The Matrix (1999) Film Opening Analysis

Analysis stops at 2 minutes 5 seconds

The fifth and final film that I am going to be analysing is American-Australian science fiction action film, The Matrix released on March 31, 1999. It stars Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne, directed by The Wachowski Brothers and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and the studio being Village Roadshow Pictures and Silver Pictures. It earned $463,517,383 at the box office worldwide and received positive reviews from critics and has been widely regarded as one of the best science fiction films of all time. It won four Academy Awards as well as BAFTA awards and Saturn Awards.

At the start of the film, a large number of computer codes are running down the screen and as it zooms in, the computer codes make up the title of the film. The typography of the title is serif and capitalised and looks like the font you would see on an old computer. This immediately hints to the audience that the film will be revolved around the theme of computers and technology. The title is also green on a black background which fits the house style for the rest of the film. As the letters disappear, non diegetic technology sound effects accompany it which relate to the technological theme that we have seen so far. Technology sounds and computer codes are an icon of the science fiction genre.

After this, a voiceover is heard of two characters engaging in conversation. The fact that the film has started with these two characters suggests to the audience that the film may be revolved around them. In addition, they are both speaking in a quiet tone, suggesting that they are being secretive which relates back to the sci-fi, spy theme that is key throughout the film. "Are you sure this line is clean?" tells the audience that the characters are on the phone with each other and the use of the line also suggests that they are planning something top secret. As this diegetic dialogue, the green computer codes are continuing to run across the screen. Diegetic sounds of different technology, and computers are continuing in the background alongside the dialogue.

At 01:30, a CU shot of, what looks to be a police officer due to the use of props such as the torch and the use of costume with the hat, shows him holding a gun. A gun is an icon of the genre as we typically see weapons in a science fiction film. It also tells us that the character is powerful/dangerous and the use of the gun signifies this to the audience. Furthermore, the character is subscribing to the archetypal masculine man as men are stereotypically associated with knowing about weapons. This CU pans to the left and changes from shallow focus to deep focus as he nods to a fellow police officer.

In the low angle shot of all the police officers in a line outside of the door, we can see by the use of costume that they have been dressed to look like stereotypical, true to real life, police officers. We can tell this due to the use of the badge on their hats, the black shirt and trousers and the use of props such as the torches in their hands and the truncheons on their belts. The uniform suggests that they are characters with authority and the use of the low angle shot reinforces that they are the powerful characters in the scene. 

In the over the shoulder shot at 1:46, we can see a door. The door seems to have been covered in some stains and looks very dirty and the wallpaper on the walls is peeling off which connotes that their location is derelict and not looked after. This suggests that maybe the location is in an urban area as stereotypically, run down and derelict buildings are usually seen in towns and cities and are often locations that see a lot of crime. The lighting of the scene is very low key and the torches used by the police officers are the only sources of light that we see in the clip. This gives an eerie atmosphere and mood to the scene.

As one of the police officers breaks down the door, the diegetic sound is emphasised as the door is kicked down. This emphasised sound effect is used to signify how strong his character is. 

In the MCU shot at 01:57 just after the police officers break down the door, the officers hold up their guns and reload, pointing at the female character in the room. The emphasised diegetic sound of the guns reloading shows the danger and represents the damage that the weapon can cause.

After this, we see a MCU of the female character in front of a prop of a laptop. In the XLS before this, we could see that she is wearing some sort of black, shiny jacket which subverts the archetype of women wearing feminine clothing. This also tells the audience that her character is used to practical situations which also subverts the archetype. Another way in which this female character subverts the archetypal feminine female is with the use of hair and make-up as her make-up has been done to make her look natural and seem like she hasn't got any on. Furthermore, her hair is short which is a masculine hairstyle and again suggests that she is used to practicality. 

The idents at the beginning of the film have a green filter over them which relate to the green theme that we see later on in the scene where the computer codes are running down and fits the house style that the film has created.