Opening Sequence Analysis: Forrest Gump

The film opening sequence that I will be analysing is the opening to Forrest Gump. This is a comedy-drama epic directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film follows the life of the fictional character Forrest which takes the audience through the many events that took place in 1960s America.

In the film’s opening sequence a single sequence shot is used to glide around the town that Forrest appears to live. The camera tracks a white feather as it blows through the air in the wind, due to this the majority of the sequence is in the air and actual people are not visible on screen until nearing the end of the sequence. For the duration of the tracking sequence the colouring of the scene appears to be cold and gloomy. Eventually towards the end of the opening sequence the feather finally settles on Forrest’s shoe. He then picks the feather up and inspects it before placing it inside a book and returning the book to his suitcase.

The white feather seems to be an odd object considering the content in the film which leads people to believe the use of the feather was to symbolize life. The way that the feather is blown into a different path compared to the last with each tiny shift and interaction with the wind or the surrounding traffic would have been used to show the randomness of life and to demonstrate how other little events can change the direction of someone’s life. This continues to be a theme throughout the film as the political events of the 1960s shape the character Forrest and result in the several different paths that the audience are soon to be shown that he lived. In consideration, the feather may not be symbolic of life in general and be a specific metaphor for the life of Forrest. Towards the end of the sequence the feather settles by the foot of Forrest before he picks it up and places it in his luggage, this is the character taking ownership of the feather and thus taking ownership of its metaphor.

At the end of the tracking movement, the camera comes to a stop in a close up of Gump’s feet. The shot reveals that he is wearing dirtied trainers with red striped socks and trousers that fall above the ankles. The shot then pans up to reveal the rest of the character, who is dressed smartly in a shirt and suit jacket with neat hair. This camera movement enables the audience to see the contrast between the character’s personality and what they are set to do. The smart attire suggests that the character is about to commute to a significant planned event, which is to meet his childhood friend Jenny after years of being apart. This is contrasted with the scruffiness of his trainers and the abnormal pairing of the brightly colours socks as well as the shorter trousers, which give hints to Forrest’s somewhat absent minded nature.

The colouring of the opening sequence is also suggestive of Forrest’s personality as the scene is made to look dark, gloomy and cold whereas his bright red, blue and beige costume opposes it. This is used to show the character as different to what is the norm and show him as an outsider due to his goofy personality.

The Mystery Film Genre

Todorov's Narrative Theory

One widely accepted narrative theory structures was constructed by Tzvetan Todorov. Todorov was an author and literary theorist; having studied Russian folklore he got to the point where he was able to generalise the development of the plot within the story. This was where he created his narrative theory.

Todorov had conclude that every story would begin with equilibrium, this would be where people are assumed to be happy and going about their everyday lives. After establishing the equilibrium at the beginning of the story a disruption of said equilibrium is implemented, the details of this disruption will clearly vary depending on the plot. Soon the characters will recognise this disruption and possibly do so by outright experiencing it. After recognising the disruption an attempt to resolve the issue should be executed by the characters which would eventually result in a new equilibrium.

This theory is widely accepted as it is simple to understand meaning that to many it would make sense and as a result be applied to most plots whether they are a piece of literature, film or even video game.

However, this theory can’t always be applied to every plot sequence. Todorov’s studies that led to his theory were based around Old Russian folk stories whose narrative structure would be intended to be unsophisticated in order to be passed on the story. Due to his study being on older folk stories it would also be more difficult to apply it to some modern pieces of storytelling as it has become more sophisticated over time. Whilst creating the theory Todorov was thinking more in terms of literature as opposed to film which would limit the extent to which the theory can be generalised to.

As a result of this theory some filmmakers have tried to manipulate our understanding of narrative through their films by creating a multi-stranded or non-linear story arc.

An example of a non-linear narrative would be the film Memento. In this film all the scenes are played out in reverse-chronological order and creates the same confusion and lack of understanding of the plot and characters as the lead, who is unable to create any new memories. However, as the story goes on and we begin to see the start of the plot towards the end of the film the audiences begins to understand. Hints to what the narrative could be are shown in the opening sequence of the film where the lead character shoots a man; the entire sequence, however, is set in reverse as a clue towards the narrative of the film. 

An example of a film with a multi-stranded story arc is the film Love Actually. The narrative of this film is compiled with separate love stories that all take place around Christmas. As the focus jumps round from one story line to another it provides the ability to contain a larger amount of characters, personalities and events to take place without compromising the sense of realism within the story.