Opening the hunger games

Analysis of Film OpeningThe Hunger Games

Opening Sequence (01:00)

I have chosen to analyze the opening of the Hunger Games as the genre of the movie is the same as the one which I would like to potentially explore and create my own movie opening around, a dystopian adventure/drama. The first thirty seconds of the opening to the movie purely consists of institutional logos of the production and distribution companies. After the thirtieth second, the sequence then proceeds to show titles explaining the origin of the hunger games and why a selection young people have to go through with it.


As the opening progresses onto the second minute, the text which was previously on the screen fades away and the title of the movie ‘The Hunger Games’ remains onscreen. The scene then cuts to two minor protagonists in the film discussing the meaning of the hunger games and it’s significance. There is then a quick cut from the dialogue between the two characters, to an establishing shot of District 12, the place where the main protagonist, Katniss Everdeen lives. There is a close up shot of her face, which then pans down to a close up of her younger sisters face, who Katniss is comforting after having a bad dream.


Throughout the first half of the third minute of the opening of the movie, a medium shot reverse shot is used to show Katniss as she sings to her sister who is trying to go back to sleep. The non-diegetic music in the background adds to the somber mood of the scene. The nightmare which Primrose has foreshadows that as the movie progresses, there will be sadness and tragedy involved. During the last few seconds of the third minute, as Katniss leaves the house, there are establishing shots of District 12, as well as long shots showing the difficult manual labor which the citizens of the district go through, as well as the poverty which they are living in. This presents a binary opposition of poor vs. rich, with the second minute of the movie as it showed two men who live in the Capital and how glamorous and taken care of they looked, compared to the people in District 12.


Throughout the majority of the fourth minute of the opening of the movie, there is continuous establishing shots of the district, and just how poor the conditions are. Children with poor housing conditions and the elderly eating what they can find in order to survive. The non-diegetic music in the sequence adds to the melancholy of the situation as it creates sympathy for the characters within the audience. In the second half of the fourth minute, there is a long shot tracking of Katniss running through a place which is next to the border between the district. She is then shown running and going past this border. This part of the opening raises many enigma codes, where is she going? Why is she crossing the border?


The final minute of the opening begins with a mini montage of Katniss walking around the woods trying to find an animal to hunt. There is then a mid close up of a dear, and then a close up of her spotting a dear from afar. There is then a long shot of her standing on a tree bark showing the measures and risks people like her have to go through in order to assure themselves some sort of meal. The opening of the movie ends with a long shot of the dear looking at Katniss.

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Opening the hunger games