Opening scenes of films

The Dark Knight

From the very beginning of the film the themes are introduced. It starts by the alteration of the Warner Brothers sign, it is usually gold with a sky blue cloudy background however it is now blue/black with a dark cloudy background. By doing this it has set the scene to imply the themes of evil that are central the film. After there are flashes of the "Joker's" face and body. The joker's face is meant to create fear in the viewer. There are smoke explosions showing mystery as its the unknown, through the smoke the shape of a bat appears however it is distorted and the clouds disappear around it to make it more vivid. The film goes straight into an action shot with tense music creating the on edge atmosphere, giving the feeling that something dangerous is about to happen. The camera starts with a wide shot narrowing down to where the action is about to begin, scaring the viewer by the loud sound and smashing glass by the villain.

I think this is very effective as the viewer knows what to expect. The film is an action film and it is established from the first scene.

Plot Synopsis Of Science of Sleep

Life seems to be looking up for shy and withdrawn Stephane (Gael Garcia Bernal) when he is coaxed to return to his childhood home in France by his mother with the promise of a job. Wildly creative, his fanciful and sometimes disturbing dream life constantly threatens to usurp his waking world. But his joy is muted when he discovers that the job is actually a mundane copy setting position in a tiny office with three co-workers, including one (Alain Chabat) hungry for someone to entertain him and a boss who would prefer to be perpetually left alone.

However, that disappointment is overshadowed when Stephane meets his new next door neighbour, Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her friend, Zoe. Initially mistaken for an injured furniture mover upon first meeting the two young women, and too shy to correct them, Stephanie then must pretend that he doesn’t actually live next door in order to continue the growing friendship with Stephanie.

Stephanie is not nearly as adept at lying as he is at creating and the girls soon learn the truth. Initially attracted to Zoe, he is quickly drawn to Stephanie as her imagination easily matches his own. He enlists and engages her in his various creative projects and inventions and joyfully begins to let her into the confused but colourful world of his mind. And almost inexplicable charmed by him, Stephanie somehow finds the key to the heart of Stephane’s fragile artist. As their relationship blossoms, the confidence he exudes in his fanciful dream life begins bleeding over to his real life as it never had before with Stephane finding success, dispatching villains and looking toward a happy, magical future with Stephanie.

However, just as he finds popularity with the successful publishing of a calendar featuring his illustrations, he becomes distraught over the perceived rejection of his feelings by Stephanie. But did she really reject him? Or through his insecurities, did he simply imagine the scenario which has left him romantically adrift yet again? Unable to bear the prospect of a waking world without Stephanie’s love and with no satisfying solutions coming out of his dream world, Stephane faces a dilemma he may not be able to depend on the science of sleep to help him solve.

Michel Gondry's previous work...

The White Stripes- Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh7UFi2b9xU

I really like the special effects in this, it’s a man walking around an empty house and it seems he keeps seeing memories of things which happened in the house before, but you can distinguish between the present and past as the past is transparent.

Chemical Brothers: Let Forever Be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti4ip8zQyrc

I like the clever way the girl keeps getting duplicated, especially the alarm clocks in the beginning.

Air France commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmNztYfInOA

This is very cleverly done, I like the way the plane just appears between everyday things, my favorite part was when the women is doing yoga and you see the plane between her fingers.

Interview with Michel Gondry

The amazing mind of Michel Gondry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWso3bxjKXc&feature=related

Michel Gondry - Camera Trick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II0er7TmkS8&NR=1

Its very clever how Michel Gondry creates his techniques, it seems that the room itself his set has been set up for the trick. That all the objects are just images to make the room seem like a kitchen and they have a perspective making the objects look bigger in the foreground.