Movie Opening Analysis - The Departed (2006)

Synopsis -

A South Boston, the state police force is waging war on Irish-American organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Frank Costello. While Billy quickly gains Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan, a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the state police as an informer for the syndicate is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man 
becomes deeply consumed by their double lives, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations they have penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the mob and the police that there is a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy - and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save themselves. But is either willing to turn on their friends and comrades they've made during their long stints undercover?

The Departed retrieved 24/11/16
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/

Production/Distribution Companies -

The film got the official greenlight from Warners in early 2005, and began shooting in the spring of 2005.Although some of the film was shot on location in Boston, for budgetary and logistical reasons many scenes, interiors in particular, were shot in locations and sets in New York City, which had tax incentives for filmmakers that Boston at the time did not.

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (often referred to as Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros., Warner Brothers and also shortened to WB) is an American entertainment company and a division of Time Warner, headquartered in Burbank, California. Warner Bros. is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America.

Warner Bros. retrieved 24/11/16
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros.

Films The Company Has Produced -

June 5, 2009	The Hangover	co-production with Legendary Pictures and Green Hat Films
July 15, 2009	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	co-production with Heyday Films
July 24, 2009	Orphan	co-production with Dark Castle Entertainment and Appian Way Productions
August 21, 2009	Shorts	co-production with Imagenation Abu Dhabi, Media Rights Capital and Troublemaker Studios
September 11, 2009	Whiteout	co-production with Dark Castle Entertainment
September 18, 2009	The Informant!	co-production with Participant Media and Groundswell Productions
	The Firm	UK Film
October 2, 2009	The Invention of Lying	US distribution only; co-production with Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Radar Pictures and Media Rights Capital
October 16, 2009	Where the Wild Things Are	co-production with Legendary Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and Playtone Entertainment
November 6, 2009	The Box	co-production with Radar Pictures and Media Rights Capital

Timeline -

• 00:00-00:05 = The opening shot starts on a grey/black screen and establishes the location by stating it in white text that is central. It also tells the audience when the next clip was taken by saying 'some years ago'. This shot stays on the screen for 3 seconds before immediately by using a straight cut goes into the next shot. It shows 2 men fighting, it uses a dark colour pallet and low key lighting but as well as this it is easy to infer the footage is from a different time as the quality isn't the best as it is blurred and speech is muffled. It is filmed from a long distance and initially establishes a negative tone.
• 00:05-00:10 = The fight continues onto the next time frame and more people join in, some trying to stop the fight and others contribute to it. At 00:07 a voiceover takes over the situation, but as appose to narrating what is happening he talks about himself. This then takes the focus off what is happening in the frame as we as an audience are more focused on listening to what he is saying. During this time the camera angle stays the same however it zooms in to get closer into the action that is happening on screen.
• 00:10-00:15 = The voiceover continues and he is speaking in a clear voice with a slow pace to ensure those watching understand him. The clip transitions onto a medium close up of a police man standing in front of an older fashioned yellow school bus. The shot continues following the bus as it drives along the road and we see another police man also from the same distance. However the angle is more tilted with it being taken from the side of the road instead of directly in front.
• 00:15-00:20 = The voiceover is present throughout the rest of the opening sequence, this frame shows more fights happening in the streets which could reflect the brutality and then anger of the time. Also, someone runs across with an American flag on fire which could show a hatred and revolt towards America or the government. An extreme close up shot follows this point which zooms in on 'NO' written in white capital letters on a black post box. The final second of this frame focuses on a school bus with children waving looking happy and content.
• 00:20-00:25 = This frame starts with a shot of two girls in a school bus smiling and waving, clearly acknowledging the cameras presence, a close up shot of a smashed school bus follows this and we see the eye of a child. The camera zooms out showing a line of buses being guarded by police officers.
• 00:25-00:30 = This starts with a medium long shot of a crowd of people, the camera pans around to show the magnitude and scale of the people present. The voiceover has stopped at this point at the sound from the footage being shown is now being heard by watchers. A sound bridge of a man speaking from the footage starts at roughly 00:27 and at 00:30 we see who he is and a close up of his face from an angle.
• 00:30-00:35 = A soft acoustic music starts at the beginning of this frame, whilst the man is still talking. The atmosphere and tone has changed to that of a happier more lighter nature. We then see an establishing shot of an American city, most probably Boston due to the information giving to us at the start of the opening sequence. The music continues playing over this shot also. The camera then pans and starts to focus on a certain area of the city meanwhile the voiceover starts again and the music fades into the background but still plays.
• 00:35-00:40 = The music is very quiet now but still being heard faintly while the voiceover continues. The camera zooms in closer onto a certain area of the establishing shot of Boston. The zoom grows more intense and deeper over this time frame.
• 00:40-00:45 = The camera focuses on that one section for a couple of seconds and cuts straight to a shot of a man walking in what appears to be a garage. His figured is blacked out as first as he is standing behind a door. This could potentially indicate a change in time period due to the swift and sudden changes in footage that is being shown. The music becomes louder and now is also accompanied with an electric guitar also. The voiceover also continues, we could speculate that the man we now see in the clip is doing the voiceover but that isn't told to us.
• 00:45-00:50 = The music continues and the voiceover becomes more lighthearted and humorous. Swearing, and informal language is used to show a change in tone, the camera follows the man walking along a garage. He is smoking a cigarette and wearing sunglasses with slicked back hair.
• 00:50-00:55 =  In this frame the man is still walking, no cuts or edits have been used due to it being a continuation of the last section. We see him breath out his smoke, the camera is still following him as he walks. As well as this the camera is following him from the side angle and is filming from a medium close up distance. In addition derogatory language is being used by the voiceover, potentially to create a clearer more vivid picture of the harsh realities of that time.
• 00:55-01:00 = The camera continues still to follow the man but also as the clip progresses the camera slowly zooms in onto his face which is still blacked out so we only see the high points and outlines. The voiceover is still a continuing presence and with the music is the only sound being heard by watchers. Ambient sound from what we are actually being shown isn't being heard at all.
• 01:00-01:05 = The camera zooms in slightly more on the figure but he continues walking. The camera at this point stops tracking the figure which allows him to walk out of shot. Also, the music grows louder and eventually after 2 second takes over and the voiceover stops completely. This followed by a clear cut shows a change in location potentially but definitely shows a change in situation. The final second starts with an establishing shot of a shop which a car drives past, we still don't hear sound from the content being shown at this point.
• 01:05-01:10 = The camera zooms into the shops door but instead of staying in one place it physically moves. Almost as if it is representing a person walking up to the shop, a lady walks by with a dog and we see a man sitting on a green bench reading a newspaper.
• 01:10-01:15 = The camera draws in closer to the shop and we see two young boys walking out of the store carrying a brown paper bag and what appears to be a comic book. The instrumental music turns into signing also and the camera turns to show a bar area with young children sat drinking coke and reading comics.
• 01:15-01:20 = The camera turns roughly 90 degrees until it's directly facing the bar, during this turn the man behind the bar walks across to wear the camera is positioned. This makes it clear to the audience that the camera is in fact representing a person.  
• 01:20-01:25 = The music is still playing but we now can hear sound from the actual video we are seeing. We hear a car slamming its breaks and the tyres screeching on the road, at this moment we see an older man at the bar wearing a blue shirt. The till opens and there is a close up shot of the cashier handing money over to the man and him seeing how much there is. It is possible this man is the same person who we saw in a previous section at the garage.  

