The very start shows the title of the film, the “back” moves backwards which emphasises the fact that the film is about travelling back in time and then travelling back to the present. Also it moving backwards is quite abnormal, writing usually goes from left to right so this also emphasises that it’s about going back to the future. Also this could indicate that there are unusual characters in the film that you wouldn't normally come across in day to day life. The background is all black and this makes the writing stand out, the writing itself is bright colours like orange. This suggests that the film is going to have bright colours in too, and it’s going to be quite out there and dramatic.
The opening scene first starts off with clocks ticking and a black screen with the director and writer’s names. The clocks ticking is the first thing you hear, this suggests that the film is all about time. Then it fades in on the room which is very cluttered, this implies that whoever lives there isn’t very organised, the camera moves slowly around the room, which is full of clocks, and is a close up focusing on all the clocks in there. Again, this emphasises the importance of time in this film, the camera moves slowly so the audience will notice all these clocks around the room. A room full of clocks is quite unusual which implies that the person who lives there is out of the ordinary and quite different. There are also quite a lot of old fashioned clocks there which emphasizes the fact that the film is about travelling back in time. There is a wide depth of focus, this encourages the audience to focus on the whole room so they can see all of the clocks. The camera is still moving around slowly showing a lot of clocks, but them some really unusual clocks are shown, this suggests that the person who lives there is unusual and different and isn’t like a lot of other people. The scene starts to show letters and bits of paper scattered around the room, this implies that the person who lives there is also not really taking care of himself and living in a mess.
This clock in particular is extremely interesting, at this moment in watching the film we don’t actually know that this is a hint for what happens later in the film. The man hanging off the clock is dressed just like one of the main characters, Emmett Brown, when he is also hanging off the clock later in the film. Throughout the whole title sequences, the director is giving the audience hints about what is going to happen next.
The camera then moves to a page of a newspaper that is stuck on the wall which summarises his life. The shot is a close up on it, the newspaper is about a family mansion that was destroyed and they ended up losing it. This suggests that the person who lives in this house is somehow connected to this, it says the house was an inventors which then got destroyed. This implies that one of the inventors inventions went wrong and destroyed the house which tells us he isn't very successful. The clocks are still ticking in the background to give the audience a constant reminder that the film is about time, the scene is still slow moving, this suggests that the director wants the audience to really see what type of setting it is and understand the background of one of the main characters.
The camera then slowly moves down and then two pictures of two men who look successful are framed. To the right there is a picture of another man, who we can only assume is related to the other two, who looks quite sloppy and unsuccessful. This connotes that his family had high expectations of him and he has failed. We know that the film is about travelling back to the future, hence the name, and this hints to us that he is from a successful family, therefore will most probably become successful too, there’s a huge indication here that he possibly could invent time travel in the film. There is also a lot of rubbish around which suggests whoever lives there doesn't take care of their self, which could indicate that he’s focused on something else so much that he doesn't have time to focus on taking care of himself. The clocks are still ticking in this which is still giving the audience a strong indication that the film is about time.
In this part of the opening scene, the clocks start to become background noise because the TV comes on. The camera movement is still slow and the film is still slow paced, and now not as many clocks are being shown in this scene but instead there are a lot of weird inventions which all, ironically, are clocks. This suggests that it’s some sort of scientist that lives there and is always doing weird things which tells the audience that he’s quite unusual.
The camera now pauses and has a close up on the TV. This is to encourage the audience to look at the TV and pay attention to what is happening, by now the ticketing of the clocks aren't as noticeable (but are still there) so the audience is almost forced to listen to the TV. On the TV it is news which is on which is talking about stolen plutonium, again this is another hint for later in the film and the audience also finds out more about the stolen plutonium later in the title sequence. The camera is focusing on the TV only when it is talking about plutonium which suggests that it has a big relevancy to the film because plutonium is quite an unusual subject just to occur in everyday life.
The camera is now moving right to left which is quite unusual as everything normally goes left to right. This also enforces the fact that the film is about going back somewhere, which in this film they go back in time and back to the future. It also then shows another invention of a toaster that has been made into one of Emmett Browns inventions to make the toaster better, however, we see the toast burnt which suggests he’s a failing inventor and hasn't had much successes. The newspaper and photos also back this up which gives the audience a strong indication of the character that is living there. It also suggests that the character who lives there is someone who would stand out and make an impression. After we see the toast burnt, the alarm then goes off which is can shock the audience a bit, the audience knows the toast is burnt but didn't expect the alarm to go off. This could be a metaphor that Emmett Brown is the toast and is currently failing at his inventions but then surprises himself (the alarm) with a time machine he invents.
The camera is still steadily moving around the room which encourages the audience to look at everything. In this part of the opening scene we see a lot of wires tangled up, this also suggests that he is unorganised. It implies to the audience that he is very interested in strange inventions and making whatever he can with anything he has. There are also clocks hung on the wall in the background, this is still enforcing what the film is about and the importance of time to the audience. There is also an automatic dog feeder which gives us another insight to the character that lives in the house. Obviously from seeing this, it is obvious that they have a dog and are clearly too busy doing something else to feed it every day. This suggests that they live quite a busy life and from what with seen so far, it could suggest that he’s busy doing something scientific to do with time, which is a strong indication to the audience that he’s busy building a time machine.
