Film Opening Analysis - The Pursuit of Happyness

 Film Opening Analysis

Q) What do you think makes an effective film opening? 

I believe that an effective film opening includes a hook, which can catch and attract the interest of the viewers, ensuring that they don't get bored. The opening should also include enough information regarding the genre, theme, or general plot of the film to avoid confusion among the viewers. If it is not informative, the opening may look scattered and people will lose interest before even reaching the point in the film where it all begins to make sense. Moreover, the protagonist of the film should be established in the opening, as well as their goals or fears, according to the storyline.  

Analysis:

1. Genre: How is it established?

The main genre of "The Pursuit of Happyness" is drama. The element of sound including soft instrumental music, and a voice-over, helps establish the genre. The voice-over explains the story of the main character, Chris Gardner, and his goal of being present in his child's life. The music creates a soulful and somber environment. One of the sub-genres of this film is comedy, which is incorporated through dialogue, such as when the man assumes the bone density scanner is a time machine. 

2. Narrative: What do we find out?

The narrative of the film established the relationship between Chris and his son, showing the affection and love between the two. This can be seen when Chris drops him off at the daycare, kissing him goodbye. In the opening, the conflict of financial problems was introduced as Chris used the bus for transport and in a voiceover it was explained that he hadn't sold a bone density scanner in a while, which was his only job. The colour palette in these scenes is muted and mainly consists of brown tones, adding to the dramatical effect of the genre and situation.  The setting 'San Francisco' is also established during the opening scene as text under a scene. 

3. "Enigma": What questions does it raise? 

One of the main factors that make an opening scene effective is capturing the attention of viewers. In this film the introduction of financial problems encourages curiosity over the ending (whether Chris will end up overcoming it or not), making people want to finish the film. It also invokes curiosity as to how Chris ended up in a financial slump in the first place. 

4. Representation: Characters, location, etc. 

The characters in the movie mainly wore muted tones. Chris wore a black suit, despite struggling financially, implying that he may have been earning well in the past. His son wore a brown jacket, and the mother was in a cream coloured staff uniform, conveying them as being middle-low class in the society. Chris, the main character, seems to be very caring towards his family as he tries his best to sell the scanner, so that he is able to afford the necessities, such as the daycare fees and taxes. This is suggested by the scenes in which he approaches different doctors to persuade them to buy his product. The setting of San Francisco in 1981 is also depicted by the muted colours, conveying the time of the 80s. This is also showed through the props, including the cathode-ray tube televisions. The amount of extra characters in the scenes where Chris is walking on the streets and riding the bus shows the large and diverse population of the city San Francisco.