The names of famous actresses and actors that are involved in the film appear, the audience see the animation beginning. The animation first seethe tops of the houses, then the camera enters a Barbour shop and they see a single chair. The animation tells the audience about the story line of the film, therefore telling the audience what the film is going to be about. Then as more names appear, the animation shows the audience more disturbing pictures as they start to see blood appearing from the pictures, down the furniture and then on to the work wheels. This adds a sense of death to the audience as the blood represents the blood of the people that may have been killed. The blood will be distressing to some of the audience that would be currently watching, which will show that the genre of the film is definitely horror.
The fast pace of the animation of the blood, as well as the work wheels and the music, which is in a low and a high pitch, adds to the atmosphere because gives a spooky feel for the audience. The title of the film is in red which would represent the blood of the many people that died in the story of Sweeney Todd, which would give an instant connection to the film. The background behind the title is in a dark light, which sets a disturbing mood for the audience. The fact that the background is moving fast downwards would make the audience feel like they are falling down with the blood or the dead bodies. The music is getting louder and more intense, which will get the audience excited and nervous about what is to come.
The unsettling animation of the meat being processed will engage the audience even further because if the audience are aware of the story of Sweeney Todd, they will be freaked out by this picture as well as being eager to know what happens next. The non diegetic music continues to increase in tempo and get louder as the animation continues to play and the meat then turns back into blood. The meat turning back into blood just continues to remind the audience about the story and the death which is involved, therefore making them more and more unsettled. The animation is so life like that it would look more realistic, therefore the audience would feel more disturbed, then if it was more cartoon like.
As the animation continues, the audience see more of the story of Sweeney Todd, as the meat that turned into blood was dripping into a big cauldron looking pot, which was swirling round. Then the audience sees the fire as more credits are shown and the music is still getting faster and more intense. As the animation goes on it would keep the audience looking at what is happening all the time and would make them eager to find out more. The fire quickly turns into the pies with the juices oozing out of it and with the story of Sweeney Todd, would make the audience feel even more disturbed. The fact that the animation is quickly going from one scene to another, would make the audience keep their eyes on the screen in case they missed something important, which would engage the audience further, therefore the director would have completed its purpose.
The juices then start to bubble and the colour turns to red again, reminding the audience of death and blood. The blood the starts to run out the drain of the Barbour's shop at a fast pace, matching the music, which is also really fast and has a mixture between a high and a low pitch. This all makes the tension increase as the audience sees more and more of the story of Sweeney Todd and therefore the audience would get more and more anxious about the film. The rats in this shot shows to the audience that the blood is going into the sewage or water system. The fact that the blood is coming out of the drain would give the audience a disturbing view of the story and would make the audience feel more and more scared of what they are about to watch.
The next disturbing image that is revealed to the audience is of the blood dripping down into the sewer or water and being mixed with the other sewage or water, which would give the audience a sick feeling in their stomach because the picture is quite graphic and looks very realistic. The music continues to play and the tempo stays the same but the pitch is getting higher and the lower pitch is fading slightly. This would increase the tension because the audience is seeing more and more of the story, while the credits are running. The audience is yet to see any of the characters, making the identity of the characters hidden,giving a mysterious feeling for the audience, but they are getting a clear view of what they are going to be seeing throughout the film.
The audience then starts to follow the blood with the water as it goes through the system. The audience gets a clear view of the water and the blood dropping down into the next part of the system, creating an eerie mood for the audience, due to the animation and the music that carries on being disturbing for the audience. The animation is still very fast, keeping in time with the music that is playing, as the blood then starts to blend in with the water. The water gets clearer, which would make the audience think; what if someone then drinks that water? and they would get a disturbing image in their head of what would happen, therefore increasing the dark and spooky atmosphere.
Then the music starts to get quieter as the last credit are shown, which says that the director is Tim Burton, and then the music stops all together, which creates tension in the audience. The picture goes to a grey colour, which then turns into smoke or clouds and the audience sees a ship appear in the mist. The music then starts again but this time instead of being scary and tense, its slower and creates a less intense atmosphere, as it is the opposite to what the audience have just heard. The audience then sees the ship heading for London because they see the London bridge in front of the ship, which would be making the audience think that Sweeney Todd or his partner maybe in that boat. The lighting is very dark which makes the atmosphere still eerie and gloomy but it is not as tense because there is no longer any blood or disturbing images shown.
Very detailed analysis of the opening to this film. Some good use of media techniques and comments on how meaning is created.
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