Brick - Opening Sequence Analysis

The title of the film:
The title of the film is ‘Brick’ and it appears on the screen after we see the scene within the school, this is also when we see the beginning of the movie; it’s a quick cut into the title. The text is central within the frame, and there is a black background. Also, when the title appears on the screen there is a sudden stop in music, this could possibly connote an abrupt end to the female’s life.

The way the setting/location is revealed:
Firstly, we see a close ups of the scene and this is mainly of a male character, making the audience wonder where this film is set but also why he is there. It then cuts to an establishing shot of the setting where these characters are situated. The audience sees a long and vast drain pipe and in front of it is a male kneeling over a dead female. We want to know why this has happened, and who murdered the girl, but then we see the same male character in a phone box talking to a female that sounded distraught; we then believe she was in the vehicle that drove quite ecstatic past him.

Costumes/props:
The costumes from the opening sequence seems to be very casual, everyday clothes however when we get the close up of the deceased girl we see that she is wearing a skit, along with high heel shoes; this shows that she must have been out or going out and something tragic happened to her, clearly it was unexpected. We are able to see her bracelets that she was wearing, suggesting that she was quite a young girl. Lastly, towards the end of the opening sequence we have a close up of a finished cigarette with a red arrow on it. This will make the audience wonder what this means, and what is the significance of this.

Camera work/editing:
I feel the establishing shot of the drain pipe is successful, and we will wonder the significance of this drain pipe, but also we see both characters on either side in the front of the pipe; possibly suggesting the divide between these characters, and having the drain pipe being so big, there is a big divide between these characters, we then wonder why. There are many close ups used to build tension for the audience, making them feel uncomfortable and curious as they will see such detail of this girl, showing us that she was very young. We want to know what happened to this poor girl; but most importantly why it happened.

Title and font style:
The main title in all of the opening sequence is the title of the film ‘Brick’, it is in capital letter, and this could possibly show that the film contrasts with the font. The font is simple, yet the film may not be. We are giving a sense of a plot and storyline, and we will know why what happened did happen, being that the girl was murdered, due to the fact that it simply says ‘2 days previous’. It also makes the movie seem a little ‘detective’ like, and the viewer is solving a mystery.

How the opening sets the story:
The story is mainly set when we see an establishing shot of the drain, accompanied by the male and female characters. There is an establishing shot of an empty road with a phone box, sets the scene as the audience will wonder if they will find out whether this might link to what they saw previously.

How does it suggest that it’s a thriller:
The opening sequence can suggest that the film is going to be a thriller, because we see a gloomy place with a dead girl in it; conveying a creepy and tense atmosphere. Another aspect is that the music gets louder and louder, creating an even tenser atmosphere. Also, when the male character is on the phone to the female character, we hear something about a ‘Brick’, and then we notice that is the name of the film so it must have a lot of significance. A car drives very fast this male, and we believe that the female might be in this car, we want to know where is it going and why she might be in it.

The characters introduced:
From the first few shots we see close ups of two characters, which are believed to be the main characters. We see a dead girl, and that is all we see of her, mainly close up of her features, we want to know how she got there and why she’s dead. Also, the male seems to be terrified and upset about his girl, possible he knew her and they were very close. From the opening sequence we learn that both characters are young as they go to school, and they are both seen in the school, but also her blue bracelets are in her locker whilst at school.

Special effects:
I believe that in the opening sequence of ‘Brick’ there is a very minimalistic amount of editing, this could possibly have been done so that the audience will see that this movie is as real life as possible, to add to the creepy atmosphere. However, I feel that the throwing of the cigarette butt, and the way it landed had the use of special effects within it, just to make it perfect; I believe that was done very cleverly.