Looking At Openings

We Need To Talk About Kevin Opening

Creation of Enigma

At the start of this opening we are gradually, slowly moving towards a pair of bright white curtains in a very dark, low key room, this builds up the enigma due to us thinking something will be behind the curtains, we ask ourselves questions like, why are we being shown this? As we get closer to the curtains the non-diegetic ticking noise gets louder and more rapid, then the camera gets so close to the curtains and fades out to edit to another scene, it feels as if we have gone through the curtains ourselves. There is a bunch of people all covered in red stuff, we have no idea what it is and why people are being the way that they are, we have no idea what is going on. There is the sound of screaming and shouts but they are very blurred and everything is very slow, almost like a dream state. When the woman wakes up, she knocks some pills on the floor, see them with a close up shot connoting their importance, what are they for? Then she goes outside and there is red stuff like the very beginning of the film, all over her house, why? Has she done something wrong? Is she not liked? Does she not live in a nice neighbourhood? There is then a straight cut to a new house where it is almost as if we are walking towards the little girl, this is handheld camera movement, when we get to the girl we see that she is wearing an eye patch, why? what happened? But whilst we are going towards the girl it seems as if something is going to happen or jump out due to the eeriness, quietness and sneakiness and the only sound that can be heard is the girl singing, when she turns around we have no idea who it is that she is looking at, we want to know. 

Introduction of Characters

We get introduced to 4 characters in this opening, we see some sort of connection between them all via the use of edits and how they are edited together. We see the obvious connection between the young girl, man and teen boy, but the woman's connection is less obvious. We learn that the protagonist (the woman) lives on her own and she is on some form of medication connoting she has some sort of problem, physically or mentally. Also, the little girl, we learn has some sort of injury or something due to the eye patch of which we see when we have a close up on her face. We get introduced to the characters but don't get the full amount of information, just threads that need to be tied together.

Only watch up to around 06:35

Pace and Rhythm 

Everything from camera movements and edits are slow, especially at the very beginning which creates a dream like state and creates enigma and connotes that it is trying to show us something and that it is important. Also, the slowness could be due to us needing to familiarize ourselves with these characters and need to absorb whatever we can about them. The woman, who seems to be somewhat unstable, has the most slow edits and movements connoting that she hasn't got much to live for and just takes everything slowly and as it comes.

Setting up the Plot

By connecting the characters via edits and showing us these characters and not really showing any other characters apart from this 4, it connotes that this is what the film is going to focus around and that these characters are going to be the centre of the plot. This opening scene leaves a lot to the imagination, especially with the woman and what she has been framed with, for example, the red on her house makes us think has she done something bad? etc..

Mood and Tone

There is a sad, slow mood and tone when the woman is in the frame, but with the man, little girl and teen boy we get a happy, friendly tone and mood and a very family orientated setting. This is very contrasting, so when they are edited together, you see this contrast massively because the woman is in the frame alone all the time, but the man, little girl and teen boy are framed together, or with at least someone else if not all together.