django unchained ; deconstruction

7/27/2019 Django Unchained ; Deconstruction

1/5

Django Unchained (by Quentin Tarantino 2012): Title sequence

deconstruction.

Titles: Throughout the whole sequence the titles appear in a blood red that is

stereotypical of the western genre, something that would not look out of place ina Clint Eastwood movie. The font looks 60s/70s in style. Each title is only shown

briefly in correlation with the music. As the titles continue to roll we start to

follow a band of slaves through the desert. As the camera pans over to the main

character the film name is then shown so the audience know straight away with

the character Django is and shows his importance. The events shown hint at

the genre of the film and its themes. Whilst following the slaves the titles which

appear become a lot smaller and are always off centered because Django or the

slaves are in the rest of the frame and this would detract from them. The next

shotis a close up of Djangos face which is out of focus but the background is in

focus and that is where the titles are and after a couple of seconds the focus

switches from the background to his face and its then that the titles disappear. It

repeats this twice. After this the titles go back to being large and in the centre of

the screen showing the importance of the names. Finally as the last titles fades

out in time with the music ending it is night time so in the short title sequence

we have experienced the life of the slave who has been walking all day in harsh

conditions form one extreme to another. It is a hard hitting title sequence.


2/5

Sound: The sound is reminiscent of the 1960s guitar western genre. The music

which has been non-diegetically added, has been used within this title sequence

to help create a sense of an old style western. The use of whip soundsthroughout the music also hints at the characters being slaves, thus helping the

characterisation. At the start of the film we are greeted with a high pitched guitarriff which is then joined by percussion and a very emotive lead male voice with

backing singers to complement him. Through the duration of the titles sequence

both the main and backing singers keep on reiterating his name Django and

singing about the hardships of his life as a slave. Again as the title of the film

Django unchained appears the singer is again calling his name. Sometimes as

they sing the camera will react to the music with a zoom or cut to a close up. We

are led to believe that the character is tenacious and determined as the music

builds in power yet we see a slave. Towards the end of the track violins are

introduced to make it more heartfelt. You feel like you want him to be free.

Finally as the music dies out we are left with the realism of the diegetic sound of

shackles and chains.


3/5

Editing: Firstly the company The Weinstein Companylogo slowly fades in and

then cuts to a rock desert like landscape where the title sequence starts to roll.

During the sequence it firstly cuts to a mid-shot of the slaves as they walk in a

chain gang. Afterward it cuts to a profile close up of his determined face where

the focus switches background to foreground to accommodate the titles. Then it

cuts again to a wide angle shot of the whole operation as they walk through the

landscape. As the day progresses it starts to get dark with another profile shot of

the silhouettes of the gang and the men on horses. After dark it cuts to another

profile of the gang lit by moonlight as they walk through the undergrowth.

Finally the last couple of shots are focused towards the slaves, which remind us

of their plight. On screen the date and a short snippet of text appears 1858 two

years before the civil warwhich helps the viewers to contextualize the piece.


4/5


5/5

Mise-en-scene:A barren wasteland with very little life or vegetation to sustain a

human being. The sheer size of the inhospitable landscape helps isolate the

characterswhich makes the viewer feel like the only law and order is the form of

the two men on horseback in charge of the operation.

Conclusion: Overall I like the way in which the camera would spontaneously

zoom in on the action. This makes it more interesting to watch and it can be quite

unexpected. The style is very old school because it is loose, nostalgic and

reminiscent of the old westerns. I think it would be interesting to try and use this

technique in an dystopian future setting.

django unchained ; deconstruction

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