Analysing the opening sequence of a film.

Bloodsport

The first thing we see is a long shot of the local city; it is vague and allows the viewer to see the surroundings before the camera zooms in. The camera then moves slightly closer to the city and then zooms in all the way to the main road of Hong Kong. Doors open to the building which the film resolves around, but the viewer still isn’t sure what is happening so the tension is building up. We are brought into a strange looking arena with a square mat in the middle; the viewer is likely to think that this is the place where most fight scenes happen as it is a Mixed Martial Arts film after all. The local people are preparing the arena for some sort of big event, again building up tension and making it clearer as to what is about to happen. Once the surroundings are clear, we are brought to the first participant and he is shown training in a fairly peculiar way. The main actor(Chong Li) is portrayed as a powerful character due to this scene. We then see another fighter training and it is becoming clear to the viewer that the director is building up a particular atmosphere and we are discovering who the main characters are and perhaps who is the most powerful. Placing Chong Li at the start shows that he is powerful, however we are unclear as to whether he is the bad guy or the good guy, but his angry nature and the fact that it is just a short clip proves that he’s unlikely to be the good guy, therefore he is bad. The camera goes through different unusual training regimes and we are an onlooker. The camera then goes back to the main arena where they are still preparing the event, reminding us about it and further making us think that the training fighters will compete in this event. We are shown fighters of different nationalities hence making the event seem more important/prestigious. A long seen appears showing a straggly and vicious American actor who clearly plays a large role in the film, the viewer is tricked into thinking that he’s the bad guy but as the film unveils he becomes the good guy and the main actor’s best friend. The camera goes back to Chong Li hence increasing the importance of his role and now the viewer could easily feel that Li is a good guy, due to the ‘evil’ American shown before. We are never shown the main actor (the hero) of the film in the opening sequence, however one could think that the opening sequence runs up to 4:20(when Van Damme visits his master). Van Damme is shown to have importance as the general is interested in his safety however he is cheeky due to the fact that he escapes from the shower.

In conclusion we are shown a build up to the Kumite (the forthcoming event) and we are shown the main characters and perhaps who is good/bad.