Reservoir Dogs (1992) Opening Title Sequence

This is one if not the most simple movie openings I have ever seen. It just consists of eight men walking down a street towards a road. This was effective though as it makes the audience want to know more. And despite it being very short and simple you still gather a large amount and understanding of the film.

The genre is not necessarily clear in the opening, however if I had to pick I would go with thriller. The open narrative uses the enigma code to feed the audience information which suggests that there is about to be trouble (action codes help advance the narrative because the audience knows something is going to happen) shown by the intimidating men all dressed like gangsters with suits, sun glasses, gold chains and a very troublesome walk. Also, the men are not individuals but instead seen to be in a group making them appear even more troublesome to the viewer. The way they walk and look suggests the theme to this movie is gangster/crime related. The setting is obviously an urban city as well, the fact they come from a small alley way into the big street may connote the small alley way to be their underground empire and now they are being released to the world.

No details are told about the characters. However, the actor’s names flash up once the character is seen on screen letting the audience know who plays who. All characters appear to be gangsters apart from the actor ‘Chris Penn’ who wears the blue shirt. The blue shirt may suggest he is a ‘fake’ gangster or possibly a bit of a ladies man.  All other men who wear the suits are seen to be tough, hard, troublesome and dangerous. The music in the background is fun, cool and relaxing which  juxtaposes the image on screen, looking dangerous and threatening. Both the images on screen and the fun music helps create two opposite atmospheres; one being serious and the other being fun. This works well as it keeps the audience keen into finding out what is coming up in the movie. Finally, the men are all seen from the back in the distance and the word ‘are’ appears and is shortly followed by ‘Reservoir Dogs’  letting the audience know all these characters are important as there all linked to the title.