An analysis of the methods used to make the opening sequence of Troy

Is the first scene of Troy effective in making the film seem more realistic and entertaining?The film Troy is an action based historical epic which portrays the adventures of Achilles the greatest hero ever, and who is meant to be the son of a god! It shows the greed of the King of Mycenae and how Achilles wants more than anything to be remembered for ever.Throughout the first scene of Troy the director uses a variety of Camera work such as slowing down shots to give a feeling of speed.

He also uses sound effects like adding the sound of men shouting in the background. Both these aspects of the film make it seem more realistic and entertaining.In the establishing shot of the film the director firstly shows a map. This introduces the audience to the country that the film originally begins in, Greece. At the same time some spooky sounding music is played in the background, this makes the viewers think about death which features a large part during the film and the opening sequence of Troy.

The next section with camera work is an aerial shot of the landscape that the film begins in. This makes it seem realistic because it shows a typical Mediterranean landscape, a white beach and blue sea. This also represents the fact that the film is set in foreign land. Also in this part of the establishing shot the original music stops and you start to hear some narrative dialogue. He says things like will people remember us when it is all over? This hints at something big happening, possibly a war. This makes the audience want to see the film all the way through to see this entertaining scene.

Then this new dialogue stops and the original music starts again making the audience think back to the opening scene.The next piece of camera work is firstly an aerial shot of two great armies symbolising an impending battle, the camera then swoops down and shows a closer shot of each army. This makes the viewer feel like they are actually there and therefore makes it effective in creating realism. You can also hear soldiers from each army shouting orders which make it seem more realistic, this is because the shouting shows you how it would feel like to be there. Another way the director creates a sense of realism is the type of weapons the army is equipped with.

The weapons are what you expect an Ancient Greek soldier to use, spear, short sword etc. the weapons also do not look particularly expensive either they are simply killing machines!The final piece of camera work in the establishing shot is a shot of the two kings in their chariots riding out and then greeting each other. They then speak of how the king has taken over practically the whole of Greece. This makes him seem greedy and unstoppable. This is much more entertaining and more realistic than say a king fighting for honour, because this rarely ever happens in real life.

In the final part of their conversation they agree to let their two best men fight to the death so that the victorious king does not have to waste troops and can call upon the opponents army to fight for them when they need it .This also makes the audience expect a brilliant scene coming up of the two men fighting to the death. It then shows the first hero who is huge and brutal with red scars on his face. This indicates realism because he has fought in many battles. But then it turns out Achilles so far unmentioned in the film is not with the army.

This gives the film an unexpected and entertaining comedy value as it looks like Achilles the great hero has run away in fright!The next sequence of shots is the waiting for Achilles scene. The first piece of camera work in this scene is a deep shot of each army giving another idea of the power of the army. It also expresses how every man there is waiting for just one man.The next piece of camera work is a close shot of Achilles asleep with two women beside him and a little boy trying to awaken him. This again makes the film and Achilles seem more entertaining; he is in bed whilst two armies await him to decide their fate. Then suddenly Achilles grabs the boy in self defence making him seem all of a sudden more of a great warrior and makes the film seem more realistic.

The final sequence of shots is the Achilles arrival scene. The first shot of this scene is an aerial shot of Achilles riding through the great army, at the same time you can hear the soldiers chanting Achilles over and over. This shows how relived they are that he is here and the audience again starts to expect a good battle scene where each hero fights to the death. The second shot in this scene is a chest shot of each hero. This portrays each of their strengths as you see in detail how strong each of them is. This is effective in making it more realistic because Achilles isn’t glowing or wearing gold plated armour, he is just wearing practical bronze armour and a helmet.

This is probably all he would have been able to afford.The next shot is the part of the scene the viewers had been waiting for – the battle scene. This starts off with Achilles running faster and faster towards his opponent. This builds up tension in the audience as they are unsure of who will win. Then the opponent throws a javelin at Achilles.

Achilles blocks this with his shield and throws it away. Then the opponent pulls out another javelin and the audience doesn’t know what will happen as Achilles has lost his shield. But when the opponent throws it Achilles simply dodges it. This makes the myth that he is a son of god seem more realistic. Then the camera shows a closer shot and slows down as Achilles leaps into the air and plunges his short sword into the opponent’s neck! This gives the audience an indication of how fast Achilles was moving and again reinforces the statement that he is superhuman and son of a god.

This entire shot is entertaining to the audience as an action scene and the build up to the action scene they had all been waiting for, it also is quite effective in creating realism as instead of showing Achilles whizzing about super fast and the audience not been able to follow his moves, the camera slows him down and the audience can see how he performs each move.All three of these scenes are very effective in making the film seem realistic and entertaining. They also serve as a good introduction. It starts off with the map and an introduction to the foreign landscape, it has comedy and entertainment values, it has build up in expectancy for action shots and finally has an action shot introducing us to Achilles the superhuman!