Film Opening Deconstruction - Gangster Squad

The genre of this film is ‘neo-noir’ which is a modern take on the traditional film noir genre.

The film begins by showing the production company Village Roadshow Pictures. The screen then flitters as the tagline ‘inspired by a true story’ is being projected by an old fashioned film projector. The use of this tagline means that the events have happened in the past so could happen to any of the audience members therefore increasing their fear, empathy or sadness.  A non- diegetic low, steady drum beating and the diegetic sound of the film projector are playing in the background. The drum beating in the background mimics the villain punching the punch bag and eventually the drum beat fades and merges with his punching. There is use of low key lighting and sepia, a colour particularly associated with monochrome photos in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, sets a mood of gloom, darkness and also suggesting that the film was set in the past.

Similar to the traditional film noir, ‘Gangster Squad’, includes lots of bright lighting in the background which contrasts with the dark lighting in the foreground to create shadows. The picture below shows the a close up of one of the main characters and the light shining on one side of his face which keeps the other side hidden in the shadows. The use of this lighting allows the characters to remain mysterious and the shadows created make the character seem evil. The audience can then infer that he is the villain. Not only does the lighting suggest that he is the villain but narrator explicitly describes him as the villain.

The camera circles around the punch bag slowly and the diegetic sound of him punching the bag and his breathing are muffled as the narrative, spoken by a man, describes his struggle and greed for power.  

A sudden cut is used to show the white film title, which contrasts with the black background. The title looks like it has been painted over the top of some words and is beginning to fade to make it look dated. As the title appears smoke is shown rising in front of the letters as if it is coming from a cigarette which is a common prop used in film noir’s. The narrator continues to tell the story of the villain as an extreme long shot of Los Angeles appears with the year the film is set.

As an emphasis on the film being set in the 1949 a sign of ‘Hollywoodland’ appears, which was erected in 1923. The sign was changed to Hollywood in 1949 showing that this film was set before the sign was changed.

The low angle shot of the villain gives him authority and power. The colour is no longer sepia showing that it is now the time zone the film is set. Deep and repetitive music is played as the man is being punished (shown in the picture above) to build the tension.

The low lighting continues as the film begins during the night. The villain is shown killing another man.

The film then cuts to a sunny day in Los Angeles and non-diegetic upbeat jazz music, including a trumpet and saxophone, playing in the background. This conforms to the common representations of film noirs having jazz music. This shot shows the end of the opening scene.