Media Task - Dissecting Popular Western Openings

True Grit




Title: The title sequence is quite minimalist in appearance, the writing is placed over a dull grey background with the writing being white, overcasting the grey background. The actual quote presented in the opening sequence "The wicked flee when none pursueth" This links directly into the movies main story line, linking into the guilt of tom janey who fled the town despite no one giving chase which also links into the lawless ideals of the west. The dull grey background gives an idea of tainted purity , contrasting the lawless and apathy of the west with its staunch christian views.

Music: The music during the opening sequence is a melody played on a piano, this gives the scene a somber feeling, almost portraying the emotions felt by out protagonist at the news of her fathers death, this opening is quite unique as its extremely tranquil compared to many other westerns


Shot types: The shot during the opening sequence is a long shot that slowly transitions into a portrait of the body of our protagonists father, this slow tracking shot that slowly comes into focus gives the narrator enough time to fill the viewer in but the shot, due to its slow develop and the use of natural lighting creates an extremely tranquil and beautiful atmosphere despite the grim tone.

Miss en scene: Their is not much use of miss en scene during the opening scene, the man lying on the ground seems to be wearing appropriate clothing for the time, extremely common showing the protagonists relatively poor background

Recurring themes and character types: The movie seems to run along the lines of revenge as the main protagonist attempts to avenge her father, the movie uses a strong female character as its lead even stating in the narration "people did not give it credence that a young girl could leave home in the middle of winter to avenge her fathers blood". This shows the hisotrical context of women being seen as weak but flips it on its head as well

Unforgiven





Title: The movie begins with a tranquil shot of a western hut on top of a hill at sunset, their is virtually no credits but their is an exposition on one the movies most important characters late wife. The way in which this news was delivered to the audience was quite stunted, perhaps mimicking the apathetic nature of the mid west.

Music: Their is practically no music in the begging sequence except a light guitar being strung which quickly dies off, this could represent how the mid west isnt as romantic as it seems, its cold, callous and downright sadistic.


Shot types: The movie begins with a long shot of a western sunset with the silhouette of a man digging to be seen in the distance, this then swaps to a wide landscape shot of a mountain, finally the camera moves through a western village, the dolly shot during this shows the silhouette of a couple, celebrating new romance, it then jump cuts to a quite dimly lit scene of two people having sex, perhaps depicting the death of romance from the romantic to the downright sleazy.

Miss en scene: The characters are seen to be wearing traditional western clothes, "cowboy hats" and old fashioned dresses are seen throughout the opening

Recurring themes and character types: Not much is given away on who the main character is at the beginning of the movie nor what themes seem to be present.

A fistful of Dollars:






Title: The title sequence is an extremely long one using animated silhouettes of typical western tropes (horse riding, gun fights, gun fights on horseback) the use of the red and black gives an almost gory sensation showing the audience from the very start that this is going to be an action packed movie

Music: The music is quite rugged, useing a combination of gunshots, noises and instruments its clear to see that the score is aimed to excite the audience

Shot Types: The opening sequence does not feature any live action shots, but instead shows an impressively animated sequence of various key western tropes. This is extremely well done as it keeps the audience constantly entertained as it goes through the title sequence, a part in any film thats often associated with being boring.

Miss En scene: Their is no present Miss En Scene but the classic western features are seen in the animation such as the poncho, cowboy hat, revolver, horses and cowboy boots.

Recurring themes and character types: The movie portrayals to the "lone ranger" character type, played by Clint Eastwood, this character does not intervene unless otherwise provoked to do so.











