Terminator 2 :opening sequence review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcisPdJVNl8&feature=fvst 


In this review I am going to examine the film Terminator 2 , and the opening sequence. I will be looking at the sound/music, mise enscene and lighting. I chose this particular genre to review because this genre’s conventions are very similar to what my group’s opening sequence will include.

The film starts off with a wind sound, this almost establishes the setting as from the sound, you would expect the setting to be desolate and empty. Low lighting is used to suggest death and darkness. This film includes aircraft that look like they are from the future and beams that are assumed to be shots at something. The next part of the opening sequence which includes a tank travelling along a ground filled with human skulls, this brings home the idea of death and then the enigmas start. A battlefield is established and the mise en scene is human skulls, machines and bullets. The credits used at the start of the film appear shortly after the action has faded. The actor’s names appear like they have been typed in my a computer. The music behind is quite subtle until the words “The Terminator” come on screen, this is when triumphant music kicks in.

This opening sequence will help our group see a successful simple opening sequence and get ideas from it. As our group initially wanted either and alien or machine/robot in our opening sequence, we can see how James Cameron has created the perfect opening sequence that introduces all the enigmas, allows the audience a taste of the rest of the film and with the opening sequence you know what genre it is, so an audience would know whether they will enjoy the upcoming film.

Katherine Whittaker