Titanic - Opening scene (analysis)

Write from the start of these opening two minutes we can see that the film is going to be sad because of the non-diegetic music in the background which is of a women humming. The sound is quite calm and peaceful. Also the long/establishing shot shows a large ship which also shows how something big is happening as, what looks like, thousands of people are waving it of. This could suggest the idea of separation which yet again denotes the idea of emotion and sadness. The sepia affect is quite significant as it shows that it is possibly quite old and how colour wasn't even potential to use during the time this was set. We know it was filmed in 1997, which yet again is evident through the camera quality and the colour them which obviously denotes how it was filmed in the past.

Following on from this is, as shot is used showing the sea and the waves which show calmness and peace. We are able to here non diegetic sound of the humming continue whilst also hearing the diegetic sound of the wave which are important as it gives the audience a real feel of the setting and makes it feel more realistic. As well as this being realistic, there is an introduced, diegetic sound of the engine of the ship under water or alternatively movement under the sea. This sound gradually builds up until the point where the bright lights appear which is an aerial shot of the ship lights. This continues with a panning movement downwards until the point where they reach the sea top and the sound gradually gets louder as they then rotate to being under water, using a reverse aerial shot.

Although its not shown in these opening two minutes, we know that there are two well known actors in the film named Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet who are star-crossed lovers. These two characters are the romance in the film. Star-crossed lovers are those who are together yet are destined to fail at the relationship further down the line. This is significant as it is a typical convention of a romance film, both being the well known actors and the failing relationship. None of the characters are really shown in the opening two minutes which is partially good as it allows the audience to focus on the setting of the film. By showing only the setting, it makes the audience more intrigued as they would want to find out more and actually be introduced to the characters as well as making sense of the film as a whole.