Napoleon Dynamite Opening Sequence Analysis

Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite was released in the year 2004; as an American comedy film; which definitely seems to have been aimed towards younger, maybe teenaged audiences.

The movie itself was directed by Jared Hess, who based the movie on  a much shorter film, Peluca, which was completed for an assignment whilst attending University. 

The film was produced by MTV Films, Napoleon Pictures and Access Films.
 

It was distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures and Paramount Pictures.

Napoleon Dynamite was officially released on the 17 of January, 2004; with the age certificate of Parental Guidance (PG).

Though the title sequence is rather simple in style, and could be one of two categories. It coild be a Discrete title sequence, as what we see is related, yet at the same time entirely separated from the initial movie.

Or, it could be classed as simply titles superimposed on a blank screen. This is typically because nothing much happens in the title sequence, even with the way it has been displayed, this could be the case.

Though I feel it leans more towards being a Discrete title sequence, due to the way it is presented to the audience; and at the same time, reveals little pieces of information about the movie, even though it may not be related in any way at all.

Now that I have covered the basics, I'm going to go back to the institutional context. I have already covered the initial logos of the production and distribution companies, however, those are not shown in the title sequence. At least, not with their usual credidentials scrolling by, but instead, in a much more fitting and interesting way.

The words appear physically, in the form shown above. However, instead of showing their initial logos, the companies are revealed in a creative and non-direct, and this gets the audience to acknowledge what is on screen, and what has been written, as opposed to ignoring the typical dents.

These companies are revealed at the very start of the sequence, and this is an especially important factor, that should taken note of when it comes to creating the end product of my own title sequence.

This entire sequence does not involve much in terms of editing. In fact, all we see in terms of this are basic straight cuts. However I feel this is again a specific choice that was made, giving the movie a simple yet pleasant feel from the very beginning, through the title sequence.

One last thing about the way these companies have been shown, is how Fox Searchlight Pictures and Paramount Pictures are both shown with colours and tones vaguely resembling their actual indents. Though a minor detail, this is certainly an important choice, as through colour, the creators of the film are still representing them to the highest possible standard. And also, the items wihin these three shots are all relative to the company logos, to a certain degree.

I'm going to move onto the narrative as of now, as this is important to the title sequence, though this doesn't necessarily mean that this sequence is going to reveal a whole lot about the rest of the movie ahead of the viewer.

With the title sequence to Napoleon Dynamite, little narrative exists, yet at the same time, it does to some extent. The title sequence for this film in particular reveals a few things, such as setting, genre, and little snippets of information about specific characters, such as the main character.

...And this is where I move onto what the characters do within the scene. In fact, they don't do a lot, other than holding items up to the camera, before there is a straight cut onto the next shot, and so on. However, the items of which they hold up reveal little clues about each character. This is also where the creators begin to drag the audience in, as though it is an extraordinarily simplistic title sequence that could have come across boring, it passes quickly when you are paying attention to detail. I'll come back to this in a moment.

The most interesting shots for revealing things about characters are shown above. These shots especially draw quite a bit of attention to themselves, as they stand out against the other shots, which simply show food and plates. However, these stray from what you're expecting to see from the title sequence, and are what stop the audience from becoming bored quickly. I'm going to quickly make a little list of notes, as these show information which is relevant to the characters, and reveal who and what they are, along with their interests and such.

• U.F.O Abduction Insurance

This would generally be classed as a convention of sci-fi. However, due to the fact that it isn't that sort of movie, this specific genre can actually be representative of a stereotypically nerd or geek. Typically speaking, as an overall stereotype, and a extreme one at that, this fits into the above social group; as they are seen to believe in things that are not generally true, and seen as conspiracies.

The reason this is important to revealing the main character

• Preston High / Preston, Idaho 2004-2005
• Ninja Throwing Star
• Bigfoot and Me
• Sciences and Centaurs
• Lip Balm
• Doodles 
• Toy Cars
• Stationary / Maths 

Though these may be easily missable pieces of the sequence, at the same time, these choices were made by the director and makers in order to build up a sense of exactly what the movie is going to be about. Many of these contexts build up a sense of a teenage movie, and especially leaning towards the nerd aspects of a high school. Though these are all stereotypes of this social group, this builds on the comedy side of things, and that is due to the fact that stereotypes are a heavy part of comedy, and are mocked greatly through these means. The idea that it is set in an america high school is also an important aspect, as not only can the audience begin to imagine what the main protagonist is going to be like, but they can also build up a sense of possible representation and friendship with these characters, who haven't necessarily been revealed to us as an audience just yet.

However, though that is a setting that has peen specifically mentioned, the narrative through the title sequence works into the idea of an teenage movie; which would typically be set up into a high school setting. This is revealed again, through the social class that is being represented the most to begin with. Also, the food items which appear throughout are typically what you'd expect from a school environment. The idea of stationary, doodles on lined paper, and library books also gives us this the impression of a school. I find the choice of lined paper as opposed to plain paper especially interesting, as this is a minor yet true fact, and builds up on the high school theme quite a lot.





As of how many characters, I feel that this sequence only builds our knowledge and relation with the main protagonist, and this also reveals that the plot is going to be linear, rather than multi-stranded. As in, the plot is going to be centred around one character and one character only, as opposed to a movie which follows multiple goals and stories of characters.

Even though the setting, main protagonist, and social class have been portrayed in the title sequence, a lot is left unsaid. However, this is definitely a positive factor, as it makes the audience want to watch on and find out what is actually going on. Potential enigmas created include the general storyline, what is going to happen and other surrounding characters; such as a potential antagonist. Typically in a film such as this, where the main protagonist is a stereotypical nerd or geek, the audience don't need much prompting to figure out that the main antagonist is going to stereotypically be a bully of some sort.

representations

-what sorts of people/groups/ places represented and how

genre

-genre

sub-genre

-elements typical of genre (conventions)

cinematography

-shot types

-angles

movements

-ones used most often

-what shots are held for the longest

-specific shots composed and frames

-effect of this

-how does it make them appealing of effective

sound

-different sounds (dialogue, music, diegetic, non diegetic)

When are they introduced in relation (graphics)

-how much dialogue

-how many sounds at one time

-how are they mixed (when and how far they fade up or down)

Editing

-how does the editing follow continuity editing (180 rule, match on action, shot reverse shot, costume, lighting) if not, why?

-use only straight cuts

-any other transitions, how they used them?

-draw attention to themselves

-how long do dissolves and fades last

-how many shots within two minutes, how long each lasts

-timings to list of shots

-guide for production

-identify editing pace, where changes occur

mise-en-scene

-what elements are key to

setting

character

narrative

genre

-how many locations

titles and credits

-at what points do the titles/credits appear

-job titles

-how do they appear

-construction

-positioning

any other text (what when how)