Ocean's 13

In the opening sequence of Oceans 13 we meet two men who look as if they will be the main characters of the film.
During the whole of the opening sequence we never find out;
Who they are?
What their names are?
What they do?
But the opening sequence introduces them as the main characters and a situation that one of them is in.

Most of the opening sequence is in darkness to emphasis the fact that the first character that we meet isn’t supposed to be where he is. The first main character played by Brad Pitt appears from the top of the screen on a bungee wire, which has obviously come from the ceiling. He is wearing dark clothing and a balaclava, so as at first we don’t know what he looks like or who he is.
The setting of the opening sequence is what looks like a lab, but the characters that are in it are all dressed in black and don’t look as though they shouldn’t be there. They could be spies, detectives or criminals but we never find out throughout the whole of the opening sequence.

Diegetic sound is used throughout most of the opening sequence, such as clicking, sound of buckles, footsteps and Brad Pitts phone ringing and him talking to someone. Upbeat music is used while Brad walks towards the plane parked outside.

As Brad Pitt starts walking through, what looks like a lab, a tracking shot is used to follow him into another room where other people in the room are with torches searching for things. A tracking shot is used so they audience can make out where he is walking towards, if they had used a point of view shot we would still see where they were going but it wouldn’t have been as effective of as watching him walk somewhere.

The lighting used through the whole of the section when they are in the lab is darkness apart from the light of the torches and the slight light creeping in from the windows.

When he reaches the separate room where all the other people are he reaches towards a machine which lights up. A medium shot is used for a view of the side of him looking towards the screen, until his phone rings and it pans across to the front of him and he answers his phone.
Brad: ‘Yep’, (takes of the balaclava and we finally see who he is)
‘Where is he?’
‘Gotta go…’
The music starts up. It is upbeat music, giving the feeling of an action film. The instruments used seem like saxophones and drums, the music is Non – diegetic as the character can not hear it while he is walking out of a building but we as an audience can.

As Brad Pitt walks out of the glass building there is a low angle shot of him making him look powerful to the audience. He is wearing a smart suit and carrying a briefcase showing that he maybe has a powerful or important job.
A crabbing shot is then used of him walking towards a plane. This sequence is at night so it is dark outside with the light of the city in the background behind him. It looks as if he is in New York. The lighting used while he is outside walking towards the plane is low key lighting.

While he is walking towards the plane the title sequence starts. The name of the film and the name of producers (Warner Brothers) are what appear on screen in a normal small font in red and white colour which is a contrast to the background they are on. The titles wipe on and off screen sideways simply.
The plane that he walks onto is posh and looks very expensive. It is a small private plane with modern interior which obviously means that whoever owns it has a well paid job and is rich, either Brad Pitt or George Clooney who we meet later.

A medium long shot is used as he walks into the main part of the plane where another man is sat and an over the shoulder shot is used to introduce the new character (George Clooney).
Both of the men start talking about something (maybe a mission?) but we don’t really know what it is. While the two men are talking the camera work used is shot reverse shot so we see the expression of the each of the characters when the other is talking to them. The camera focuses on the character that is talking. The two men seem to be colleagues; they are both wearing suits and are talking about something to do with some business that needs to be talked about.
Like most opening sequences of films, not a lot of speech is used so we don’t know what is happening until the film starts up properly, this is done to grip the audience that are watching so they want to know what else is going to happen.
After both of the men have stopped talking there is shot of outside the window of the sky as the plane sets of, so we know they are changing location. The shot of outside has low key lighting which is a contrast to all of the lighting used before, it is very difficult for us to make out what is outside. The lighting used through the whole of the opening sequence changes with each scene that he is in.

In the opening sequence of Oceans 13 we can not specifically tell that it is a Crime film but by the characters, setting and the situation that the main characters are in it seems like the genre of a Crime film. In addition we seem to meet two of the main characters and learn what kind of situations they get involved with. Them been detectives or criminals is what they seem to be involved in.