The title sequence for the film ‘Leon’ is interesting as it quickly engages and introduces the audience to the narrative. The iconography used within this title sequence sets the location of the film. The use of yellow taxis and buildings has been used to represent the city of New York. The scene then changes as the colours green, white and red are used to set the location and to link with the idea that they are in Italy. The way the text is used it quite subtly. This means that the text does not take away from the scene, the use of white for the font colour could suggest purity.
Because the title of the film is in capitals and also centralised, it suggests that the central protagonist and that they are significant within the narrative. A bird’s eye view shot creates an establishing shot and so this sets the scene and gives the audience a location. The use of close ups and extreme close ups are important within the title sequence as it creates enigma code because the characters’ identities are concealed. It also makes them appear more menacing and mysterious. Also, using close ups means that you can create eye contact with the audience; this appears very intense as it suggests that both of the men are tense and also passionate about what they are taking about. This creates tension as you can’t see either of the men’s’ facial expressions or identities.
The use of eye line match makes the audience feel as if they are being let in on a secret. The non-diegetic sound of the drums makes the scene sound more sinister and so this is parallel tot eh scene as a crime is about to occur. We then see a close up shot of a character that we assume is ‘Leon’. It allows us to see character 1, which we believe to be the central protagonist, Leon as the audience are able to see him in character 2’s glasses. By doing this it gives a sense of identity and also this means that we can see how the other character sees him and may suggest their relationship. The leading lines within this frame also help to guide the audience’s eyes towards the reflection in the glasses.
Using extreme close up shots can suggest that this is a tense moment and can add to the fact that they believe in what they are saying as they are passionate about the subject and so this can make the scene quite tense as you can see the whole of the character’s face, creating a lack in identity and personality. The non-diegetic music stops and this allows the audience to focus on what is happening and being said within the scene, this conveys the idea that something important is taking place. The diegetic sounds within the scene are very subtle and this is because the audience are meant to be focusing on what is being said rather than on the sounds.
However, when Leon bangs the glass of milk on the table the sound is amplified. This is significant as the colour of milk is white and so this could signify purity. This would contrast with the shadows in the frame and also his dark black clothing. As the sound of the glass hitting the table is amplified, this suggests quite angry or aggressive behaviour and this also creates a contrast between that and the purity f the milk. A binary opposition is created as purity contrasts the bad task that is going to be carried out. The image that we are shown is in black and white and so this is important as black implies death and suggests that the character is going to be killed by Leon as he is wearing black clothing and this matches the scene.
An extreme close up has been used on the character’s face and also the rule of thirds has been applied to suggest a sense of mystery as the audience are only able to see one of the character’s eyes. A close up shot on the character’s mouth was used as the character says “Let’s talk business. By doing this it engages the audience and also employs that this a significant point within the play. It also makes the audience feel as if they are being let in on a secret.
This has influenced our title sequence as we discussed stopping the non-diegetic music and just having silence to show significant points within the title sequence and to also increase the tension and suspense. After watching this title sequence we thought that amplifying sounds was a good idea as it builds tension because the audience try to match their breathing with the breathing of the character.
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