Deconstruction of Skyfall Opening Credits

Deconstruction of Skyfall Opening Credits

Skyfall (2012) is the 23rd James Bond film, directed by Sam Mendes and produced by Eon Productions, it is Daniel Craig's third time as Bond. At the time, Skyfall became the seventh highest grossing film in the UK as well as the highest grossing film in the Bond series. It won two BAFTA's, two academy awards and the song played in the credits won two Grammys.

The film is about Bond investigating an attack on MI6 while testing Bond's loyalty to M.

The credits for Skyfall are quite long, which is unusual for opening credits but it is to allow the large amount of people that helped to produce and work on the film to get some credit for what they did. Listing the credits at the start of the film makes it more likely that the names will be read compared to credits at the end of the film. The non-diegetic soundtrack is Skyfall, written and performed by Adele, stays constant throughout the opening credits. It is a dramatic song which is parallel to the dark theme of James Bond films, this is because the song 'Skyfall' was written specifically for the film, so Adele's voice fits in perfectly with how the credits are paced as well as the dark lighting. To create a song that is specific for the film requires a large budget, however smaller studios wouldn't  be able to do this, which means that we definitely wouldn't be able to make our own music unless someone in our group has any musical skills, so we will probably use un-copyrighted music from the internet. 

 

The lighting stays constantly dark to reflect the genre of the film with a lot of shadows used to create effect and also to conform to the common conventions of a thriller film. The main colours used are dark blue, red and black which connotes an ominous and creepy atmosphere. The song is parallel to the colours because it is a slow and dramatic ballad with low pitched notes.

The mise-en-scene constantly shows military items such as guns, weapons, practice targets and blood, this gives the audience an idea of what to expect from the film and the items are a common convention in a thriller film, especially spy films. 

The location changes a lot throughout the credits to reveal the fast-pace and action in the film, there are parts in a room of mirrors, a graveyard, the sea and an empty and run down building. It also shows the conventions of the genre which is spy, a sub-genre of action/thriller. The genre is also shown through the use of dark colours, dramatic music and the images of weapons.

Throughout the credits the camera is tracking Bond, because he is the main character, and it shows him going on a journey which gives an implication of what the film could be about. In the first part, he is falling into the sea with blood on his chest and is then dragged downwards by an oversized hand. This emphasises the recurring theme in Bond film of uncertainty about Bond's safety.

 

The title of the film is written in a sans serif, capitalised font and is white which makes it stand out against the dark colours behind it. The same font is used for the names in the credits which creates a sense of flow and continuity in the film.

These opening credits would be impossible for us to make because it requires expensive graphics software that none of us have. Therefore, we wouldn't be able to produce opening credits like this, but we can still take information from it such as the text and where it is placed on the screen.