Harry Potter and the philosopher stone opening scene analysis

The first scene is set at night which adds mystery also the random spots of light makes the area look enchanting. They also have a mysterious music which sounds rather magical, it also gives off the idea its the theme song for the movie because its very memorable. In the opening scene a light fades in adding mystery. After the light has stopped fading in you see an owl appear on the road sign, Owls have big eyes and can twist their head round this denotes that it is watching someone or something, this adds suspense. In the next shot the owl is flying away this comes across as he is frightened or surprised by Dumbledore who appears for the first time.

The first character you see is a man called Dumbledore, he doesn't look very human like because of the extremely long beard and cloaks. Also he is holding a weird looking object which seems to take light away, this gives us the idea that they are trying to secretly do something and trying to make it darker so no one see's.

The second character you see turns from a cat into a women this gives us an idea that they are wizards and witches. Black cats are also normally associated with witch's however this cat isn't black which makes the audience feel as if she is good. Black cats are normally denote a dark soul and being evil.

When Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are talking they mention "A rumour" this adds suspense to the audience as they want to know what happens. When Dumbledore is taking the light away from the lamppost the music also seems to dim. We also don't find out the name of the baby until the end of the scene, then the title of the film is revealed.

The first time we meet Hagrid we see him on a flying motor bike, to an audience this makes him come across as a funny character.

Shot types
when you first see Dumbledore they use a long shot they do this to show what he is wearing which comes across as very significant to who he is. Bearing in mind the subject is a cat I think they used a medium shot of the cat. When Hagrid gets off his motorbike the first shot is a low angle shot this tells the audience that he is an important character. Right at the end of the opening scene the zoom into the scar on Harry's head and it lights up this shows us that his scar is very significant to the movie. Apart from these shot types I don't think there were any other shot types that were very important and represented anything.

(NOTES FROM PLANNING)