Social Drama Opening Title Sequences

  THE KID (2010, NICK MORAN)

Shots 1 and 2.)
These show the company sponsoring and working with he production of the film.

3.)
Although this shot is minimal, it creates the setting and clear indication as to what the year is during this part of the film.
NOTE, this establishment of the year in writing happens throughout the film.

4.)
This shot clearly establishes the main character. Just by the way they have positioned him, we can tell he is beaten and bruised and has just been kicked out of a van by two men.

5.)
This is where the opening sequence really begins! Throughout the following shots, actor names are presented on walls and surrounding setting in a child-like crayon manner. I think this embellishes the innocence and sadness of the story, through loss of a childhood.

6.)
The setting presented to us in this shot, really establishes the setting n the rest of the film. This is where it becomes more obvious that the genre is a drama, featuring the convention ; run down housing estate, a home to our protagonist.

7.)
This shot also continues to establish the setting, although tries to show as little as possible to ready the audience for the following shots.

8, 9, 10 and 11.)
These continue to follow the protagonist through a run down abandoned house, leading us upstairs to an empty stark box room. In terms of mise-en-scene, the lighting is dim; to follow the mood, costume is simple; so as to keep the focus of attention on background, and the props are plentiful; to foreshadow what the character is doing.

The pill tubs and bottles of alcohol establish that the character is already in a bad place, before the film has even begun, so this adds tension and makes the audience want to know what happened.

12.)
This shot always stands out to me, as it features the title and the 'based on a true story' title in similar fonts to the actors names.
However, the main reason it stands out, is because the director's name is not included. In fact, Nick Moran's name is not mentioned until the end of the film.






In my opinion, The Kid, (2010, Director Nick Moran)has one of the most effective opening sequences, hence why I chose to look at more of the opening shots.