Forrest Gump

Another film opening we studied was Forrest Gump. We studied this film so that we could understand how enigma is created in an opening, and how important it is to the film, and to learn what a McGuffin is. In this film the McGuffin is the feather that the camera follows during the opening.

The opening starts with a shot of dark/grey sky and follows a feather as it descends. The credits appear over the falling feather and there is quite music, which gradually gets louder. The camera pans down to show the city still following the feather and the credits continue to show over the feather. As the feather falls further the camera pans down more to show a street and cars, the music continues throughout and sounds of cars driving can be heard. The camera keeps following the feather until it stops on someones shoe, the audience don't know who this character is. The music quietens as the camera pans up to show a man picking up the feather and the man putting the feather away in a book in his suitcase. There is more focus on the mans hands and book when he puts the feather in the book. After the camera pans back up to show the mans face, the music stops and a bus stops next to the man on the bench.

There is a 1981 advert on the side of the bus, showing the audience the time period that the film is set in and the cars that are parked on the side of the road or driving past are old fashioned, reinforcing the time period.