The narrative of the opening regards a man being shown to work in a darkly lit factory, incorporating verisimilitude with this realistic setting and, in this context, conveyed as quite a negative and unskilled profession. This suggests that this character lacks intelligence and as a result leads an uneventful and repetitive life. He then proceeds to changing clothes and leaving the workplace, both times he doesn't interact with anyone else on screen, which implies he's lonely.
The non-diegetic country music is stereotypical of the American way of life, because it's a very popular genre in that country, implying that this is the main setting of the film. The slow pace and low pitch aids in creating the melancholy atmosphere that was already established by the main protagonist's lack of socialising to really amplify this theme, which suggests that this particular theme runs throughout the narrative.
The only title used within this sequence is the film's name, which suggests the director wanted people to focus on what's actually in shot because it holds significance to the rest of the film. The simplicity of the title and it's lack of colours lead us to believe this is a low budget production, but the way it appears on screen directly relates to the title itself. It fades on screen in a gradual manner and a vertical trajectory. This relates to the title because it carries the same characteristics of a fire rising, much like a furnace does.
Another example of a drama can be seen in the less contemporary film 'The Godfather.' It was first introduced to cinemas in 1972 and yet, even today, it's known as this very well made and iconic drama. The lack of non-diegetic music makes the audience focus on the dialogue, to provide contextual information on the characters, while still establishing quite an adult tone with very specific details on gruesome events. The gradual opening titles means for a slower pace, which suggest that the narrative of the film similarly evolves at a gradual rate.
'The Godfather' conveys the traits of a drama by providing substance to the characters with the opening monologue as well as referring to social hierarchy, with Don Corleone being presented as the superior man, creating questions such as what does he do for a living and how did he get to this point?
The darkly lit office, much like the factory in 'Out of the Furnace,' has connotations of evil and lifelessness, and the fact that it's the only setting in the opening implies it has sentimental value to the main protagonist and mirrors his clinical and ruthless persona. The film title fades on screen, accompanied with slow paced jazz music that's typical of the time period to quickly establish the historical time period. When it comes to the title's design, it strongly relates to the source material of the book that it's based on. Below is an example of the similarities between the book in comparison to the film's title:
This implicates that the narrative is equally true to the book, creating a bigger target audience so that both film and book fans a like would feel compelled to watch this interpretation of such a well-known novel. With these two films being so similar in how they convey the drama genre and the simplistic nature of their mise-en-scene leads us to believe these are generic conventions of a drama and has therefore helped us in relation to our own film because we can now take on board these techniques and make it clear what kind of film we're making.
Looking at these two dramas, it seems that a consistent element that's used in these openings is character development, whether it's from a mise-en-scene or dialogue stand point. Knowing this, our group agrees that incorporating some of this development will enrich our opening and make the audience care more about our characters and the scenario they're in, enticing the audience and compelling them to continue watching.
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