- Star cast are Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman
The opening scene
Narrative
The scene fades to black then fades from black from a sunset/ sunrise looking at a house and a tree to a"Big Whiskey Wyoming", where we can see its 1880, then fades to a street while it is raining. It then cuts to a sign for an inn and pans towards a room where it cuts to what is happening inside the room where two people are having sex. A noise of a man smashing things is heard and a woman crying out. The scene ends with the two running out of the room heading towards the angry man and woman. We can assume that the narrative of the movie will be about the man who we first meet.
We can guess in the next scene we will meet the man who was smashing things and there might be a fight. By the genre of western we can assume that guns will be involved in this movie as well as it being set in the "wild west". The fact that the people were having sex can suggest that the movie will be quite graphic.
Target audience
As this movie is in the genre of western we can expect the movie to be targeted towards people who enjoy watching western movies. Unforgiven is targeted to an audience who is 15 years old and above. We know that the movie is targeted to 15+ as the rating for the movie is a 15. The film is allowed to be rated a 15 as there is no hard core sexual activities and abuse as well as no bad swearing. The target audience is 15 year olds and above western movie enthusiasts. How we know it is targeted towards western is because of the setting that the movie is set in ("the wild west"). There are also aspects of the style of building that are very specific to western movies.
characters
There are only two characters who we see in the first scene but if you count the two characters (the shouting man and the crying woman) then there are four.
The man
We can guess that the man will be the main character of the movie. We can also assume that he is good. The man is wearing light/ white clothing. White is a colour which connotes peace and purity. We can assume from this that the man is a good guy and will be the "hero" of the narrative. We can also assume that he is the main character by how he leads the run to the other room to hopefully stop the man trying to hurt the woman. Leading is an attribute of a main character and connotes importance and authority is what the main characters of movies have.
The woman
We can guess from this first scene that the woman will be a good person and not the "bad guy" of the narrative. We can also assume that she will be the romantic interest of the main character. We can assume that the woman will be good as she is wearing a white dress. White is a colour which connotes purity and peace. This makes the audience assume that this woman will be a peaceful character as well as one of the good characters. We can guess that she is the romantic interest of the main character (the man) as the first scene contain them having sex with each other.
Genre and tone
The genre of western as well as tones of gloominess and unhappiness are explored in the opening scene to the movie. The conventions of western are shown in the opening scene by the use of the shots of the buildings which shows the building style that is specific to being in the "wild west". Another convention of western genre is shown by the use of the setting being Big Whiskey Wyoming which is in a setting in which a western movie would be set. Gloominess is shown by the use of the weather being rain which makes the setting gloomy which carryson to the characters being gloomy as well. Weather can change your emotions easily. Unhappiness so shown by the man shouting and smashing things in the other room not shown in the opening scene.
Camera use
The use of the of the establishing shot helps the audience know where the movie is based. The establishing shot along with the text on the screen help the audience see where it is set and why it is a western. This allows western fans to see if they will enjoy the movie as if it is not set in the west then they may be disappointed and not enjoy it. The pan moving into a tilt used from the sign to the room door shows where the noises are coming from. It is almost following the "action".
sound use
The use of the pleonastic diegetic sound effect of the weather emphasises emotions in the scene. Rain connotes sadness and anger. The use of the rain can connote the emotions of the people in the scene, especially the man we don't see. The angry man is similar to the rain. They both are in a way angry and the rain sets the whole tone of the scene. Rain also shows the unhappiness of the lady crying.
Mise-en-scene use
The use of the dim lighting in the room shows the lack/ bad emotions of the people in. the scene. Dim light can connote emptiness which is a sad thing and in turn can connote sadness. The light shows how all the people in the scene are unhappy in some way. The light also shows a lack of hope. This suggests that the people in the scene aren't successful and are just poor and have a poor quality of life.
Editing use
The use of the fades from and to black can show that there is no hope in this place. darkness is a negative thing. Darkness connotes evilness, bad decisions and no hope. This can suggest that showing the settings then going to black that they are places that have no hope of doing good. This can suggest that the characters will have no hope and the movie will be about their struggles in their life and how they live they life trying to earn enough money to sustain themselves.
Conclusion
I believe that this opening scene was successful at engaging the audience and pleasing the western movie enthusiasts. The right conventions were added which helped to give it the right genre that the filmmakers were going for. The tones used were right to create the gloomy and unhappy emotions expressed by the characters. I believe that the filmmakers showed what the narrative may be without spoiling the whole plot of the movie.
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