Research into Sci-Fi opening scene

 I have chosen the film The Matrix to focus on and how it is an effective Sci-Fi opening scene. The Matrix was made in 1999 and directed by Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski. It includes the cast of Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne. 

This opening scene sets the style and tone of the film and leaves the audience wanting to know more whilst showing an exciting chase. The visual style of the film is established in this opening scene with the chiaroscuro lighting, straight vertical lines and exaggerated shadows. The opening scene is ambitious and reveals different clues throughout preparing the audience for the rest of the film. It begins with two people speaking cryptically whose dialogue is about watching him and going to kill him. This makes the audience want to know more as we don’t know these two unnamed people, who this man is and why they are going to kill him. The computer codes and transition into the next scene convey the Sci-Fi element to the film. The soundtrack used as the camera zooms in to the 0 on the code gradually gets louder hinting to the audience that something dramatic is about to happen. 

In the next scene, the police officers have the job of arresting this woman, Trinity, who is dressed in all black which we can assume is the woman on the phone call. She is sitting at a computer and when the police violently kick down the door she does not flinch. This makes the audience want to know more about her character and why she seems so powerful. The police are shown in the darkness and lots of snappy shots whereas the woman has a long shot duration where her face is well lit in a close up conveying, she is the protagonist. The crazy visual effects showing off Trinity’s superpowers combined with her shiny leather outfit engage the audience. The dark psychological thriller element to the film makes increases the audience to how this will link to the sci-fi genre. We are also introduced briefly to the agents whose costume consists of suits and sunglasses despite it being nighttime. This is similar to Men In Black which we associate government agencies combined with aliens foreshadowing the sci-fi element of the film. The simple yet exciting narrative of this opening scene where we hear the mysterious phone call, see Trinity get chased and then see Trinity escape using her superpowers leaves the audience with many questions. For example, ‘Who is Trinity? ‘How does she have superpowers?’ and ‘Why are they trying to arrest her?’.

To conclude, this opening scene is effective as it portrays the sci-fi genre through the use of mise-en-scene, special effects and also Trinity’s superpowers. The storyline of just the opening scene is easy to follow and understand but exciting to watch as an audience as well. It engages the audience thoroughly and leaves them wanting to know more.