The Crow

In order to analyse the opening sequence of The Crow (Alex Proyas, 1994) I will look at the different micro and macro elements to see how they establish the characters and the narrative.

The opening sequence immediately opens with two titles, stating the main character, Brandon Lee, and then the name of the film, which are the only titles displayed in the opening sequence. This is unusual as an opening sequence often contains many titles. Straight after the titles it cuts to an above, wide shot of the city to establish the setting of the film. The audience is then informed that the date is the 30th October, ‘Devils Night’, or as we know it, Halloween. This instantly suggests that the date is of some significance to the film. The camera then moves above and between the rooftops of tall apartment blocks, creating the effect like it’s flying like a bird, linking to the name of the film ‘The Crow’.

The camera eventually reaches an apartment of which has a broken window, surrounded by paramedics and police, making the film immediately open with action, which will have a definite impact on the storyline. Coming from the apartment is an intense red light, like blood, suggesting that something dreadful has happened within and that it is the scene of a murder investigation. The intensity is added to by flashing cameras taking photos of important evidence, and flickering candles, some of which light up a pumpkin again to show the time of year. It is also the dead of night, which emphasises the events that have taken part. As the camera passes through buildings and rooftops, there are a number of fires, yet none of these appear significant compared to the events that have taken place in one small apartment.

The action is added to by the non-diegetic music, which builds from the simplistic, black and white titles. Diegetic sound is then additionally added, with haunting sirens and radio calls, which adds to the tension and importance of the consequential events. A young girl (Sarah) is also speaking over the top, which we are later introduced to in the opening sequence, who is one of the important characters to the film. She speaks of how a crow will bring a person’s soul back from the dead if it cannot rest to put the wrong things right.

We then find out that the apartment belongs to a couple who were going to get married that same day, Shelly Webster and Eric Draven. An above shot is shown directly looking down at the chaotic scene of ambulances, and a body being covered over, though we can’t see who the body is, we are informed it is Eric due to a conversation between a cop and the young girl, Sarah, after he lied to a dying Shelly that he was ok. As we are not introduced to Eric, this leaves much mystery about his character, giving the impression that it will not be the last we see of him.