Layer Cake Opening

The opening of Layer Cake starring Daniel Craig is exceptional due to it being so unique, also most of the budget for the film is spent for the opening. As you can tell the creators obviously wanted to draw the audience in straight away and let them see what the films about.

Daniel Craig narrates throughout the opening so this informs you that he is the main character even thought you don't know which one is him yet... Then the camera tracks back and he introduces himself "That's me." as he is shown walking up the street. He is made to look smart and superior because of him mentioning that he wants to get out of drug dealing when he has enough money, this shows that he is not greedy and knows that its a dangerous role. Also he deals out the money to his friends showing he is in charge (authority), which shows that people must trust him to work for him. Even though he is a drug dealer the audience is made to like him because hes not 'power hungry' and knows that its a dangerous and risky business, however due to him only wanting to earn a certain amount and acting like its just a job people feel happy for him as he thinks he can nearly quit. Also there's a long shot of him mixing another powder in to the drugs so that it looks like there's more and he will gain more money, this again shows his intelligence and business prospects, moreover the mise-en-scene shows him wearing gloves and masks so you realise he does not take drugs and this again makes him more likable.

The opening introduces all the main characters showing what they are like so you get a feel for the plot, which will help the audience get to know the characters easier. Also it sets up the disequilibrium by showing him nearly able to quit and leave the drug dealing business but then his boss (Jimmy) asks him to dinner and you can tell by the looks of his partners that this is bad...
Just by seeing the characters in the opening you can tell the genre is action because of the drugs, guns and the look of the gang's.

The camera work was simple but effective, when he introduces him self and the camera tracks back, it is on a crane because the camera fly up a few floors and zooms, where you go into the room. At the start there are a lot of well planned graphic matches like the girl walking past to the police guard, this helps the opening flow because he is talking about different times, like going through the ages of drugs. Mostly they just tracked people walking or have a long shot of a group, but this worked well to introduce the characters. There's one special effect, which would of cost a lot due to the amount of props they would of used, this is where he walked through a shop and every item on the shelf change as he walked past, his message was that drugs will be used greater in the future.

All the music is synchronised to the scene, for instance; he was walking thinking everything is going well so there was calm music. This is just to help the audience understand his emotion and how the situation is then.

I personally think that this opening works well because it introduces the characters, you can tell who the villains are and you realise which ones you are supposed to like. Also you can see plot, genre and what the disequilibrium is.

Ive learned from this that the opening is vital to grab the audience's attention which will hopefully draw them in to want to watch the remainder of the film. Also that maybe it showed be the most concentrated piece of the music and spent the most time and money on.