Opening scene to Donnie Darko:

                                      

The film Donnie Darkos first opening image shows "The Pandora logo" this tells us that it’s a low budget film, because it is produced by Prandora which is a low budget American company. Also in the credits before the film actually starts it says it's an "A Flower Film" this lets us know that Drew Barrmore will be one of the actors in it, but making us still unsure if she’s going be playing one of the main or a minor character. It also says it’s "A Richard Kelly Film" it declares that the director is Richard Kelly. When the credits are rolling you can hear the sounds of the wind, birds and thundering suggesting that the first opening scene of the film is going to be out side in the wildlife, it gives it a nature and fresh feel to it, implying it could be early in the morning. Then the camera slowly moves towards the boy who is laying on the road , also its in a dark forest and uses spooky music in the back ground gives you the impression that the film is going to be a thriller. When the camera goes towards him in a slow motion it gives you the idea that he could be the main character and as you get more into the film it could let you find out how he got there and why?.  As the boy isn’t moving it gives you the thought is he dead? but then when he gradually starts moving you can tell that he is in his pajamas lets you know he has slept there and as he awakes he looks confused and clueless but as he stands up and looks around he "smiles" this shows us that he's relicensed where he is and tells us that he's not afraid or worried about being in the middle of nowhere suggest that he's been in this situation before an is used to it. When he starts to bike back music kicks in and it shows that he shouldn’t be there as he is rushing and biking fast as the music builds up and the beats gets faster showing his emotion.

Neo Noir:

Neo Noir is a style which is often seen in modern films and other forms of outstanding use of elements in Film Noir but using more modern themes, style, content or visual elements that were used in Noir films that were produced in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Neo Noir is classed as a sub-genre which involved the use of crime dramas, which would be filmed in colour to give it more of a modern look.  The films “After Dark, My Sweet” and “Hard Element” are Neo Noir films but also combine elements from the western genre like for example the settings and themes from the western genre.

The opening to Requiem For a Dream:

Requiem for a Dream (2000, directed by Darren Aronofsky)

I have decided to analyse the first  5 minutes from Requiem for a Dream in the first scene, I’m going to look at the way Darren Aronofsky has used sound, camera movements, characters, mise-en-scene, story board and effects in Requiem for a Dream. The way he has used mise-en-scene, editing and sound has a massive affect on the development of the story plot and the way the viewers see the movie as a whole. For example the movie is about forms of different addictions and how it affects and can change your life, even in the first minute of Requiem for a Dream it shows one of the main characters smoking and stealing a television from his mother this could suggest to you that the film is going to be either about criminal or drugs.

At the beginning in the first scene in Requiem for a Dream, it begins with a blank black screen and then the title comes down on to it and then shatters and disappears so there is just a black screen again, this show that the film is going to be dark and an unhappy and straight away this will become people’s expectation of the film as a whole. The blank screen is also used so the attention is drawn straight away to the next shot which is of a medium close up of the man smoking then a wide shot of the other man stealing a television which you find later on that he is stealing it from his mother to buy drugs this could have a connection with it being a drug and gangster film. Throughout the first scene there is a piece of music in the background as the film goes on the faster the piece of music gets, the music makes the viewers intrigued in what is going to happen as the film goes on. The sound gives it tension and suspense and making you guess what the film is going to be about and what’s going to happen to the characters your see in the first scene   gives the impression that something bad is going to happen, and it makes the viewer want to watch as you don’t know what’s going to happen. This non diegetic music pops up throughout the film when something is sad and upsetting and it is used a lot towards the end showing you that the first scene shows you how the ending with end.

 The photos above show the dark, violent, crime and unhappiness to the film that you get the see as the film goes on. But you can tell straight away from the first 5 minutesof the film that Requime For A Dream is going to be a dark thriller film from the sound, theme, mise-en-scene and characters that are used at the start of the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zGF_WD--Nk <--- The clip I studied and analyzed