Movie Opening Analysis - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Synopsis -

This English-language adaptation of the Swedish novel by Stieg Larsson follows a disgraced journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), as he investigates the disappearance of a wealthy patriarch's niece from 40 years ago. He is aided by the pierced, tattooed, punk computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara). As they work together in the investigation, Blomkvist and Salander uncover immense corruption beyond anything they have ever imagined.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Retrieved 7/12/16

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568346/

Production Company -

Yellow Bird is a Swedish film and television production company. In 2003 Danish producer Ole Søndberg and Swedish author Henning Mankell started a collaboration on a series of
television films based on Mankell’s famous fictional detective Kurt Wallander and Yellow Bird was born. The success of the initial Wallander films was followed by Stieg Larsson’s worldwide phenomena, the Millennium trilogy, Jo Nesbø’s Headhunters, Liza Markland's Annika Bengtzon series as well as the British version of Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh. Yellow Bird was sold to media conglomerate Zodiac Entertainment in 2007.

Yellow Bird Retrieved 7/12/16

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Bird_(company)

Distribution Companies -  
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. (known professionally as Columbia Pictures and also simply known as Columbia) is an American film studio, production company and film distributor that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group,a division of Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.The studio was originally founded in 1918 as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and Jack's best friend Joe Brandt, released its first feature film in August 1922. It adopted the Columbia Pictures name in 1924, and went public two years later. Its name is derived from "Columbia", a national personification of the United States, which is used as 
the studio's logo. In its early years, it was a minor player in Hollywood, but began to grow in the late 1920s, spurred by a successful association with director Frank Capra. With Capra and others, Columbia became one of the primary homes of the screwball comedy. In the 1930s, Columbia's major contract stars were Jean Arthur and Cary Grant. In the 1940s, Rita Hayworth became the studio's premier star and propelled their fortunes into the late 1950s. Rosalind Russell, Glenn Ford, and William Holden also became major stars at the studio.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (abbreviated as MGM or M-G-M, also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or Metro, and for a former interval known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists., or MGM/UA) is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. Once the largest, most glamorous, and most revered film studio, MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures.Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California. It is one of the world's oldest film studios.

Distribution Companies Retrieved 7/12/16 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Pictures

Films This Company Has Produced -

• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009)
• Echoes From The Dead (2013)
• Headhunters (2011)

