Opening Sequence Analysis Mean Street
Institutional information The institution is introduced to us first to give recognition to them for supplementing the production of the film. This may also give the audience a brief idea of what themes the film may include as ‘warner Bros’ are a mainstream Hollywood production company. The font is white contrasting with the background colour of black, in capital letters and also has quite a stylish font format to connote the company standing out from others.
Producers/Directors Martin Scorsese is the director of this film which would typically establish a fan base target audience (T.A.) before the actual T.A. for the film has been established. The audience of this time period would recognise Scorsese as a free directors who portrayed his own personal messages in his work and therefor associate this idea with Mean Streets. However, by announcing directors and producers in the opening credits its give them an opportunity to be recognised in the future if people enjoy the film.
Introducing characters By introducing the characters we get an idea of their personality factors which helps to set the themes of the film so that the audience can have a deeper understanding of the narrative when it fully kicks in. By showing the basic details of the actors – e.g. gender, accent, dialect, skin colour etc., we can then realise where they are from and the location of the film. Also, the viewers can recognise any actors that they are particularly fond of from previous films they have seen which may star actors of this film.
Relevant music choice The song selected for the opening sequence was made around 10 years before the production of the film which means Scorsese was trying to connote an old fashioned and classic style for the film which helps to strongly represent the idea of the film being about Mafia’s as they are considered quite an old-school style of gangster. Also, this song was a very popular song with the target audience of the film which means they would relate to the film through Uses and gratifications theory: Personal Identity – ultimately resulting in an increase in the size of the films T.A.
Film Title Mean Streets is a title that connotes the bad side of the location that the film is set in – New York. Also because the title nearly rhymes we feel some sort of flow in the title that is not perfect because the rhyme is not complete. From this we can connote that the narrative is about some sort of incomplete feeling within the protagonist or storyline. The title is crucial to giving away clues to the film but not ruining the storyline by giving away to much.
Actors By including the names of the actors in the opening credits, the viewers can recognise those actors that they are fans of from previous films they have watched, such as Robert De Niro in this case. It can also give the audience a clue on the themes and narrative of the film – for example, De Niros performances are usually very serious, Gangster related character roles. The credits announcing characters names also usually represent the most important characters to the cast which gives us an idea of who is getting paid the most and can sometimes be used to promote new talent starring in the film.
Introducing Themes These images include a priest shaking hands with a foreign looking man in a suit who may represent a part of the Mafia. This could imply that the film portrays various forms of corruption in New York. The other image shows three Sicilian men in formal dress codes standing outside a coffee shop. From this we can expect the themes to include foreign mafias in New York which could have something to do with illegal immigrants and other forms of law braking. The different ages of the characters represent the fact that these groups of people have been going through many different eras and therefor makes the characters wise and clever.