Film Opening Analysis

'An Education' Title Sequence

I have chosen to analyse the opening sequence of 'An Education' (Lone Scherfig, 2009). Overall, the title sequence hints at a particular genre, however, at first, a different genre comes to mind. When we see characters for the first time, a girl can be seen with a serious expression on her face, which is almost humorous as the audience know how hard she is trying to balance the book. The fact that she is the only one in the line that has to re-position the book reinforces this idea of a humorous genre. Nevertheless, the predominant genre soon becomes clear by acknowledging what is going on in the scenes. The balancing of the books, the dancing and the cooking all indicate that this film is going to be about maturing; the transformation from a teenager into an adult. This could be a genre within itself: a coming of age drama. 

The story appears to mainly take place at a school as the sequence shows various features including a classroom, a playground and a hall, all of which you would expect to find at a school. We can expand on this as we only see girls in uniform which implies it is an all girls school. The time scale is not made very clear but the diversity in weather patterns suggests that it has definitely not taken place in one day. The story from the title sequence is likely to be happening in a week, perhaps in winter or autumn, as there is snow and rain. 

The sequence begins with animations based on theories and instructions, before moving onto girls carrying books on their heads. This is followed by dancing lessons,cooking and a girl walking down the road supposedly trying to remember Latin. These each confirm this idea of having an education. The events link with the initial animations as there are denotations of learning new information and skills. Apart from the last scene, the order of events is random, which may be intentional, to set the scene for the film. The main purpose of using these scenes is to highlight that they are learning to be young women but they are not matured yet and the shots of them giggling and writing on the windows reflect this.  The last scene, on the other hand, is significant, as it is when dialogue begins for the first time and it stays in one place:-a classroom.

The first person who looks like a main character is the girl who has to re-position the book on her head. I think this because she had the first action and also because later in the title she is seen to be day dreaming. Another main character is likely to be the girl walking down the road by herself. It implies we will see her again and we do, right at the end of the title sequence. Hers is the last face we see before the picture fades which tells the audience, there is more to come from her, and gives them the impression that the film is going to be her story. 

The title sequence does not reveal a lot of story information. It establishes the setting (a girl's school) and suggests that  it is likely to be about girls maturing. Apart from this, we are yet to find out what else will happen in the film, as the scenes have given limited connotations. One thing suggested if you look closely enough is that there may be a love story due to the animations of hearts throughout the title. I think the possibility of having any characters other than girls i.e. boys , is deliberately withheld as the audience is not supposed to know of the experiences the girls are going to have. 

There are three main things the audience need to know at the start of the film. Firstly, that girls are likely to be the main protagonists as it is set in a girls school. Secondly, they need to remember that as they are at school, they are not yet adults and the uniform is perhaps a reminder. Thirdly, they need to be aware that the girls are preparing to be young women and so the audience can expect to see aspects of growing up in the film.