Analyzing film openings

(A scene in The Letter,1947)

     The first film opening comes from The Letter, 1940. The opening starts off showcasing a hut with a bunch of individuals sleeping in hammocks and playing cards. This is filmed using master shots throughout the opening. As the camera passes by the people it later showcases a woman shooting a man multiple times ending the opening. 

(Touch Of Evil 1958)

     The second film opening is from Touch Of Evil, 1958. The film opening is filmed using a master shot all the way till near the end. It starts off with a close-up of a man starting the clock to a bomb. It later does a quick pan showing an old couple walking through a hallway. We start to follow the same man who started the clock on the bomb placing it into the car which the couple owns. The camera follows the car as it drives through the city. We later get introduced to another couple who get passed by the couple who was originally in the car. While the camera is following the couple that's walking they are filmed using a long shot. As the couple stops walking, the master shot ends with a cut of the car that the old couple was in, blowing up. The shot cuts back to the couple distressed. As the couple starts going to the car they are filmed using the hand-held technique and shot at a low angle. This emphasizes the feeling of chaos that goes on throughout the opening 

(Citizen Kane 1941)

         The third film, the opening is from Citizen Kane, 1941. The opening begins with two production companies RKO Radio Pictures and Mercury Productions Inc. Then we see the title card of the film in bold neon font. Shortly after we hear non-diegetic audio of a suspenseful instrumental with a visual of a sign on a fence reading "No Trespassing" As the scene evolves the camera travels upwards upon the gate until it fades to a wide shot showing a cage with monkeys and a castle behind them. As the scene continues, we get many shots from different angles with different props in each shot showcasing the castle. After those shots we see a room filmed in a long shot with the light on but moments after the light turns off. As the light turns off the score in the background also abruptly stops. Shortly after the light turns back on and the score resumes again but with a different tone. We get a zoomed-in visual of a house inside a snow globe, and we find out it is in a snow globe because the camera zooms out to reveal that it is a snow globe. As it zooms out we get a close-up of a mouth saying "rosebud" As he says this he drops the snow globe, causing it to shatter. We get a fisheye lens shot of a nurse walking into the room where the man is, crossing his arms. This tells the viewers that the man has just died. The opening scene then ends with a shot of the window light still being lit on.