Analysis of Opening Title Sequence - The Bourne Identity

Analysis of Opening Title Sequence – The Bourne Identity

First shot we see is the ship members playing a game of cards with cigarettes and alcohol, implying they have finished what they have been doing for the day, which the audience have to suggest as they do not know where they are or what they have been doing out at sea.
The low-lighting implies that the boat that they’re on isn’t new as we can see from the cracks and damp inside of the boat on the wall.
All of them are male suggesting that what they are doing is hard work as there is many of them suggesting that they are doing something which requires hard work.
Props that are used is food and drink showing how they relax as well as the playing cards suggesting that it is a competitive game which may imply that what happens on further on in the film is hard to achieve and makes the audience wonder how they are going to achieve that.
The camera work is a high angle shot, close to being a bird’s eye view shot to show what all of the men are doing, letting the audience know how much space they’re in and what surrounds them as if we can see exactly what they’re doing.

The man in shot keeps cutting away to show the audience the sea and that something is in it, suggesting he has found something significant and the quick shots let the audience guess what it is that he has found. The low lighting shows it is night and that whatever it is that he has found, the fact it is at night will make it harder to reach and figure out what it is. The clothing that he is wearing shows a yellow waterproof jacket suggesting that he is a fisherman, implying they are out at sea most of the time but finding something like he has found is unusual by the close up shot of his face. 

 

The shot that cuts between one another is from the man on the boat to the body that is in the sea. With a shot of light, implying it is from the moon, onto the body which is facing up shows that they aren’t moving making the audience automatically think that they aren’t alive. The costume that he has on looks like it is meant to be a life jacket with items attached to it as well as things linking up to his ear and head, making the audience wonder why he is out in the middle of the sea and how he got there as no one else is around other than the boat that the men are on. No identity is shown here hiding the fact if we know this person by not giving any specific clues of items and what has happened to the person as it is so dark it isn’t giving any clues away.  The shot is a frame beneath the sea looking up to the person is effective as it isn’t a shot that the audience will see a lot of, - feels as if we are the only people that knows that he is there, it is an effective shot type.

 

The first title comes up with a sans serif bold text. All in capitals, it makes the title stand out as it is on a contrasting background to its text, a black background with white text, surrounded by blue to make it look more interesting that just black and white. As nothing else is happening on the shot it gives the audience to recognise the title and if they  have seen the other Bourne Identity’s they will be able to work out what has happened and realise why he is there as they know what it may lead onto. The title is quite far into the opening scene suggesting the producer wanted to build up the story before revealing what it was to the audience that they were watching.

One of the final shots we see is a mid-shot of the person that was out in the sea and that they have been rescued by the men on the ship, unknown to the audience whether he is alive or not making them want to watch on further to see what is going to happen. The audience can see that he is on the boat on the table that they were playing cards on, seen by the dampness in the walls and the location that they were in. The high shot shown down onto the person could suggest power over him and that whatever has happened they have achieved to hurt or have the main power over him as he now could be dead.