Tuesday, 13 October 2015

Dr. Strangelove (1964) introduction analysis


The opening of Dr. Strangelove is both conventional and unconventional, it is conventional in that it is a tracking shot of a vehicle, much like how spy films of the era often had tracking shots of cars in their introductions, it is unconventional in that the vehicle being tracked is in fact a B-52 bomber, which at the time was the highest level of technology in aircraft, giving an air of sophistication to the opening, the action in the opening is rather mundane, but yet interesting, in the context of the time, both the planes and the action of mid-air refueling was brand new technology, this keeps the audience watching as it is unlike anything of the time.




The action of air refueling featured in the introduction in a way sets the tone for the film, how one crew, is responsible for everyone else (the majority of the film takes place in a command centre) 



The style of the text in the introduction hints towards the tone of the film, it is lose and handwritten, suggesting lightheartedness, which is the case, it is also stylised so that the importance correlates to the size of the text, the title taking up the entire screen.








Notable is the end of the introduction, as the music and screen fades the bombers depart, this creates the idea that the bombers were feeding off of each other to create the scene and that no they've departed the scene must move on.






No comments:

Post a Comment