25.09.2013 - RESEARCH: FILM OPENING ANALYSIS

Today we analysed and scrutinized the opening of a television thriller Zen (BBC 1). As a class, we noticed the ways in which genre was signaled:

·         Images of guns to signal the world of crime

·         Images of keys to refer to prison cells

·         The protagonist in a dark, formal suit with sunglasses, looking official, authoritative and commanding

·         Buildings relating to Italian Police Headquarters ‘The Questura’ clearly inscribed in stone

 

This detective series introducing Aurelio Zen is set in Rome and is created on novels written by Michael Dibdin. I personally witnessed how the opening had many graphical and pictorial clues that signaled the Italianicity of the drama, such as:

·         The red, white and green vertical bands with connotations and meanings of the Italian flag

·         Silhouetted images of St Peter’s Dome in Rome as well as bird’s eye shots of St Peter’s Square which are iconic emblems of Rome, renowned globally

·         Frequent images of Fiat Cinquecento cars

·         Italians gesticular talking – using their hands to describe and take place of verbal expression