Watchmen Title Sequence Analysis

Frame 1: In the opening shot we see a man dressed in a costume punching someone with a gun in the face. This immediately suggests that the film will fall under the superhero genre, an action sub genre. The sepia-like effect and the retro clothes set the scene and time period of the film, suggesting that it is set around the 1940's. The blood coming from the mans mouth suggests that the film will contain a lot of violence. Overall this is a good establishing shot of the film.

Frame 2: In the second frame we see a female character surrounded by police officers. The use of the colour yellow in both the characters costume and the opening credits suggest: Joy, happiness and energy as yellow is often associated with these things. The unhappy look on the police officers faces suggest that they are angry with the heroine because she is solving all the crimes instead of leaving it to them.

Frame 3: The main focus of this shot is the superhero apprehending the villain. The fact that the superhero is smiling suggests that it was more than easy for him to catch the villain and stop the crime. The bag of money which he is holding suggests that greed was the driving force of the villain. The gun however, gives the shot violent undertones, showing the true danger in which the hero exposed himself too.

Frame 4: Within this shot the title of the film is revealed. The large bold yellow title suggests optimism, this coeincindes with the fact that all the characters are smiling. The use of the bold yellow title also suggests comic books. Here we see that the film could also fall under the sci-fi genre as the character on the right appears to not be human.

Frame 5: The use of the plane in this shot suggests movement and passing of time. The explosion in the background could be associated with war and death.

Frame 6: This shot shows two women kissing. The fact that no one is disgusted suggests that people were willing to overlook the homosexual action because she is a superhero and she has an element of power, even though homosexuality was shunned until quite recently. The ribbons and celebrations occuring in the background show happiness and delight that the war is over. The picture also shows an alternate timelime to the famous "sailor kissing nurse photo".

Frame 7: Here we see the film could begin to take darker tones. We see a dead superhero laying on the floor, which suggests people could be becoming sick of them interfering with things. The use of the red in the background associates itself with death, and the fact that people are photographing it shows their interest in death.

Frame 8: The words "Happy Retirement Sally" are prominent within this shot. The fact that she is retiring suggests that her superhero days are over and that she will settle down and live a normal life. In this shot we see some of the superheroes we saw in Frame 4, however there is a lot less of them which could suggest many of them have died or been murdered.

Frame 9: In the final scene we see a group of people with flaming torches and weapons surrounding a shop, out to kill the superheroes. This gives us an impression that the days of superheroes are over.