Opening sequence analysis- Dead again.

Dead again. 

This film was made by Paramount Studios and Mirage Productions and the opening credits start with a black background and white writing. Then the title appears in big bold white letters, the first thing we see is a newspaper headline saying murder which gives us a clue that this could be a horror or crime film. We learn that it is a murder of a music star and we are shown the weapon used. It has the credits in between the newspaper articles so it keeps going between the two. We learn who the murderer is and what has happened from the newspaper headlines. The audience questions who Grey Baker and Roman Strauss are as it focuses on their names. We are also told the date,1949, so we know what kind of era we are expecting to see at this particular time. The music is orchestral with a lot of high/low pitched sounds and has a lot of pace. It then stops and we hear a man singing and the sound of a pair of scissors snipping away. It’s sound bridged into the scene where he is in jail getting his hair cut. It’s black and white and there is low key lighting which insinuates dark and evil. Whereas the person in the white suit is under a brighter light which suggests that he is a good character and we learn that he is Mr Baker. Then when he stabs a women we see her wake up and it’s in colour except that it’s very stormy.