Kiss Me Deadly (Aldrich,1955,US) Analysis of Opening Sequence.

The title of the film in Kiss Me Deadly comes across the screen travelling backwards, so if you pause the screen and read it, it can also be read as 'deadly, kiss me'. This is a good use of filling the frame as the audience are enticed into watching the film because the controversial title could mean that the film will have lots of different twists and meanings within it. Such as in the first screen grab on the left.
The setting of the scene looks very deserted and lonely as there is nobody about except for her and she is running on her own bare foot down the middle of a road. This creates a very eerie atmosphere and this adds to the setting of the film, and gives the audience a real feel to what the genre of the film is. By having the woman running down the middle of the empty road, it makes the audience start to ask questions already, such as what is she running from, and why is she running?The setting is shown in the second screen grab, which because of the film being in black and white it also looks even more lifeless and empty. The audience also start to make assumptions about what she could be running from, whether she is a good character or if she is going to be portrayed as a criminal.
The costume of this character is shown in the second and third screen grab. It is an interesting and intriguing costume choice because she is only wearing a jacket and no shoes. By wearing no shoes the viewers are immediately drawn to looking at her feet, and wondering why she is only wearing one piece of clothing. (Once again makes the audience ask questions about what is going to happen in the film)
The camera work is quite basic as this film is from 1955. It consists of mostly high angle shots, close ups and establishing shots. A high angle shot is shown in the fourth picture in my sequence. By showing the whole scene using a high angle shot, the audience get a further idea of what the setting is like and whereabouts the film is set. The editing used was to make the opening credits at the beginning appear backwards, so you have to actually use your mind to read the opening credits and titles of the film. This means that the audiences attention is already immediately taken by the opening credits.
By using a big bold font, and having it in a bright colour such as white (especially against the dark black background), it grabs the audiences attention. Also the way that the title fills the whole screen, and seems to jump out at you also makes it good to look at and memorable.
The actors are also all written in large font so that the audience pay attention to the people involved within the film. By showing the actors in a large bright font, it makes the actual actors more memorable because they fill the whole frame.
By having the woman running down the middle of the road and having close ups on the womans feet running it shows that the woman is clearly running from something, and that she is scared. Because of the diegetic sound used to make her appear to be out of breath and panting. This also shows that she may have been running for a really long time. By having the opening as the woman running from something we dont see, and having a bland setting, the audience ask lots of questions which get them thinking.(Whos she running from, why is she running from them?)
By having close ups of the womans scared and petrofied face it emphasises the fear and thrill of the genre of the film. Because the woman looks on edge, it comes accross to the viewers that they should be scared for her and also be on edge. By using this the viewers are already on the edge of thier seat as soon as the film has begun.
The first character we see which is the woman is portrayed as vulnerable and scared, and the audience already feel sorry for her and want her to get away from whatever is chasing her. She seems innocent to the audience as she doesnt have many clothes and is running bare foot and you empathise with her. The second character we meet is the man in the car who has a very stern and uncaring outer shell. He says careless comments such as when the woman jumps infront of the car for help:''you almost wrecked my car''. By using this dialogue he looks like he cares more about material things than about people. He also looks selfish, he then tells the woman ''he should have thrown her off the cliff.'' instead of helping her, but as the opening sequence goes on, he becomes a nice gentle man who wants to help the woman. Because when he is challenged by the police man, instead of handing her over because she is the woman they are looking for, he lies to the police (also suggesting he doesnt like the police) and says that she is his wife. So he is helping her out because she looks vulnerable, which shows that the character may have a stern exterior, but a loving interior.
The special effects used in this clip are the credits at the beginning, where they run backwards to make the audience think twice whilst reading them. To make them pay more attention they are used.