main post 3a

For my further look at opening sequences I decided to look at ‘Reservoir Dogs’. I chose to look at this as it follows the conventions of a crime film, linking with our genre. The opening shot shows us a group of people sitting around a table talking about the meaning behind the song ‘About a virgin’. This straight away grabs the audience’s attention and appeals to the target audience by making them laugh. It is clear that Quentin Tarantino had a definite audience in mind, which consists of mainly males. This opening scene therefore apples to a male audience because it shows and creates a male bonding.

All the characters are wearing black suits and ties. This modern gangster look was not a huge convention at the time and had rarely been seen before, but instead arguably set the convention of this dress code for future films and played a huge inspiration on our film. The camera revolving around the table rather then giving us a establishing shot of the café or the gang sitting around the table, immediately immerses us within the conversation and therefore film, setting up questions from the start such as who are these people?

Both the dress code and the way that the men are acting and talking hold this ‘cool’ feel to it and this helps to get a male audience to show a positive response. The downside to all these elements, such as the film starting in mid conversation and setting up new genre conventions, are that some audience members seeing this film for the first time, especially in 1992 when it was released, might feel confused and alienated.

When they leave the café a title screen appears and a radio presenter kicks in. We then see the gang walking down the street with the non-dietetic sound of 70’s music playing. This music, the slow motion scene and the yellow titles give the film a 70’s exploitation crime feel to it.