Research into openings of action films: Spectre

As part of my research, I looked at three different openings of action films and analysed the codes and conventions in them to see the features held by each and what they have in common, one of them being the 2015 James Bond  film Spectre, as shown in the table below.

Code and Conventions	Findings	Textual evidence
Creation of enigma	At the beginning of the clip, there is uncertainty that can be felt by the audience about who the hero and villain are and they therefore become engaged in the film. Later in the clip, the tracking of the couple walking to and through the hotel creates more mystery for the audience and makes them ask questions to themselves, e.g. what are they going to do in the hotel? Is it linked to the guy in the white suit that was seen earlier?	0.41 – 0.53 – camera initially follows a guy in a skull mask and white suit, before stopping to focus on a couple in similar costume and following their movement through tracking from 0.54 onwards until 3.02.
Introduction to characters	The camera initially follows the movement of a guy in a white suit; when he turns and walks past a couple in similar costume, the camera stops moving before following the couple’s movement from the festival to a hotel through tracking.	0.37 – camera begins to crane in on a guy in a white suit walking through the festival before panning at 0.57 to a couple standing nearby, who walk to a hotel – this is followed through tracking.
Setting up plot	Text is shown on screen before the Day of the Dead festival scene takes place, reflecting the film’s title (Spectre).	‘The dead are alive’ (0.05)
Pace and rhythm Editing/mise en scene/camera shots	Clip begins with a large model skeleton being paraded through the streets of Mexico City as part of the Day of the Dead festival before camera follows movement of a guy in a white suit & skeleton mask and later, a couple, a woman in a dress and mask and another guy (who is later revealed to be Bond) in a skeleton suit and skull costume. without editing. This continues when Bond leaves the hotel through a window – doing this makes the scene calm & relaxed; it also suggests the guy and the couple are connected in some way and their paths will cross later in the film. When Bond is in the hotel room, he is revealed to be wearing a suit, connoting business and formality.	Guy in a white suit is first seen at 0.32 – camera then pans to and later focuses on a couple at 0.48, who start walking to a hotel at 0.51 until 2.33, when they enter their hotel room. Camera then pans from woman to Bond at 2.58 – from this point, the camera follows Bond’s movement as he walks out of a window and walks along the rooftops and sets up his gun, before the camera cranes in on the window that he will shoot at.
Mood and tone (non-diegetic music)	Drums and trumpets, then no music until Bond steps out of hotel window. Music becomes more intense when he walks across roof and prepares to shoot at a window at the end of the ledge he walks across.	2.58 – music stops when woman asks ‘Where are you going?’ It continues to play at 3.01, when Bond steps out of window and part of the Bond theme tune can be heard at 3.50.