amelie

 

Close ups of a child performing various actions is what the opening sequence of Amelie mainly consists of.  Immediately from this the audience can gather that the child in the scenes is Amelie herself, and from her actions we can derive what sort of character she will be. She seems to be quite an inquisitive child, as she is seen playing with multiple different things, however, she is also portrayed as being quite isolated as she's playing by herself and seems to be confined to one room, because the setting doesn't change throughout the opening sequence.  Close ups of her facial expressions represent different things; a significant close up shows her facial expressions being quite solemn and unhappy, but then this suddenly morphs into a smile, already allowing the audience to establish her character, as despite having to play on her own, she is able to find happiness and be joyous. An extreme close up of the cut out paper dolls that she makes gives the impression that she is longing for some friends, and the colour red also suggests this as it is a colour that commonly links to connotations of love, so perhaps she is also seeking love that she is currently not recieving as a child. Playing with dominoes could also have the connotation that the film will follow a chain of events in her life.  A high angle shot looking down at the glass signifies that the movie will revolve around her and be from her perspective. Piano music that is heard throughout the opening sequence suggests that she's quite an extraordinary and different child. On screen diegetic sound, such as when she is rubbing her nose against the glass, further emphasises Amelie's loneliness, because it shows the audience how those are the only sounds she is hearing because she is all alone, and lacking the presence of other children around her. As well as this, the montage matches the credits which is a unique and subtly clever way of linking the two. For example, Amelie is running her finger across the rim of a glass whilst the credits for sound are alongside it, which is clever as she is making a sound and it relates to the text. Her actions coupled with the prominent colour of red throughout the opening sequence depict the genre of the film, as her actions are quite playful and childlike which show that the film won't be entirely serious, so perhaps a comedy, and the recurring reds are used to portray the romance genre of the film.