Opening to Shawshank Redemption

At the start we get a medium length shot of the two characters who we expect are going to be the main characters the shot shows us the character and the type of person he is going to be. The next shot shows a van this tells us that the people in the van are going to be some who are involved. And then finally a long shot on the prison shows us where this film is going to be set. The over the head shot gives us a different interpretation on the prison as it makes it look more like a school.
        The editing pace is very slow throughout the opening, this is because it wants you too see the whole setting and they want you understand the whole scene. The slow editing pace does not create tension and does not make us think alot of action is going to take place. The continuity of the shots work well as you can see the differnece between each o the shots and they all fit in together.
        We can tell that the target audience of this film is young adults and adults this is because at the start you see a prison so we understand that it will not be for a younger generation as we get the impression that it is going to have some violence and foul language, As it is set in a prison with older people we see that adults are able to relate to it.
        The music throughout the opening is very intriguing as it is very relaxed. It is not too loud and it is not to quiet, it creates atmosphere and it shows you the setting in a better prospective. What the music does is draws you into the scene.
        The genre is made clear at the beginning. We can tell that is is going to be crime with some action, the main reasons we get this impression is because of the characters and because of the shot types. Showing us some of the characters and being told how they got into the prison makes us feel that they are going to show us some of the things they did, this will contain action. Also the setting is shown to be the prison, this makes us realize alot is going to be based on criminals.
        Wearing old clothing means that we can see in more depth the wealth of the characters and it tells us what time of year the film is set, also it shows us what type of a character the person is in the film. They are wearing prisoners clothing, this is the stereotypical view on what prisoners would wear. Throughout the film we get hints that suggest to us the film is about a prison and it going to be based on that film
        I believe that the opening to this film works well. That is because everything we want to see is shown in the opening two minuets for example the settings and the characters. This is good because it keeps you drawn in and you want to find out more about what is going to happen to the characters and you want to find out why it is set where it is.