Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.

Have a little read: ... The beginning of a film is very important. The first three minutes can give an audience a feeling for the film. If the opening of a film is boring the audience will not want to carry on watching and visa versa. Both Gladiator and Black Hawk Down are written by Ridley Scott. Ridley Scott was born in South Shields in 1937. He is well known for creating films with stunning visuals and he frequently used music by Hens Zimmer. He went to the West Hartlepool Royal college of Art. He works for the BBC as a set designer and is the owner of Mill Film. Working at the BBC has helped him give stunning visuals in his films. In this essay I am going to compare two films which are Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. In the opening of Gladiator we see text on screen telling us that the film is set in 180 AD and set around the Roman Empire. There is a smokey, golden background which shows that the film is set in the past and at the start there is a sense of eeriness The first shot is of the main character Maximus Aurelius. The shot is full of peaceful colouring, yellow which suggests that he maybe be dreaming or thinking of home. On the characters hand there is a ring to show that he is married. The crops all around his hand suggest that he used to be a farmer. On his arm is body armour which shows us that he is a warrior and that the film will be about conflict or war. We then see the man focus on a robin sitting on a tree which suggests to us that he maybe a lover of the land or he may be dreaming about his home. We are then shown a close-up shot of Maximus which allows us to focus on his facial expressions. Throughout this opening scene there is music played which includes children's voices. This suggests to us that he is dreaming or thinking about his home and family. As Maximus turns away from the camera the music becomes more rhythmic and upbeat. Text comes on screen telling us that the location is "Germania". As the text disappears of screen a cohort of the Roman Army on horseback comes onto screen and then the camera pans to the general Maximus. At this point the rhythm or beat of the