Opening clip - Western

 Opening clip - Western tombstone

Information:

Director - George P

Producer - Sean Daniel

Date - December 25 1993

Box office - 55.9 million

Distributor - Hollywood pictures

Actors - Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer , Powers Boothe

The clip opens up with an establishing scene of horses running,this shows the audience the genre of the film as-well as the location based of the film. Pleonastic sound is used on the horses hooves to show the arrival of the cowboys, as-well as non-digetic fast pace soundtrack. A new location is shot through a wide angle in a small village in the summer, A close up angle shows three men playing guitar which is commonly played in Spain or Mexico so shows the audience that it can be shown to an international audience. Diegetic sound in the background is calm and quiet until the cowboys turn up and then the non-digetic soundtrack turns into a dangerous sound.

An extreme close up follows and zooms down mans legs and onto his boots. The camera takes are shot and change between the man walking and the village people who are living there to show the tension and worry that they have from this man. Already this builds up tension for the audience as it leaves us asking questions about who this is? and whats happening?

Another extreme close up shot is taken zooming in on the mans gun, this shows the audience danger and fear and that action is going to be involved in this western film. Wedding bells then occur through a tracking shot and two groups of cowboys meet outside. The costumes are traditional and old fashioned cowboy costumes, which identify the exact genre as-well as add excitement and fun to the audience. The main character seems to be the head of the cowboy group, because of his different colours in costume, this shows leadership and importance as-well as it being red it also instigates the colour of death and blood.

An extreme close up shot is taken of the cowboys faces as they meet together showing fear and danger on the faces as-well as a close up shot of the bride looking confused. Gun shots are fired through tracking shots and extreme close up shots to build tension and pleonastic sound is used when the guns are fired to show dominate on which side is winning. Editing is fast motion and quick moving which creates a sense of urgency and danger in this clip.

Overall i believe that this opening clip reveals the genre of western through its costumes, setting and location as-well as the theme of action involved. I believe this opening clip draws audiences into the rest of the film as it leaves them asking about unfinished questions that they want answered.