The first thing we see is a photo being held and flapped whilst the opening credits are running. The photo shows a room with red stains on its walls, most probably blood, mixed in with the sad-like background music suggests something has just happened. Each time the photo is flapped the picture on it fades until it completely fades out.
We are then intorduced to a blonde haired character who puts the faded picture into his camera (which is confusing), the character is sweating a lot and has what it seems like faint red dots on his face. The audeince is then shown shots of flowing blood on the ground as well as an empty shell, which obviously tells that someone has been shot.
Our questions are answered when we are shown glasses covered in blood as well as a dead person laying face down on the floor. This whole scene is a mystery to the audience - the movie has begun with such intensity, a murder, which tells us that maybe the guy with the camera might be someone who is trying to figure out what is going on and who shot him.
We then realise that this time our guesses are wrong and that the character with the camera isn't tryig to help the dead man, we also figure out that the scene is going backwards - it is rewinding. Whilst the scene goes backwards in time a gun lands in the hand of the blonde haired character, the empty bullet shell goes back into the gun, the glasses fly back up to the dead man who is now alive and all the blood in the wall dissapears all to the sound of a man's scream and a gunshot - the screen then goes black for a second.
The scene suggests that one or both of these characters are the main characters of the movie and that something has happened and the scene brings up all these questions in the audiences head- did one of them do something to the other? What happened? Why was he shot? Mixed with the eerie background music the scene shows off a great thriller scene as it does everything so fast in rewind as well as so many quesitons in so little time which demand answering.
A lot of extreme-close ups are shown, it's the the first camera shot of the movie, zoomed in on the photo. It's also used to show the empt bullet shell, the blood on the ground, the dead man, the bloody glasses and the blond characters face. It shows the intensity of the scene as well as showing little bits of it to try and make the audience guess what has happened in that scene little by little building up suspense.
An exreme-close up is also used on the characters face to show his emotions to the scene and to show the audience how he feels for what he has done. It gives the audience a more interaction with the character. Each camera shot is only there for 2 seconds maximum, going from one shot to another building up quick suspense including when the time was rewinding at a quicker pace.
We are not given a lot on the characters in the opening scene of the movie - except for the fact that one character who wears glasses is shot dead and the man who did it is wearing smart clothes - light brown blazer and a blue collared shirt which signifies a dignified person - maybe he's a hitman.
The Hangover:
It starts with a van with 'Richard's Floral Company' written on it and there are people carrying flowers out of the van. We are also shown a grand cake, a wedding dress and people setting out white chairs hinting to the audience that we are seeing a wedding ceremony.
Although during these scenes we hear the dialing of phone numbers but all calls are going straight to voice-mail which could signify trouble. Soon we are introduced to some characters, a female on the phone who is having her hair done - she is probably the one getting married. We are also introduced to an older female character and an older male character which could be the parents. The mother is worried looking out the window whilst the father is sitting on the couch reading a magizine. There are also other characters (sitting) which could be acting as the family of the bride.
A phone call then comes in from one of the people the bride was trying to reach earlier. He is male and sates himself as 'Phil' he is around the same age as the bride (but is not the groom) - three other males are also seen in the desert like setting, blurred out in the background behind the male on the phone. Phil's shirt is dirty and his lip cut which could mean he had some trouble wherever he was.
The movie states the setting of where the males were (Las Vegas) and Phil mentions him losing a person named 'Doug' who seems to be the groom, this gives a hint that the movie could be about the males who went to Las Vegas and lost someone and tried to find him.
The first impression the scene gives you is one of a romantic story, due to the wedding scenery, but that soon changes after the phone call. Although the movie states it's a comedy, the beginning scene might not make it obvious to the audience that it is, although the title of the movie probably would.
We are shown establishing long shots to show the scenery of the wedding with the camera zooming out to show the grandness of the cake and wedding dress.
We are shown mid-shots of many characters (mainly the bride and her parents). During the phone call we are shown close-ups of the bride to show the types of facial expressions and emotions she is feeling during that time. We are also shown Phil in a close-up shot but at the same time three other male characters in the back blurred up.
The scene changes from close-up to the bride and nack to Phil during the phone conversation, sometimes it shows a close-up of only Phil on the phone without the other characters showing the intensity of the situation and the intensity of the characters emotions.
We are shown a beautiful wedding ceremony at a big house which could mean that the family is either rich or they are spending a lot of money on the wedding due to it being an important event.
Phil is wearing expensive looking sunglasses and a black collared shirt which suggests normality in the scene although his lip is cut and his shirt dirty meaning something abnormal may have happened to him and the other characters.
