The opening scene of any film is used to engage, advertise and attract the target market. This audience are meant to be introduced to the characters that will be fore filling the two hours or so in the cinema seat, and people are meant to be able to have inkling of what will happen throughout the movie, well these are the guidelines or the ingredients that are suggested in making a good film.
In Shrek 2 the first 2 minutes certainly engage the audience and introduce them to the first sign of an extremely comical motion picture. I chose to right about this film because after watching three films this week this was the one that in my mind was the most memorable and enjoyable out of all three which also included ‘The sixth sense’ and ‘shallow grave’.
The film begins with the introduction of the institutions which produced the film these include ‘DreamWorks’ and ‘PDI’ after viewing the moving logos of both company’s the following scene in the movie is a black slide reading ‘a PDI/DreamWorks production’. This scene is played with background music. This is seen as very recognisable to the Shrek films and seems very fairytale like and enchanted.
The next scene sees the book in which ‘the fairytale’ is written appear and then open and this is where the narrative voice over begins which comes in the form of the character of Prince charming, he begins reading the pages in the book reading ‘Once upon in a kingdom far away’ he carries on reading with the pages turning until the point ‘of the handsome prince charming’ the book then fades away and the next sees the prince on horseback to the tower where Fiona was kept through snow and dessert weather, day and night... the comedy begins when the prince takes of his metal helmet to reveal a hair net keeping his ‘perfectly groomed hair in place’ this gives the audience an instant knowledge to the new character as they become aware he is very vain, he then goes on to spray himself with perfume before ‘searching for Fiona’ the next part sees the prince enter Fiona’s tower opening the net curtains to review a relaxed wolf reading a magazine, but where’s Fiona? On Honeymoon of course the wolf replies.
This then follows on it the opening song ‘Accidentally in love’ which is set in a home video form of the ‘happy couple’ at their honeymoon home, the title of the film then appears in ‘Fireflies’ which then buzz away. The humour of the couples honeymoon then appears on the screen with ‘Fiona shaving her face next to the usually hairy Shrek’. Then little red riding hood appears and runs away in disgust at the sight of the ogres and then a scene with the couple kissing on a beach is ‘rudely’ interrupted by ‘the little mermaid’ other references to other films are also found in the opening sequence with, a ‘Spiderman’ like upside kiss, a ‘lord of the rings’ wedding ring, and ‘tinker bell’ being trapped in a jar.
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