Goldeneye- Opening Scene Analysis

Goldeneye

Goldeneye is a 1995  English thriller directed by Martin Campbell.

 

Opening Credits

The opening titles portray a mysterious theme to the narrative. God sans-serif font is used in a bold within the opening on a dark black background, a technique of reverse block, with occasional fire explosions for added effect, whilst also linking back to the title of the narrative 'Golden eye' which makes the title sequence link back to the name of the film. The explosions indicate a sense of drama and tension in the film, and that the narrative will be fast paced with an interesting and engaging storyline. The darker fiery colours represent danger. As well as this, the girls positioned in the opening credits suggest that women, and maybe sexual tension could foreshadow events to come, meaning that the narrative heavily involves the role of woman being presented as strong and sexualised which is also supported by the fact that a woman is singing in the opening credits. Combined with the images, the non diegetic sound, is fast a fast paced tempo but foregrounded are brass instruments and string instruments with explosions, again creating the effect of tension and suspense in the narrative.

The titles read:
'Albert R Broccoli presents
Pierce Brosnan
as
Ian Flemming's
James Bond
007 in
Golden Eye'.

A screenshot of part of the opening credits.

Sound

As soon as the film begins, non diegetic, deep, sinister and fast past music with added stings and bells is present throughout the introduction with a building crescendo to add tension and suspense to the narrative, before the main character appears in the frame. This non diegetic music is used right up until the character, to which point the audience do not know why he is on top of a cliff, jumps off the cliff. The crescendo allows the tension to be built up, which adds to the narrative enigma as the audience have no idea why he has dived off. This foreshadows an event or focal point in the narrative which could be about to occur. 

Here we see the main character diving off the cliff with a lack of sound.

The lack of dialogue from the main character in his introduction to the film also builds up the tension and mystery surrounding the narrative as it's unclear what his role in the film is and how he has arrived at the location at the start of the film. Bond's lack of dialogue creates an anonymous feel, adding to the narrative enigma as the audience still have many un-answered questions. However, this could portray the concentration as he is attempting to solve a mission, to which the audience still don't know what, but the lack of dialogue also adds to the tension and suspense in the thriller. 

Concentration from the character results in lack of dialogue creating suspense.

Sound effects are used such as the chain clinking when James Bond is falling from the cliff. This is effective because the location is silent, which emphasises the ambient sound of the wind and the chain which creates suspense, as the audience become unsure as to whether the chain will prevent him from falling further whilst the wind emphasises the speed to which he is falling. The landscape is tranquil, but then the diegetic sound of the plane creates a sense of chaos and drama in the narrative, creating suspense as to what will happen next and if the plane will crash into the terrain or not, especially when an extreme close up is used to identify that the controls are not working.

The audience believe the plane could crash due to the diegetic sounds of the plane.

Mise en Scene

Low key lighting is used during the beginning of the extract when the character is shown in the frame looking down over the mountains, which helps to create a tense and scary effect as the character and landscape is more difficult to distinguish in the limited lighting which is a typical convention for a thriller. The shadows on set are much more prominent and the scene appears to be dark with a cold effect, which mirrors the narrative as it could take a tense and sinister turn.

The low key lighting signifies a tense and sinister atmosphere.



The set for the beginning of narrative is a mountainous environment. Due to the openness and rural feel of the area, the narrative automatically presents the audience with a more dangerous, bleak and tense environment, as the environment shown to the audience already has perceptions of danger, making the narrative appear more tense as the events to come are likely to be sinister and action packed, as well as the characters being exposed to the elements.

Screenshot of the setting; a mountainous terrain.

Camera

Long shots are used to help the audience recognise and establish the setting to which this narrative is set. This is used repeatedly throughout the opening 2 minutes, which helps the audience to understand the sheer distance James Bond has to fly in the plane. This is especially effective when James dives off the cliff, as a long shot portrays the drop which increases the audiences adrenaline and anxiety levels, especially increasing the tension as to what mission James Bond is on and allows the audience to familiarise ourselves with the location.

A long shot to show the sheer drop.

A point of view shot is used within this extract so that the audience can see what James Bond is about to do, and the view he has when he is about to jump off the cliff. The action on the screen therefore happens through the eyes of the character. This is effective because it makes us feel as though we, as the audience, are seeing the situation unfold and keeps the audience engaged and adds to the sense of drama and tension in the narrative.

A point of view shot is used.

Editing

Throughout the extract straight cut shots are used in order to set a fast pace to the narrative and create tension and suspense. Each shot is quickly switched to the next at various points in the extract meaning that the audience can't always make out exactly whats happening, therefore engaging the audience as they won't want to miss anything. Straight cut shots are a widely used convention of thrillers as its a good creator of tension and suspense.

As well as this, visual effects are used. An example of this is during the end of the opening sequence, and explosion occurs as James Bond is flying over the mountainous terrain. This adds to the narrative enigma as the audience are clueless as to what caused the explosion or why it happened, adding to the suspense, tension and drama, making the audience sit on the end of their seats wondering who did it, and so they will be alert for the remainder of the film for any clues as to why it happened.

Visual effect example in the narrative.

 The clip analysed shown below: