still keeping them questioning who they are. This makes the audience want to watch more of the film because they don't find out who the characters are for a full minute and are quite literally kept in the dark about it because the car is so dimly lit.

The Narrative

- Binary opposites

- Comparisons

- Narrative range

- Barthes

- Codes (enigma)

- Show don't tell

- 2 separate storylines

- Star + celebrities

- Lots of shots from within cars

- Both travelling to destinations

- Smoking and drinking in couple

- Partying

- Differences and similarities in lifestyles

- Star is brighter than the couple and seems happier

Visual

In this scene the audience is introduced to three major characters that are shown to be of importance to the story: a star and two men in a car. The star is presented as rich looking and happier, with her interacting with more people and receiving better lighting compared to the couple. The couple, however, have no dialogue unlike her and don't have any interaction or attention from other people. This establishes their characters very early on in the film, therefore showing the importance of the opening sequence as the audience gets to learn enough about them from this two minute clip without the film having to explain everything directly; and rather by showing not telling.

Another highlight of this scene I found was the differences in settings for the two groups. Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (played by Brad Pitt) are both seen to be in a car together for the majority of the scene. The car is very dimly lit and messy, meaning you don't get to see them in full light in most of the scene and therefore they don't look like they're enjoying themselves compared to Sharon Tate (played by Margot Robbie). The difference is that Sharon is seen to be in a roofless car with sunglasses and a scarf on, clearly presenting how she isn't hiding away from the world like they are. The other difference in setting is the fact that the men are on their way to a bar, another dimly lit location, whereas Sharon is on her way home from the airport. This tells the audience the difference between them is that Sharon lives a healthier looking life, on the outside, compared to the men, who are seen smoking and drinking for the duration of the clip. The visuals really help the audience understand the characters more than any other aspect of the opening.

The opening clip from 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood':