falling down

 

The opening sequence instantaneously begins with an extreme close up of a mouth with some sweat on the upper lip. Immediately this makes the audience think that the character is in an uncomfortable position; either nervous and distressed about something or feeling uneasy. The camera then pans upwards, still extremely close up, to his eyes, and the effect of this intimate shot is to allow the audience to also relate to his uneasiness, and being so close to someone's face is often uncomfortable. The camera consistently continues moving, zooming out of the character, William Foster's, face into a medium shot which then continues panning down. This constant movement is almost as if the camera shots are illustrating a journey, which may relate to the narrative as the movie may be about following the main character on a certain journey. In the shot, the environment is slowly revealed by showing props such as dolls which confuse the audience as to where the character might be. This compells them to continue watching in order to figure it out, and it is made clear when other cars come into focus. Alongside this, the sound gradually begin to grow louder; first with diegetic sounds of the car, through to children playing and screaming as well as a radio playing. A medium shot shows William properly, and lets the audience see his costume which consists of a smart shirt and tie, along with glasses. This depicts him as being a civilised and educated man. Extreme close ups on his body parts, such as his hand fiddling with the radio and his sweating neck also further show his restlessness and agitated state. The sounds progressively become increasingly repetitive, and William is seen becoming more unsettled. A high angle shot from his perspective of the children shows how he is unable to overcome these issues. The shaky camera movement is then surprising, as until then the movements had been smooth and unnoticeable, but this portrays how William himself is surprised when he turns around, allowing the audience to become more engaged with the opening sequence. The quickening camera movements and transition between various extreme close ups, such as the children and people speaking, work efficiently in emphasising William's growing frustration up until the moment that he opens his door, which serves as a climax and is accompanied by the noises being drowned out.