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1. James Bond Skyfall Title Sequence Katie Thorpe

2. Background Information Skyfall is the twenty third movie in the Bond series and features Daniel Craig in his third movie as Bond. The film follows a slightly diverse plot as it is all about Bond recovering and trying to deal with his past where for the first time we get to see some of his past and see a more vulnerable side to the notorious character we have come to know. The film was directed by Sam Mendes and featured Adele’s Award winning song ‘Skyfall’ in the title sequences.

3. Opening Unlike other films Bond doesn’t start the film with titles hut starts with opening scene and then fades into the title sequence. For this film the scene features Bond letting the enemy get away and getting shot by his agent before falling into the water and being questioned to be dead. The music then comes in and a hand is used to pull Bond’s body deeper. When Bond’s body goes through the hole the title of the movie comes up. The white font is used to stand out against the water background and the same font is used for all advertisements of the movie so people can learn to associate the white font with the film. The woman who then comes up at the side foreshadows there will be a woman in the movie but the lack of any other portrayal of women in the opening shows how despite Bond being known for chasing women this movie won’t be about that. The film uses a stylised editing title sequence.

4. Plot The title sequence is used to try and hint the plot of the film to the viewer but not too obviously that they know what’s going to happen or give anything away. The first giveaway shot is the one of lots of Bond targets swimming around in the water indicating how being a secret agent makes him a target and he is constantly in danger, the wound on his shoulder also suggests how he gets injured in the opening badly and tries throughout the film to recover from it. The shot with Bond shooting at his own shadow shows how he become paranoid and confused by who the enemy is; the mirror shot also portrays this as he has become his own enemy.

5. Representations The colour red is often associated with thrillers because of the violence in them and often horror. Despite James Bond being an action thriller it still contains lots of fighting and action packed scenes which is why one shot shows knives falling from the sky into a graveyard. As well as this we also see a theme of death foreshadowing the deaths that will commence in the film. The red surrounding the house shows one of the settings at the end of the film and how the death will happen here. The red in the water also shows a weakness in Bond as well as again giving connotations of death. The dragon clip also infers the location of Shanghai in the film.

6. Transitions The titles transition through continuous editing and at no point cut. To keep the viewer interested throughout the transitions are done by using the images to move onto the next scene. At first we go through the bullet wound and smoke, we then transition through Bond’s eye which is then repeated as the final shot to emphasise to the viewer how the movie is much more from Bond’s point of view than ever before and gives us an insight into Bond’s past and his insecurities. Transitioning through the gun barrel highlights the violence in the movie and how it is an action thriller. The dragon breathing fire also highlights danger.

7. Sound The only sound is the theme song by Adele ‘Skyfall’. James Bond is not only known for its title sequences as well as its famous theme songs. The editing of the titles goes with the song quickening up when it reaches its climax. The song talks about ‘the end’ suggesting how the film is the start of something but also the end to one of the most important characters M. It could at this particular moment be about how Bond thinks he has died which is why he fades into this other spiritual world in the titles.