A few Dollars more:







Title: The title sequence begins with a man walking through a barren plain, the title credits begin once a gunshot is sound the character on screen is seen to fall of their horse, the credits them selves are overcast the landscape, often interacting with the landscape itself, the man is not named or even allowed to speak before he is killed, this could represent the lawless brutality of the west where people die unexpectedly and without chance










Music: The music is typical of the Dollars trilogy with the mixture of instruments and various noises such as gunshots creates a thrilling atmosphere and


Shot Types:Their is only one shot type used throughout the entire opening which is an extreme long shot. This not only gives a sense of the sheer magnitude of the west but also makes the character on screen appear smaller showing perhaps the insignificance of one man in the west

Miss En Scene: Not much can be seen from the extreme long distance but the man on horseback clearly shows that this predates the commercialization of cars, setting the era
Recurring theme and character types: No character types can be discerned from the opening but the recurring theme would have to be the lawlessness and sheer brutality of the west with this seemingly harmless man being gunned down for no discernible reason

The outlaw Joesy Wales





Title: The title sequence is superimposed over the sight of a bloody civil war battle, this not only keeps the audience captivated during the opening titles but it also gives a hint at what type of movie the audience will be watching, in this case its clear to see that this movie will be quite brutal and action packed.

Music: The music seems to be from an american civil war marching band, typical of the time to inspire moral, this sets the era but also seems to contrast with the brutality on screen, emphasizing the reality of war compared to the thought of war.


Shot Types: Their are quite a number of shots used throughout the opening sequence, with close ups, mid shots, long shots and extreme close ups all being used in equal parts.

Miss En Scene: The character costume design seems to be based of the fashion during the american civil war with lost of outdated rifels and guns being used which set the era and genre of the film.

Recurring Theme and Character Types: Recurring themes seem to be the brutality of the west and taking justice into your own hands as the main character is hinted to have done some sort of atrocity. The common "lone ranger" character type seems to be present in this film from the very start with the stoic main character barely uttering a word.

Media Task - Research into Popular Western Classics

The films i watched were: Unforgiven, A fistful of Dollars, For a few dollars more, True grit (2010), The outlaw Joesy wales.

Title: While the westerns i watched were, undoubtedly, westerns, the majority of them did not outright show to the audience that they were westerns, in fact the only title above that suggests to the audience is "The Outlaw", with outlaws being a typical western trope. This is not to say how ever that they were not effective by any stretch of the imagination, on the contrary i feel that it adds to them, it makes them unique among a genre that is stereotyped as being similar with little variation.A lot of westerns follow an unwritten rule of applying some type of hint that the film is a western, such as wild wild west, once upon a time in the west, The cowboys and the list continues; who each outright state that the film is a western in the title. How ever this is not true for a large majority of western films who use ambiguous titles in order to catch the viewers eye in a sea of ever growing cinema, such as "the hateful eight" and "django unchained".

Music: A lot of westerns tend to use a host of different music with a mixture coming from latin america and the mid west. These archetypes of music are known quite famously by appearing in westerns that they are synonymous with the western genre its self. Most famously is ennio morricone from The good, The bad and the ugly, one of the most famous westerns of all time and undoubtedly the most famous western soundtrack of all.

Shot types: Westerns use a mixture of shot types, most notably are extreme long shots and close up shots. The extreme long shots tend to establish the movie in a western setting with long shots of dessert or prairie terrain establishing the viewer in the setting but also to show the barren and openness of the mid west, almost making the viewer feel insignificant. The close up shots tend to build tension and show the expression on the characters face quite well, so much so that the viewer can notice even the slightest change in expression, this is used famously in the good the bad and the ugly in which the main character has a shoot off with another, the tension is built using the close up shots accompanied by the music building the tension to almost unbearable amounts.



Mise en scene: The western trope tends to borrow from the cultures of Latin america and the mid west, often blending the two, sombreros, ponchos, cowboy boots, bandannas, leather clothes, stetsons and dated weapons, most famously would be the revolver are all common props used in the western genre. These are used to set the era and the location.
.



Recurring themes and character types: The main character type in a western would be the lonesome ranger, a man of few words whos a professional and knows what hes doing, a "cut-to-the-chase" kind of man. Another trope would be the "damsel in distress", someone that would force the otherwise indifferent hero to act however in most recent western films this has been discarded and replaced with a more rugged and capable heroin as the old trope is seen rightly as quite a sexist idea. Recurring themes of westerns tends to be an anarchist view point, a "take the law into your own hands" kind of deal in which the main character decided to, or is forced to do something outside of the law.