Analysis of To kill a Mockingbird

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP5MutuPVxk

In the beginning of the opening credits for To kill a Mockingbird we first see a toy box which gives us an indication that a child might be involved in the rest of the story or even play an important part as the plot unfolds. This makes the audience wonder what the relevance of this toy box is and then we see a small Childs hands open the box. As the child opens up the box we see a number of toys such as two dolls, a watch, and marbles all toys children play with but as the audience we are still trying to work out the significance of these toys. The location looks like as if it’s either in this Childs bedroom or a room in a house. The theme of this title sequence could represent childhood because of the toys associated with it. The watch could mean time and the doll of the man and women could actually represent characters in the play. The genre of this film is a hybrid thriller/crime/mystery. Although the conventions of this title open sequence to me is not that of a typical thriller film its more nostalgic maybe even taking the audience back to their childhood which makes them have somewhat of a reminiscent feeling. The majority of this title open sequence is close up shots of the toys but the first scene starts off with a bird’s eye view of the toy box as the child opens it up. The close ups could be because there is important pieces of information the audience should see. The sequence is shot in black and white this could be to convey a message to the audience about the time it is set in. As we see close ups of the toys in white writing are the titles and names of the actors and cast this is done on a black background to make it stand out the font is a normal typed font that is small. The soundtrack or piece of music being played in the sequence sounds like an instrument it is sharp loud and lets the audience know even though they are reminiscing about their childhood to stay firmly glued to what they are watching in the present. At the end of this sequence a child is drawing a bird with crayon then it is ripped up maybe to show conflicting feelings of one of the characters or their mind being in two about something.