Analysis:

• The clip starts with a black screen that has grey undertones, superimposed on it in capital, bold writing is Boston and underneath in the same font but not capitalized it establishes a rough time period. Then it uses a straight cut to transition to a blurred clip of two men fighting. The use of dark colours establish a dark and negative setting which is fitting considering it moves into a violent fight. Furthermore, it uses a medium long shot to give detail to what is happening so we as an audience see what is going on in that particular frame.

• The camera pans around showing a driving school bus which is behind several stationary buses. We also see two police officers wearing protective armour standing affirmatively on the side of the road. Their authoritarian posture and stance could show their power but also their seriousness, the buses could be being used to transport children from a dangerous environment. The police being present issues a sense of alert and fear which increase the tension of the shot.

• The fighting continues once again and is similar to what was shown in the first segment of the opening. However this time to fighting is on a larger scale and is more brutal. Additionally we see someone run across the background holding an American flag that is on fire. This could shown signs of rebellion and anger towards the country or government. The dark lighting could be symbolizing the open brutality and violence being show to us, but also reiterating the negative mood and tone of the opening sequence.

• The starts zoomed onto a broken piece of glass window on a school bus were we see a girls eye looking outside. The camera draws back swiftly showing the line of school buses and back of a police officers head. The cracked glass could represent a broken country or society, the fights, protests, anarchy all point towards a rebellion. The broken glass could symbolize and broken nation.  

• The establishing shot of what we presume to be Boston sets the scene for the rest of the scene. This could also acts as an indication of a change in time, normally we would see this shot at the beginning of a movie opening but this particular movie has gone against movie conventions. The camera then slightly pans around a zooms into a certain place, therefore draws our attention onto a different spot of the frame.

• This gif uses low key lighting to keep an element of suspense and unknown, we don't know who the man is but it allows the audience to guess and speculate which makes viewing more engaging. He is walking in a slow and relaxed manner but also is tall and looking slightly up towards the sky. This could show power and authority which makes watchers aware of his status and character.

• This shot shows a change in location, the dark colours and dusty setting could show a more poor and lower class area. The darker colours could also have negative connotations of danger, as appose to lighter colours which could represent safety and purity. 

• Here we see two male characters, both wearing blue which is stereotypically a boy's colour so it shows there masculinity. However, the man with his back to the camera has a higher status due to he is getting money and his watch and sunglasses. The apron shows a lower status, and a more middle class to lower class citizen as appose to the other man in the frame.

Costume and Make Up:

• The costumes are representative of the time period and location of the footage, darker colours are used to represent not only masculinity but a more lower class area of living. It was set in 2006 so the use of older less fashionable clothing reflects the time period well.