Opening scene examination (the hurt locker)

This is the opening scene to 'the hurt locker'

Shot list

Shot 1-POV of the 'eod' bomb disposal robot.

Shot 2- establishing shots of the surrounding, with extras acting-long shots

Shot 3- close up one of the main protagonists eyes, to show fear

Shot 4-then it shows the three characters in this opening scene huddled around the controls of the EOD bot. 

*keeps cutting between these two shots for about a minute whilst characters exchange dialogue*

Shot 5- cuts to over the shoulder shot of the main protagonist to show the location they'll be working in.

Shot 6- cuts back to EOD bot driving back to the humvee to show they found what they're looking for.

Shot 7-cuts to long shot of civilian unrest .

Shot 8-cuts back to the robot taking explosives back to the IED 

Shot 9- long shot of the main protagonist walking in bomb disposal suit.

Shot 10-close up on feet

Shot 11-close up of eyes.

Shot 12- long shot looking back to where he came from to show how far away he is. 

Shot 13- close up on the protagonist placing charges on the IED 

Shot 14-medium close shot of insurgent with a phone

Shot 15-longs shot of protagonist walking back

Shot 16- explosion goes off and very nice slow motion shots of the bomb blowing up the 'protagonist' 

Questions 

1) characters are established through status. It is clear from the start that out of the three, 'Thompson' is the one in charge of the small unit and the other two characters are his 'helpers/watchers' as it were. This is presented mainly through dialogue, Thompson generally gives the commands, but also the fact that Thompson is the one doing the more risky desposal job also implies that he is higher skilled and therefore in charge. 

2) location is established through titles at the very beginning of the opening scene 'Baghdad' is shown in the bottom of the frame. 

3) the narrative is formed using suspense and also a cliffhanger. The suspense is created through use of building up the situation from a joking atmosphere, to one thing leading to another and a bomb going off hurting the main character in this scene. The cliffhanger is created by showing the bomb explode but not showing the character in any great detail leaving the audience asking questions about him, whether he survived. 

4) the genre is war. This is reflected through location, costumes(soldiers), destruction and civilian unrest.

5) the opening is appropriate for the genre as it is very realistic, and shows us just what is going on in wars of today. 

6) titles are used very little in this opening scene. This is so the viewer focussed only on the cinematography of the scene so that they can get engaged entirely on what the film is about straight away.

7) in my opinion this is a very effective opening. This is because it introduces you to 2/3 of the main characters in the entire film, it is engaging and keeps the viewers wanting to watch due the the suspense and dialogue, and finally leaves you asking question and wanting to know the answers, therefore keeping you watching the film. 

A very good opening to what is, in my opinion, a very good film.