There is a shallow focus on the dog food and this encourages the audience to notice that the dog is named after a very well-known scientist, Albert Einstein, this strongly suggests that the owner of the dog is extremely interested with science which is what has already been hinted a lot, and this confirms what the audience already thinks. There is also a clock, again, in the background which is still enforcing the fact that the film is all about time.
This is how we’re first introduced to one of the main characters. From this we can assume that he is good friends with the owner of the house which he names “the doc”. He has a nickname for him which implies that they are quite close and he also knows where the spare key is and lets himself in which is a strong indication for this. We haven’t yet been introduced to the whole character, we have only seen the bottom half of him. He is wearing jeans and trainers that you’d expect a teenager to where which suggest he is a teenager. He also has a skateboard which implies he is young and likes to enjoy himself. The background noise is still of clocks ticking which has constantly been going off throughout the scene so far.
Next he puts he skateboard down with a bag on it, which looks like a school bag, this could suggest that he’s a high school student. He then rolls his skateboard across the room which hits a box of plutonium. This links back to earlier in the scene where they was talking about stolen plutonium, this suggest that the owner of the house, the doc, has stolen the plutonium, most likely for scientific purposes to do with time. There is a wide focus in this scene which encourages the audience to look at the plutonium and link it back to earlier, there also isn't any sort of clocks in this part of the room which also suggests that the director wants the audience to fully focus all of their attention on what the skateboard hit, the plutonium. This tells us that the plutonium is relevant to the story line and is quite important.
Next we see the unknown character, that we later learn is Marty Mcfly, turning all the power to full blast on a guitar amplifier which we can assume the doc has made. This suggests that this character likes doing things the big, the best way you can do them. The clocks are still ticking in the background but they are starting to become quitter because the sound of the amplifier is a lot louder and is getting louder. This starts to build suspense for something big to happen in the scene.
Then we see a lot of these going to the maximum it can be on the scale. This also builds suspense for something big to happen, also they look quite similar to clocks which is still a constant reminder for the audience that the whole film is based on time.
There is then an extreme close up on his hand showing a guitar pick shine with light. This helps build more suspense for something big to happen and the audience is just waiting for it. It tells us that the guitar pick is going to be what causes the something big to happen. The sound in the background is really loud now that you can’t even hear the clocks ticking which encourages the audience to forget a little bit that it’s about time and instead waiting for the guitar to be extremely loud. The director does this purposely to draw attention from time and show the audience that around this character, big things aren’t unusual and happen all the time.
The speaker then explodes which causes him to go flying back and a shelf lands on top of him. The speakers make a really loud sound, a bit like a little explosion, this also enforces that something big will happen around him. Also, he breaks the speaker and the shelf falls which tells the audience that it ended in disaster, this suggests that throughout the film, the big things that this character does causes a lot of problems. At the end of the opening scene it all goes quiet, you can’t even hear any ticking, this implies that this character always manages to fix the problems he causes and it’s a lot calmer. The screen then fades out into a black scene which is to separate this scene, the opening sequences, from the other scenes.
Throughout most of the opening scene, it is slow very slow paced, the camera is most likely a steady cam which is to show the audience everything in the room clearly and to imply to them that it all has a relevancy to the film and it’s all important. There are very few cuts and when they’re are cuts, which is towards the end with the guitar, it is more fast paced which is to help build suspense for that part of the scene.
Link to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3isQI0nXQRE
The opening scene first starts off with clocks ticking and a black screen with the director and writer’s names. The clocks ticking is the first thing you hear, this suggests that the film is all about time. Then it fades in on the room which is very cluttered, this implies that whoever lives there isn’t very organised, the camera moves slowly around the room, which is full of clocks, and is a close up focusing on all the clocks in there. Again, this emphasises the importance of time in this film, the camera moves slowly so the audience will notice all these clocks around the room. A room full of clocks is quite unusual which implies that the person who lives there is out of the ordinary and quite different. There are also quite a lot of old fashioned clocks there which emphasizes the fact that the film is about travelling back in time. There is a wide depth of focus, this encourages the audience to focus on the whole room so they can see all of the clocks. The camera is still moving around slowly showing a lot of clocks, but them some really unusual clocks are shown, this suggests that the person who lives there is unusual and different and isn’t like a lot of other people. The scene starts to show letters and bits of paper scattered around the room, this implies that the person who lives there is also not really taking care of himself and living in a mess.
This clock in particular is extremely interesting, at this moment in watching the film we don’t actually know that this is a hint for what happens later in the film. The man hanging off the clock is dressed just like one of the main characters, Emmett Brown, when he is also hanging off the clock later in the film. Throughout the whole title sequences, the director is giving the audience hints about what is going to happen next.
There is then an extreme close up on his hand showing a guitar pick shine with light. This helps build more suspense for something big to happen and the audience is just waiting for it. It tells us that the guitar pick is going to be what causes the something big to happen. The sound in the background is really loud now that you can’t even hear the clocks ticking which encourages the audience to forget a little bit that it’s about time and instead waiting for the guitar to be extremely loud. The director does this purposely to draw attention from time and show the audience that around this character, big things aren’t unusual and happen all the time.
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