Comparing three opening scenes and the use of camera

Opening scene of Wimbledon

 In the first twenty seconds the tennis ball falls from the sky and shoots straight through the camera where we are watching and then the camera flips from looking up at the skyto following the ball as it falls. Starts with the establishing shot of the tennis ball falling to the ground  as well as following the ball as it plummets further towards the tennis court.

The watcher instantly knows there are two tennis players in the middle of a game of tennis. It sets the scene we know where we are and what to expect in the next few minutes. Next there is a medium close up of one of the characters this zooms our attention on to her and we see her face in more detail making it more personal and we start to focus our attention more to the movie having seen  a character up close.

There is then an extreme long shot of the tennis ground we can see just how many people there are sitting in the court. The camera movement is tracking whilst we are taken from one court to the next as well as the scene being sped up so it happens quickly maybe they do this to mirror and re-enact what the tennis ball does and at what fast pace it moves. Then we see the camera movement being tilted which enables us to see the tennis player from his shoes all the way to the top of his head finishing with a zoom in and extreme close up so much that we only see his eye this creates a feeling of tension and we are nervous for him it is as if we are inside his head and can relate to the stress and anxiety that he feels in that very moment.

Johnny English

The mood is set from the very beginning through the use of dark colours and blurry picture this has been done on purpose by the camera angles which leave us guessing just like the investigators who appear to be trying to solve a puzzle themselves. The scene opens with an immediate extreme close up of a folder with a name this means the watcher is able to immediately establish who the person is they are looking into.

It then turns to a close up with a very blurry image and the next few shots seem to be taken from a handheld camera this enables us to follow the action of the scene quickly. Remaining blurry the angle then changes again to an over the shoulder shot which allows us to see what the character whose shoulder we are over is doing and looking at in this case we watch as he puts the files together about Johnny.

Finally the camera is zoomed into another extreme close up so we can only see a section of the man’s face but in great detail allowing us to gage his mood which is serious.

Jaws

The opening scene to jaws begins with a girl running towards the beach whilst the camera is tracking her. The camera moves with her to the right but manages to keep the character centre. We then get the establishing shot which sets the scene telling us where she is. Then we get a close up and high angle of her this shows how small and insignificant she is in relation to the sea around her. It finishes with an extreme close up as she gets pulled around the sea by what we assume to be a shark using a pan and a tracking angle.

Wimbledon is a comedy, romance and sport’s  film all in one therefore the opening scene needed to portray that through the angle movements overall I think it did this very well you instantly knew where you were and what was going on, The camera moves almost like the ball does fast and regularly. Jaws which is an adventure, drama, thriller but mainly horror starts of eery and odd and we instantly know what kind of an intro is coming. However unlike Wimbledon which is very upbeat the difference in mood changes very quickly this being the “1975” original means the camera angles are arguably more simple but this doesn’t matter as the tension is still built up extremely well and by the end of the two minutes when the girl is dramatically pulled under we know exactly the type of film this is going to be without seeing any real conversation or detail through other characters. Lastly Johnny English reborn is an action, adventure, comedy the opening scene is so different to the other two in that there is no establishing shot it all remains very secretive, dark and blurry which successfully sets the mood for the rest of the film and works well in that instance but would not be any good for the other two films this makes you realise how important and crucial the right camera movements are.