James Bond wielding a Silencer Pistol, the latter emphasized in the foreground
The film Quantum of Solace’s opening sequence starts off with a total shot that is zooming in closely at a hill in Italy that is embedded with presumably a tunnel at the bottom of the hill, simultaneously there are various, rapid flashes of cutaways of sports cars, weapons shown as well as an extreme close up on protagonist James Bond, all camera shots working in co-operation to indicate that the hill is one of the primary locations, if not the primary location for an upcoming scenario (like in Rush Hour 3). What is shown after are cut-ins of a driver’s hand on the car knob as well as feet on the throttle & brake pedals, finally revealing a full picture in the form of Bond, in a Aston Martin, being pursued by enemies in Alfa Romeros, both Bond & the enemies avoiding obstacles in the form of pedestrian vehicles & two Italian police officers on patrol, Bond in particular avoiding gunfire from his enemies. The scenario ends with Bond ultimately eluding his enemies & arriving in Siena (town in Italy) & coming to a halt in a tunnel, opening his car boot to reveal the captured Mr White from Casino Royale, the prequel to Quantum Of Solace, with the list of the cast & crew given along with a dynamic CGI animation in the background showcasing various people, including Bond, in CGI form being freely exercised around dessert, watery & atmospheric locations. The codes & conventions witnessed in the opening sequence are what is expected from action films like the James Bond series; black suits, worn by Bond & Mr White, weapons in the form of Sub-Machine Guns (SMGs) & sports cars in Aston Martins & Alfa Romeros, the latter contrasting with police vehicles & pedestrian vehicles in terms of quality & superiority in speed, the contrast also implies the world that Bond is in is troubling or at least entering the susceptible world, with the police officers being outsiders in Bond’s world. Interestingly, the dominant use of the colour black & grey for the codes & conventions (props) possibly symbolise the seriousness of the scenario in the opening sequence. Furthermore, more contrasts are of representation in the sequence, involving particular groups of individuals or individuals, with Bond in black suits while his enemies are dressed casually shows a potential difference in class or status although certainly a difference in objectives& personality, hence the scenario, a typical ‘Good vs Bad’ battle, which the difference in clothing could be viewed as symbolic to the latter, the uniform the police officers wear just further represents how they are outsiders in Bond’s world. The main purpose of the opening sequence for Quantum Of Solace instantly diving into a scenario is to introduce the dominant genre & themes in the film, action & cat-mouse chasing respectively. The key ideas that seem to be the most intriguing is the sounds & music, the use of diagetic & on-screen sounds in the visible form of the revs of the engines in the cars, clicking of guns in preparation as well as the police sirens, all providing the film with a natural feel of a phenomenon along with the introduction & insight into the world of James Bond it gives to the audience, progressively making that world or vierimilitude more tangible as the scenario & the film, to some extent, goes on. Another idea is the ever decreasing mellow, sombre & parallel soundtrack that is compensated for the increase in pitch & tone when the total shot of the hill is displayed as well as cutaways, correlating with the cutaways that develop the upcoming scenario, perhaps the calm before the storm, another soundtrack is continuous throughout the cat & mouse chase till the end, effectively making it a sound-bridge, which would aid with the consistency & continuity of the film as well as illustrate that the scenes are just one major scenario. Having mentioned the cutaways, they generally imply the significance they hold in the scenario along with it’s intensity with the renowned danger the fast, wayward cars & weapons provide, hence the increase in pitch & tone to illustrate the danger. The urban, compact & wayward setting in Italy is another intriguing idea that allows for close-quarters-combat (CQC) to be exploited via manoeuvrability of the characters & props, in the process, enabling an intense, punishing & perilous atmosphere to develop. One final idea of great interest are the natural light in the form of the sun serves as the high-key lighting that provides little contrast in who will gain or lose, despite there being an apparent negative atmosphere, especially when both Bond & his enemies were identically matched in terms of equipment, for first timers who haven’t seen the film, anything & everything can happen from their perspectives but acknowledging that in a ‘Good vs Bad’ scenario, Good always prevails, they would expect Bond to come out on top in the scenario through cunning & intelligence & that’s what ultimately happens. Those behind Quantum Of Solace in terms of the production of the film are Eon Productions, which is a UK based company in London & responsible for producing film content for the James Bond series, & Danjaq LLC, which holds responsibility for copyright & trademarks to the Bond characters as well as elements visible on-screen.
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