The film opening I’m going to deconstruct is Southpaw, it last for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, its genre is drama/ thriller and it was certificated a 15. Dream works and escape artists were the production companies for southpaw; it was released on the 24th of July 2015 and was successful with a gross profit of $52,418,902. The director of southpaw was Antoine Fuqua, which correlates with the opening subtitles. Accompanied by quiet motivation singing but with no musical background, which implies rawness and independence, subtitles are shown on a black screen with white writing which emphasis the writing. Firstly, the Weinstein Company logo, then Wanda Pictures logo and lastly Fuqua Films logo. Then as a beat is added to music and the volume is raised adding life and tension to the opening, several other titles are displayed, including the word southpaw in bold white lettering and a font that imitates the daily mail implying profession and importance.
Continuing, we are thrown straight in to context with the introductory shot, which is an extreme close up of Billy bandaging up his hands. The audience is shown glimpses of his face, which appears fierce, focused and shows an underlying anger. The lighting in the room is extremely harsh and dark in places. The lighting hits Billy’s face so that it emphasizes his bone structure and creates dark circles under his eyes. I assume this is done on purpose to create an image of danger and hard work in relation to Billy. As this opening scene commences, the motivational music becomes louder and has connotations with success and cockiness. The camera then switches to a mid shot to reveal other characters in the room. There are several men, all stood in silence with concentrated expressions, they are dressed in professional smart suits, some of which I assume are bodyguards. From this scene, the audience is made aware of the importance and popularity of this boxer and the silence is set to emphasize a calm atmosphere to get Billy in his zone. Their dress code also represents the amount of money involved in this event. To get an idea of how many people, or effectively staff, Billy has the editing technique jump cut is used from one person to another is the same room, this suggests the severity of the match and popularity of Billy. This is also shown through an over the shoulder shot of Billy and the men stood around supervising.
In opening scene, there is a reoccurring extreme close of up of the stages of Billy’s boxing gloves, representing the importance of his protection because its such a dangerous fight. We receive a very professional image of Billy as he’s physically ripped, in expensive boxing gear, is well equip and forcing himself to get his head in the right place. At this stage, the music we previously heard dims, getting a sense of it being heard through head phones and we are introduced to non-diegetic sound of chatting and background laughing which lightens the mood and adds a sense of friendliness, in saying that we a tense, eerie sound effect is added to mask the chatter. This imitates Billy’s nerves and anxiety is raising and it gives a feel of the room swallowing him and he’s already fighting against fear.
Another character is introduced when Billy’s wife walks into the harshly lit room. The first we hear of her is the non-diegetic sound of her talking on her phone in a loving, caring manner, which instantly creates an image and persona of her. Stereotypically, she is exactly what we would imagine a successful boxers wife to look life. Her hair is blonde and long is perfect loose curls and she’s dressed in a tight short dress with a perfect complexion and facial features as she struts in with high heels. Interestingly, the tense, eerie music comes to a halt as Billy’s wife walks in, suggesting such brings him calm vibes and is his coping mechanism. Their closeness and connectivity is represented through a close up of the two of them having an intimate moment, the close up emphasizes their relationship.
Lastly, during the intimate scene of Billy and wife, she calming whispers “don’t get hit too much” and the scene is taken to a jump cut of Billy in the ring in a punching position which is ironic to his wife’s last words. The shot starts off incredibly blurry revealing a sense of disorientation; in the background is the non-diegetic roar of the crowd and as Billy gradually fades into HD he edges closer to the camera until he reaches an extreme close up of his fierce, bloody face and he roars come on, but we hear it in a muffled, distorted sound as if its in a dream or in Billy’s own head.
Continuing, we are thrown straight in to context with the introductory shot, which is an extreme close up of Billy bandaging up his hands. The audience is shown glimpses of his face, which appears fierce, focused and shows an underlying anger. The lighting in the room is extremely harsh and dark in places. The lighting hits Billy’s face so that it emphasizes his bone structure and creates dark circles under his eyes. I assume this is done on purpose to create an image of danger and hard work in relation to Billy. As this opening scene commences, the motivational music becomes louder and has connotations with success and cockiness. The camera then switches to a mid shot to reveal other characters in the room. There are several men, all stood in silence with concentrated expressions, they are dressed in professional smart suits, some of which I assume are bodyguards. From this scene, the audience is made aware of the importance and popularity of this boxer and the silence is set to emphasize a calm atmosphere to get Billy in his zone. Their dress code also represents the amount of money involved in this event. To get an idea of how many people, or effectively staff, Billy has the editing technique jump cut is used from one person to another is the same room, this suggests the severity of the match and popularity of Billy. This is also shown through an over the shoulder shot of Billy and the men stood around supervising.
In opening scene, there is a reoccurring extreme close of up of the stages of Billy’s boxing gloves, representing the importance of his protection because its such a dangerous fight. We receive a very professional image of Billy as he’s physically ripped, in expensive boxing gear, is well equip and forcing himself to get his head in the right place. At this stage, the music we previously heard dims, getting a sense of it being heard through head phones and we are introduced to non-diegetic sound of chatting and background laughing which lightens the mood and adds a sense of friendliness, in saying that we a tense, eerie sound effect is added to mask the chatter. This imitates Billy’s nerves and anxiety is raising and it gives a feel of the room swallowing him and he’s already fighting against fear.
Another character is introduced when Billy’s wife walks into the harshly lit room. The first we hear of her is the non-diegetic sound of her talking on her phone in a loving, caring manner, which instantly creates an image and persona of her. Stereotypically, she is exactly what we would imagine a successful boxers wife to look life. Her hair is blonde and long is perfect loose curls and she’s dressed in a tight short dress with a perfect complexion and facial features as she struts in with high heels. Interestingly, the tense, eerie music comes to a halt as Billy’s wife walks in, suggesting such brings him calm vibes and is his coping mechanism. Their closeness and connectivity is represented through a close up of the two of them having an intimate moment, the close up emphasizes their relationship.
Lastly, during the intimate scene of Billy and wife, she calming whispers “don’t get hit too much” and the scene is taken to a jump cut of Billy in the ring in a punching position which is ironic to his wife’s last words. The shot starts off incredibly blurry revealing a sense of disorientation; in the background is the non-diegetic roar of the crowd and as Billy gradually fades into HD he edges closer to the camera until he reaches an extreme close up of his fierce, bloody face and he roars come on, but we hear it in a muffled, distorted sound as if its in a dream or in Billy’s own head.