Opening Sequence Analysis

In order to have a better understanding of the way in which opening sequences work, we analysed three different opening sequences.

White Chicks is directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written and produced by Keenen Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. The film was produced by Revolution Studios and distributed by Columbia Pictures and released in the UK on the 23^rd June 2004. It stars Shawn and Marlon Waynans as Marcus Copeland and Kevin Copeland; two disgraced FBI agents who, after a major blunder, have one final opportunity to restore their status. Their supervisor, Elliott Gordon (Frankie Faison) assigns them the duty of protecting cruise line heiresses Brittany and Tiffany Wilson (Maitland Ward and Anne Dudek) from a kidnapping plot, as a last resort to save them from being discharged from the agency given their recent slip-up. When the Wilson sisters get a facial scar in a car accident, they refuse to leave the hotel due to their appearance. In order to save their job, the Copeland brothers did the unthinkable by disguising themselves as white women in the form of Wilson sister look-alikes landing themselves in hilarious and disastrous circumstances. The genre of this film is a comedy and the opening sequence alone displays many of the conventions of this genre including mistakes, the teasing of others and numerous counts of tripping up and falling over. However, it could be said that the film is to some extent an action film as it also has some of the codes of a typical action genre film such as guns, fighting and other means of violence.  Genre is a method of film categorization based on similarities in the narrative elements. A narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events.

The first thing displayed is the infamous picture associated with the company that distributed the film; Columbia Pictures followed by the company the film was produced by; Revolution Studios. The title of the film then appears; the font is sans serif and is white on a black background which could indicate that the target audience of the film is boys. This point is then further emphasised with the diegetic music accompanying the opening credits which is “Latin Thugs” by Cypress Hill. The title of the film then cuts to an aerial shot, a bird’s-eye view over a busy city. Both of these are codes for an action genre as a lot of action films take place in cities and the music was suggestive of crimes. This shot then zooms closer when a blue van drives into the scene, the sound of the music then changes and it sounds more like the music is coming from the blue van than just being introductory music, three large, muscle-bound, suspicious looking men get out of the van. This shows that the people getting out of the van plays a part in whatever is about to happen. After that comes a mid shot of a man dancing in his shop to some Caribbean music. The way the man danced gave a comic element because he was shaking his hips and looked amusing both in how he was moving and the way he looked. He is wearing a washed out pale green shirt, unbuttoned low enough to reveal part of his hairy chest, his hair is big and wild and he is smoking a cigar. He was shaking his bottom half and is doing an almost moon walk like movement up and down behind the counter, he is so engrossed in his music he doesn’t notice the three men walk into the shop, until they arrive at the counter. The shop owner then talks about a bobble head which is comic as there are no bobble heads around and nobody mentioned anything to do with bobble heads. There is some dialogue between the leader of the three suspicious men and the shop keeper in an over the shoulder, point of view shot and the suspicious man asks for “Manny”. The shop keeper calls “Manny” who appears with maracas and is even more eccentric looking than the first shop keeper. He is dressed in a washed out blue shirt and his hair is wearing in the middle showing his probably older than the man in the green shirt. He doesn’t walk out; he dances out shaking the maracas as he does.  The two of them break out into song and dance which is again a humorous moment. A close up of the suspicious man shows by his faced that he is bemused by the two of them and doesn’t really know how to react. The film then cuts back to the two dancing men who are still singing and dancing. The shop keeper then says “Hammer Time” which places the film in modern day and with the younger generation as it is something which adolescents will associate with. The suspicious man then stops them mid flow and asks if they can “get down to business” this is a clear suggestion that whatever this so called business is, it is immoral which anchors us into the action genre as there is always some kind of corrupt plan involved.

