Three film openings from our genre - Tragic Drama

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (2008)
After watching the opening to this film, i gathered it was a tragic drama which is similar to what our film opening will be like. The focus seems to be on the young dark haired boy and drama films that use children usually use them for an emotional focus point. This relates to our film as we are also using a young child to capture the emotion. When a film includes a child it becomes a lot more emotion filled as you feel sympathy for the innocent character.
It begins showing the small titles over the top of a red background that could connote death later in the film as it begins showing the deep colour that fills the screen. Once that passes you see the young boy with friends which makes you feel happy as you watch them playing. This then contrasts with what you see later on in the opening where you see women getting pushed around. The contrast between youthful happiness and suffering makes the genre of a tragic drama more apparent as you release that conflict is a major part of the film as it is based around WW2.
War based dramas usually revolve around tragedy as death and conflict is a part of how life was back then. You also see Nazi flags right at the start which suggest it is set in Germany which again confirms the theme of war. You then presume that the young boy is the main character as he seems to be the main focus in the opening suggesting he may face difficult situations later on which connect with the war.




Forrest Gump (1994)
The genre of this film is made clear when watching the opening through the way everything comes together making it appear emotional. This has a lot to do with the music as the soft piano soundtrack is something that represents sadness and reflection which are themes commonly used in drama's.
The fact that you can only see a feather falling from the ground at the start of the opening helps set the mood as you feel at ease as you watch something simple like a feather fall gracefully but begin to realise the meaning of it as the film goes on. A feather falling can sometimes symbolize death which is also a theme that becomes apparent making the narrative of this film clear from the start as you can expect emotion.
You are then later introduced to the main character who is the first character you see so you expect he is the main one as the feather drops at his feet. This foreshadows that the sadness and death may later be something he faces as this symbol of loss is something that lands on him.





Dear John (2010)
This film begins as a flashback as you see the main character back in a situation which makes him reflect on his life. This represents the genre as you immediately see him hurt and know that at some point in this film this part will be repeated. It is also clear that he is fighting in the war which explains his injury. It is easy to sense that later on in the film once you get to know the character that scene may become more emotional as you see him get hurt.
It then goes into him talking about when he was a child which is also something that is commonly used in drama's. Children are sometimes used  to get to know that character in more depth.
 It is all in slow motion which gives is a very sombre and slowed down mood which creates a certain atmosphere. Also the music in the background is something that sets the scene as it is something that is only slightly heard but still makes a melancholy impact.