Timeline -

• 00:00-00:05 = The screen is black, nothing is shown to us as an audience in the first frame. Music fades in quickly and starts as almost an elongated echoed fog horn sound which increases in volume and dominates the shot. It is very deep and low in pitch which infers a dark more sinister feeling for the offset.
• 00:05-00:10 = The music and blank screen continue onto this frame, a couple of seconds into this shot an additional layer of music starts, sounds similar to a heartbeat almost creating and building the tension. Elongating the black screen also has a similar affect of drawing it out and making viewers tense and on edge.
• 00:10-00:15 = The heartbeat sounds increases in volume and speed and overtakes the over music slightly, the screen is still remaining black dragging out the tension even more thus making it very dramatic. On the last second of this section a drum beat starts potentially signifying a change in what we are seeing.
• 00:15-00:20 = The drum music turns into that of a more rock vibe with the speed increasing and intensifying. The distribution companies are shown written in capital letters centre of the screen towards the bottom. The screen behind it is still black and the writing is a font similar to time new roman in white. An image flashes very suddenly on the screen behind the text until the text disappears and the image of what appears to be an eye flashes. It's a green colour and takes up the majority of the screen. Another image flashes on the screen rapidly in the similar green colour and the production company/producer is names in the same font in it was prior to this but it isn't central.
• 00:20-00:25 = The music intensifies and turns to that of a fast pace rock style and on the screen flashes a dark green image of scales and a drop of water running down it. This rapidly changes to moving image of water which is only lit in the center of the screen as the rest is black. The directors name appears at the bottom center of the screen in capital letters in a white font to contrast the darker images. The name continues onto the next image which is quite unclear as to what it is but the dark colour haven't changed. The music continues and when then see something hitting the water but it has been slowed down but is only shown for a brief moment. Finally in this section we are shown what appears to be a wall and we see an actors name appear in the same font and colour as was the directors but is bottom left this time around.
• 00:25-00:30 = The actors name overlaps onto this section and the music intensifies and increases in speed. The image it is imposed over is of what appears to be oil trickling down some sort of rough surface. This is quickly followed by what again appears to be oil rushing up the screen and then we see a tyre and another actors name in white to the top right-hand side of the screen. This changes quickly to a different image which isn't that clear to deceiver but sticks with the dark colour pallet and low key lighting. An image of a grey dragon is shown imposed on a black background which is the first time in the opening the title has been made relevant.
• 00:30-00:35 = The image of the dragon overlaps slightly onto this section, in a quick cut transition the title appears on the screen, just of center in a metallic grey colour. The font is capitalized and certain letters have slashes and indents in them. The black liquid substance the covers the screen until the title is no longer on display. Next what appears to be a person covered in this liquid is tied up and laid horizontally across the screen, they are struggling to escape. This is shown for a maximum of two seconds before it cuts to a keyboard also horizontally placed on the screen and the liquid starts to run down it.
• 00:35-00:40 = The shot of the keyboard and the black liquid overlaps into this time for the first second, the music getting louder and becoming more detailed. It then quickly cuts to shot of head with a piece of cloth covering the mouth and a locked chain around the neck. Again like all things shown it is covered in the black liquid and is also fighting hard to try and escape the chains and ties. Next, it cuts to the keyboard again but the camera is zoomed in on a different section as the black liquid run in-between the keys. Additionally the next shot is of another section of the computer keys with the liquid running through it and an actors name appears in the same white capitalized font on the top left section of the screen. The black liquid then appears to be going down a drain of some description and the name is still in the top corner, the music intensifies with more bass guitar elements being added. The name then disappears of the screen and the music changes to signing coming from a man in a rock, upbeat sort of tone. This section ends with a shot of the liquid coming out of a sewage system filmed from a close up angle.
• 00:40-00:45 = The black liquid emerging from drains and sewage networks like many time frames overlaps onto this section I am analysing. This last for 2-3 seconds of this segment and the it cuts to an image of lips with the liquid pouring of out, the signing has grown more intense and the lyrics are rather difficult to make out. Superimposed, over this in white capital letters in the same font as previous names is 'Steven Berkoff' in the top left corner. The name remains there when the next clip is shown, the rest of the screen is blacked out and in the center you see a rotating grey coloured tyre with pouring of it. The clip ends with a canted angle shot of a section of what appears to be a female face again in the same black/grey colour scheme with the black liquid running down from the top of the face.
• 00:45-00:50 = The clip of the zoomed in shot of the face overlaps onto this shot for the first second, the name which was on the top left hand corner has now gone. What appears to be a container of some description is taking up the majority of the screen and has the black liquid (oil) overflowing and pouring of out the screwed on cap. A name is written on the bottom left hand side of the screen, again in the same white capitalized font as before. The name stays when the next shot is cut to, it shows an air vent with the liquid pouring down from the top. It quickly cuts to a shot of someone's face covered in the liquid as it runs down the face, the name is now gone, the face also rotates for a second as if it was doing a 180 degree turn but it cuts to the next shot half way through. The next shot is difficult to deceiver but it appears to be a leaver of some description again like all objects shown it is covered in the liquid, a name is written on the left hand side of the screen about half way down however it edges slightly to the center of the screen. It is in the same capital, white font as all previous texts shown.
• 00:50-00:55 = The black liquid with an actors name imposed on the left hand side of the screen overlaps onto this section of the opening. It then cuts to a rotating image of a cluster of the black liquid just of center of the screen, the name is now gone and the rest of the screen is completely black. It quickly changes to a shot of a wooden baton with a fire burning on the end, this lightens up the screen and the background has patches of smoke. The music continues, the same song that has been playing throughout however now more lyrical. Next, it cuts to a black screen with a hatch covered in black liquid on the right-hand side and on the left is a name written in the same font as previous pieces of text. Finally, the name stay imposed on the screen and iPhone charger cables enter from the right hand side of the screen until they are about half way across the screen it cuts to another object covered in black liquid and that is were this segment ended.

The movie opening continues showing similar shots as I have thoroughly analysed in the first minute. The speed intensifies throughout with the action on the screen becoming more gripping and engaging. The incorporation of fire adds something more sinister to the opening and relevant to the title. The illustration of characters and objects still covered in the black liquid suggests it has some relevance to the storyline in someway. The music grows louder throughout and the signing becomes more aggressive again supporting the idea that this movie is a thriller. The transitions simply consist of cuts and the pace is extremely fast and upbeat hinting at a dramatic and intense movie. Extreme close up shots are used throughout to keep a sense of mystery surrounding certain characters and ideas.

Analysis:

• The shot starts with a plain black screen which prior to this lasted for about 15 seconds, this infers a sinister nature with suspense building up throughout keeping the watcher interested and wanting to know what is happening next. The music which you cannot here always builds up and becomes louder hinting at something climatic happening which keep the watcher engaged. The simplicity of the text doesn't take away from the affect the movie opening is having on the audience, however still on some letters has some extended lines and things that accentuate it to make it more obsecure.The flashing image is rather alarming and jumps in straight away, the dark green/grey colours infer a negative atmosphere from the offset.

• This shot introduces the title in a metallic grey colour, it is positioned slightly of center and has slashes in certain letters. This communicates the overall impression of the movie, the colours and font hint at a negative atmosphere due to the darker colour and undertone. They connote ideas that are common to the horror/thriller genre and compliment the tone of this movie opening.