Analysis of a title sequence

James Bond is a massive multinational franchise. It is well known for having spending lots of time and effort on their tittle sequences and has almost created its own kind of title sequence as they are easily recognisable.

In the 2012 movie Skyfall, the film starts with a massive chase/fight scene and shockingly James Bond is shot and falls into the sea. As he begins to sink non-diagetic music begins to play of the Adelle song Skyfall that was made especially for the movie.  

The franchise is also well known for having a big artist at the time of the film make the song for the film for example Sam Smith has just made the song for the new film Spectre. By having a song made especially for the film not only means that the music fits perfectly with the tittle sequence, it also advertises the film becuase everyone that hears the song will be reminded of the film and if they like the song then they are more likely to watch the film. 

The scene then cuts to black and then cuts back to James drowning and being dragged down deaper into the water. This could have an inside message for what may happen further in the film, he may find himself in a situation that he cant escape from or maybe he feels his career is dragging his life down. It then says "Daniel Craig" in text in the centre of the screen, this may have been used because he is their lead actor playing the position of James Bond. He is a very famour and popular actor and if people are new to the franchise they will be more likely to continue watching the film if they know he is in it. 

It then cuts to a point of view shot of him looking down into a worm hole appearing in the sea bed that is sucking him in. Next it cuts to a long shot of him being sucked in and in the centre of the screen appears the film title "Skyfall". The title of the film may have been used at this point because it links to the worm hole that is appearing as everything is falling in on itself. It follows him down and then moves into a birdseye view shot behind him coming out the other side of the hole.

Floating round the sea are military style shooting targets however they are pictures of James, the main one in the centre of the scene is bleeding suggesting it has been shot. This may have been used to show the two differant points of view for the main character because he is seen as nothing more than a target to the criminals however he still bleeds. The fact that there are multiple targets and that some of them are damaged and have been ripped in half. may also suggest that there are going to be lots of criminals targeting him further on in the film. 

The camera carries on zooming into the bullet hole in the centred targets chest. As the camera moves through the other side of the target a women is there and the camera moves down from her hair down her body. She isn't wearing any clothing and looks round in a seductive manor. The fact that the camera moved through a bullet hole in James chest/heart could suggest that she may be the or a "Bond girl" of this film as she is in his heart. However faitly in the background can be seen a spinning gun which could suggest that she has shot/hurt him or may cause him some danger further on in the film.

The camera then continues to move all the way down to the sea bed and then continues to zoom forwards, as this happens guns and knives fall down and into the sand along side tombstones. The guns and knives also look alot like tombstones. this gives the impression of muder and the clouds at the top also give off a dark impression.

The camera continues to move and the background becomes red, we can see a cemetory/church with a chunk missing from the front of the building and in that area is James's face. This could suggest that he is having his funeral or that he may loose a close friend later in the film. Also the red background gives off a large image of danger and even anger, maybe he will find himself in danger or may be angry and seek revenge. 

The camera move into the building a zooms in on James with multiple shadows. He is turning round and shooting all of the shadows. This could suggest that his enemies are close to him or disguised, or it could even suggest that he will put himself in danger further on in the film. As he begins too shoot one the second one turns to attack him giving the impression that he will never have a place to hide. As he turns to the final shadow its face changes into another persons, this further backs up the idea that he is unsure of his enemies or could also suggest some kind of insanity or mental illness, maybe he is having delusions.

It then cuts back to in the water with red spreading across the water. The red is bulked in the middle and then transforms into a skull. This gives connotations of evil and danger by the use of the colour red The camera then zooms into the skull, to black and then in to a girl holding a gun towards the camera. It then zooms into the barrel of the gun and too black. This could be used to link the gun to death as inside the barrel is darkness. By using a normal looking girl could suggest that the danger is disguised or maybe someone he trusts. 





It then cuts to darkness with military style shooting targets that are pictures of James the same as the ones used earlier however these ones are on fire. Although this contrasts with the earleir used one it has a similar message as they both suggest that he will be in danger and that he is targeted by multiple people. Also it looks similar to hell this could suggest that he is going to be punished or tourchored or may even be doing something "bad" further in the film that causes him to go to "hell". 

It then cuts to a montage of shapes such as tombstones and churches with shapes of women bluring in and out of the scene. The scene also uses white and black contrasting colours, this makes the scene look very light and almost hevenly. This could suggest that there will be a female further in the film that will cause him happiness or help him further in the film or maybe he will do something positive for her for example saving her life.

It then cuts to a point of view shot of someone looking down their suit at the floor in their hand is a gun and automatically the audience is given the impression that this is James Bond. He then looks up into a reflection of himself, similar to fun house mirrors their a multiple reflections. This could have been used to give the impression that he needs to have eyes everywhere and needs to be cautious because something bad is coming or going to happen later in the film. It also gives of connotations of confusion or even that the character could be mentally/physically lost at some point. He then begins shooting at all the different reflections of himself. This further connotates that there may be an enemy in disguise or that he cant trust himself.

It then has a long shot zooming in on James turning around and holding a gun up towards the camera. In his chest is a bullet hole and the camera zooms into the bullet hole in his chest, it is red and black colours that then merge into tombstones and a church again relating to death and hell again. While it moves forward there is red blood drops falling from the sky like rain, while this is happening the song is at the chorus which is talking about "skyfall" which relates to what is happening on screen as well as the film. As it zooms James face fades in and it continues to zoom in.

Click here to watch this title sequence