In an extreme close up we then see the suspicious man hiss “you got the money” and his face is very intimidating which further emphasises the suspicions raised. In reply to this, and in an extreme close up, Manny then replies in random gibberish, this is very comical and the way in which his face moves to make the sounds is even more comical. Whilst Manny is making these arbitrary noises, we cut to a close up of the suspicious man who does not look amused and looks even more puzzled than when they were dancing. We are also shown in a mid-close up the expressions of the suspicious man’s side kicks who are both perplexed. The shot then goes back to a two man shot with Manny and the shop keeper who translates what Manny is saying. Manny was saying that he wasn’t going to give the men any money until they tell him what flavour the ice cream is, which is quite an odd thing for him to make so much of a big deal about again adding to the comedy of this film. The scene then switches between close ups of Manny and the suspicious man, one of these close ups shows Manny brushing his hair, this is funny in two ways, firstly because he barely had any hair to brush and the manner in which he did so was funny, secondly because stereotypically, men don’t usually brush their hair. The shop keeper is then instructed to give the men a silver box filled with money. Once again this shows that it’s a comedy and it’s not following stereotypes. In some comedies, stereotypes are used to create comedy by making a character an exaggerated stereotype. However some films create comedy by not following the rules of stereotypes, White Chicks is an example of this.  Not many small shops have cases with thousands of dollars inside it just lying around the shop.

In another point of view shot we see the main suspicious man ordering his side kicks to “go get the stuff”; this makes us assume that the stuff they are getting isn’t actually ice cream which is again a code for the action genre. When they return with the “stuff” the main man takes the money from the counter but is stopped by more of Manny’s gibberish. This time the gibberish seems more passionate, like he’s warning the men off of something. He does an action as if he is holding a gun and shooting someone, in close ups of the three suspicious men they all look perplexed and a bit scared.  Manny grabs a bottle and gets on top of the counter and continues avidly shouting in gibberish, pointing at the ceiling. As the shop keeper goes to explain what Manny meant they both pull off masks to reveal their true identity and hold their FBI badges as fast paced music begins. The two FBI agents then jump over the counter and each take a man (or mans) to scrap with. Fast paced diegetic music plays in the background whilst we are shown various shots of the men fighting; this places the film tightly in the action genre as fighting and violence are two of the main codes of an action film. This is further confirmed when one of the FBI agents uses a glass tea pot to attack the two men he is fighting and smashes on one of the men’s heads. The isn’t a lot of talking in this part of the scene, apart from the odd comical remark from the men like “Is that all your big ass got?”. The camera exchanges between the two fights until a low angled mid shot of the agent who dressed as the shop keeper in green is shown, the music becomes quieter as he shouts “Enough” whilst pointing a gun and the men. This shot make him seem powerful as we as an audience are almost looking up a him. It could be a point of view shot for the men who are on the floor looking up at him. The gun adds further to the action in the film as weapons are another code of an action film. We learn that the agent who dressed as the shop keeper in green is called Kevin. This is because he has to turn his attention to his partner who is on the back of the main man screaming for help, the music picks up again as they restart their brawl. Kevin punches the main man who is winded and drops to the floor allowing “Manny”  (whose real name we do not know yet) to get off. He then punches the main man in the face as the music stops, this tells us the action has stopped, for now. We learn “Manny’s” name is Marcus.

Marcus and Kevin congratulate themselves for “the biggest bust of their career” without any help. Just as they are about to gloat even further, Kevin sticks his finger in the “stuff” that the men brought in only to discover that it is in fact vanilla ice cream. Kevin picks up the main man who is bleeding from his lip and asks where the drugs are; he replies simply that he knows nothing about drugs and that he sells ice cream. This adds mystery to the film which can be found in action films. But is also quite funny, as the men have made a huge mistake. This is further emphasized when three men (whom are even more suspicious looking than the first three) walk into the shop and say “Tell many his ice cream delivery is here” Everyone in the shop looks at the men who immediately sense that something is not right about the situation. The camera shows the main man on the floor,  two men cowering in the corner with their hands rose. In a mid close up we see his facial expression, he looks calm at first but it is obvious he is worried as he is in a room with two FBI agents.  Marcus and Kevin pull put their guns but the three men are armed with guns themselves. The music picks up again and the men begin to shoot at Marcus and Kevin who dive behind the counter. The three criminals run out of the shop followed by the ice cream delivery men, both of whom jump into ice cream vans leaving Marcus and Kevin unsure which one to shoot at. The two of them are clearly gutted at their unfortunate case of mistaken identity.

The opening sequence of White Chicks primarily shows the codes of an action film although it is advertised as a comedy. There are small parts which are funny but that is over shadowed by the amount of action.  In my opinion, I think this is to draw the audience in. Because the audience are already hooked on the plot after all the fights and shooting, especially male viewers, they will want to see if there is any further action and the humour in the film could almost be seen as an added bonus.