Opening Sequence Research- The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Identity is the first film from the trio of Bourne films, the other two which followed are; The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. The trio of films are great sci-fi, action, thriller films, which is the route we want to go down, as a group, with our opening sequence.

The film first begins with a mysterious figure floating in the sea on a very stormy night. This quickly cuts to a location shot of an old fishing boat sailing through the mighty storm, this immediately creates an enigma of who, or what the mysterious figure was. After briefly showing a high angle shot of four fishermen, playing cards within the cabin of the fishing boat, a location is given to us. After switching back to the view of the stormy sea at night, the location of the boat is given at the bottom of the screen, it reads "MEDITERRANEAN SEA 60 MILES SOUTH OF MARSEILLES". When a location of an opening sequence is hard to distinguish (such as in the middle of the sea), it is important that a heading is given, to identify to the audience whereabouts the characters are at this sequence in the film. The identification of the location, along with the shots of the old fishing boat sailing through the storm, will give the audience an idea of what genre the film is, probably a sci-fi thriller. This is because the audience will have an idea of what will happen next; either something will be found on the boat, or in the sea. This is as the location was highlighted, telling the audience the boat is situated in the middle of the sea, and therefore something is going to happen, as there is nowhere to go. This highlights that this film is a thriller.

The opening sequence then continues to the fishermen continuing there card game in which one man wins, takes the pot of cigarettes in the middle of the table, and the game is over. For the opening sequence this is the equilibrium as the fishermen are going about there own business, playing a game of cards, however this is probably not the equilibrium for the rest of the film. A disruption in the opening sequence then occurs as one of the fishermen goes out onto the deck and throws some waste overboard, here he sees a figure of a man floating in the sea, close to the boat. Tension building music then begins to play which builds up anxiety in the audience as we wonder who this person is, and if they are dead or alive. As the title for the film appears the music continues and becomes ever louder which builds up more tension. A shot of the fishermen heaving the man out of the sea is then shown, with the tension building music still playing in the background.

Some of the characters and one of the protagonist characters are introduced in this opening sequence. After pulling him on board, one of the fishermen begins to cut open the wet suit of the new character who was found floating in the sea. In the process of doing this the fisherman finds bullets that have been shot at the character, in his back, he also finds a laser torch which was embedded into his neck. When shining the torch on the wall an address is given. As an audience we become aware that the man who is presumed dead, is in fact not, as we see that his head position has changed from one shot to another. This creates more tension as we know something the character doesn’t. When the man eventually jumps up and begins to abruptly question the fisherman to where he is, he is reassured by the fisherman who asks him his name. The character who we later find is Jason Bourne, cannot confirm his name. This indicates to the audience and the character that he has lost his memory, Bourne then collapses back onto the table he was led on.

One of the most important things that an opening sequence should do is create enigmas that the audience want to be answered throughout the film. Many enigmas are created in the opening sequence of The Bourne Identity such as:

• Who is this person the fishermen have found?


• What was the man doing floating in the sea?


• How did he get to be being in the middle of the Mediterranean?


• Why were the fishermen out on such a stormy night?


• Who has shot the character?


• Why has he been shot?


• Why was there a laser pen implanted into his neck?


• How will he find out his identity?
  

From carrying out the research on The Bourne Identity, there is a key point I have realised when making an opening sequence, its location. In this film, the location of the characters and the fishing boat is difficult to distinguish, therefore a location is given in words at the bottom of the screen. In our opening sequence we may consider using this, if the location of our shots could be anywhere. However we will only state the location if we feel it is appropriate, as sometimes it is better the audience not knowing where the character is, this may be because the character doesn't know either.