'The Fugitive' Opening Sequence Textual Analysis

The sequence opens with a sound bridge of background music, it is mysterious and chilling. A large ‘bang’, clap of thunder or jail cell door slamming sound happens when the blue, flashlight styled titles appear with the two main stars of the film and the name of the film too. It echoes and could be likened to the echo of a gun shot. The Police sirens in the background in the city let the audience know that there is something not quite right and juxtaposed with the back and white sequences makes the audience think that the Police are there because of the killing. The same ‘bang’ used during the titles is used to introduce the back and white shots throughout the sequence we watched. They make you jump the first time you hear it and to add to this the black and white sequences are a bit shocking too. A TV presenter in the street tells the audience the details of the going’s on so far and this has the same effect as a voice over, even though it is a sound bridge across a few different shots. A gun shot is heard in one of the back and white sequences and this is really over exaggerated (louder then usual) as it is one of the only sounds that the audience can hear at that point.
The first shot we see is a flyover/helicopter shot over a large city at night where all you can see is the lights, we assume it is in America and we find out that it is Chicago from the side of an ambulance. During the black and white sequences, the camera stays in close ups and mid-shots which conceals the rest of the scene from the audience, the camera does follow the action but the framing is quite tight so the audience doesn’t get to see any of the location the scene is set in and also not the killers face. When we see the ambulance, the camera follows it from the same spot and when the driver parks and gets out, it lifts up (most likely on a crane) and reveals the location; a Police Station plus lots of Police cars and others too. During the negative type photo shots around the apartment and of the dead women, there is almost a Dutch tilt used to put the audience on edge and the negative photo look adds to this as we can’t see very much of the scene at all.
The negative type photo shots suggest that they were investigator photos and this was backed up by the two men wearing the same trench coat, detective costume in the Police Station walking down the stairs and leading the Harrison Ford character to the car. The blue titles are gloomy and suggest an ominous tone and mood from the beginning. The black and white sequences are in slow motion which could be created digitally or through over cranking the camera while filming. This intensifies the struggle of the women and also creates the idea that it could be a flashback. Continuity editing is used to make the film flow and make sense, also cross cutting is used between the black and white and colour sequences to show that they are possibly linked.
The whole look is dark, apart from the colour shot of the apartment where it was light, warm and homely colours maybe suggesting what life used to be like for the main character. The film is set in an urban location which is a common convention of the Thriller genre. There is blood on the Ford character’s white t-shirt, did he kill the women? He also has a longish beard which shows that he has maybe stopped caring for himself as he also looks a little depressed.
The audience from the beginning are trying to work out what has happened, who the characters are and also who could have killed the women; enigma codes.Some things that I saw from the extract that I thought might be good to keep in mind or include in my Thriller production are: black and white to suggest flashback/forward, integrated titles, mysterious music that isn’t too upbeat to ruin the tension.