Textual Analysis of Watchmen Opening Scene The opening scene to Watchmen is a montage of scenes moving in slow motion to the

sound of Bob Dylans song 'the times They Are-a Changin' The opening scene is intended to give the viewer a quick back story or lore knowledge to the story of Watchmen that they otherwise would not have obtained when watching the film. The main characters are shown quite early into the opening sequence, we know they re main characters because of the credit which says Watchmen' in front of them which is also the title of the film and the graphic novel it was adapted from.

Due to many occurrences such as Death and !etirement and the ongoing progression of time throughout the opening sequence the original "inute Men' are no more and have been replaced by the Watchmen They take a photo which mimics the one seen earlier in the opening sequence.

The main characters are represented as crime fighting vigilantes.

This is shown directly at the start of the opening sequence by one of the Minute Men in full costume punching what the audience believe to be a criminal in the face. The audience would be aware of this because of the knowledge of the conventions of superheroes #.$ a costume and mask. The film does not use the convention of %tereotypes for a reason. The many characters that are supposed to be good willed crime fighters are actually not and will lie and commit atrocities to protect the people. This is even made apparent in the opening scene when the &omedian commits what is seen as a worldwide atrocity when he assassinates 'resident (ennedy. This also highlights that Watchmen follows an alternate history of )merica.

Watchmen is a film targeted to *+,-. /ear old s and due to its conte0t and comple0 narrative structure 1 believe that is targeted to the &*,) %ocio economic groups. The hobbies that this target audience may have in common would be an attraction to graphic

novels or comic books because this film is a close adaptation of )lan "oore Watchmen graphic 2ovel. 3ther interests would be a love of action because the film is heavily action oriented. This use of action is also used to target the audience in the opening sequence by showing a montage of scenes showing images of

things related to action such as guns and fire.

4) "olotov is being thrown at a shop window amidst a riot5 The institution that the film was made by is Warner Brothers.

This influences the film by having a credit at the very start of the

3pening %equence. The use of lighting is used thoroughly in the opening sequence. 6ighting is used to mimic a camera flash in many occasions to illuminate the scenes that are happening and make them visible to the audience. This effects the audience by suggesting to them that the media and press were present a lot when the Watchmen' and 'Minute men' were active and stopping crime and

upholding 7ustice. This highlights the element of the back story that e0plains that the vigilantes were stopped by a crackdown by the $overnment. This relates to the conte0t and back story of the film and suggests that the government were the cause of the superheroes' downfall.

The camera creates meaning in this part of the 3pening %equence by slowly panning from a shot of a girl walking towards her parents arguing to a shot of the T.8 showing a Buddhist being burnt alive. This creates meaning because it shows the time and conte0t the events of the film are taking place 4the time the war in 8ietnam was happening5 1t also shows a hint of the back story of a member of the Watchmen. This creates a sense of ambiguity to the viewer as they do not know who this little girl is, the silk spectre costume could make some realise that it is the daughter of the silk spectre however.

%etting is used to establish the period in when the film is set. 1conic settings such as the road where 'resident (ennedy was assassinated out of his moving vehicle and the 8,9 Day celebration make this apparent. The 8,9 setting mimics the iconic photo but also points out to the audience that is an alternate history because many people know it was a sailor that passionately kissed the nurse and it wasnt a female who was part of the superhero team the Minute Men'.

%everal questions are being asked in the opening sequence, such as: who are the superheroes;, why are they getting killed; What relevance do the neglected children have to the film; <owever the most blatant question which is posed is contained in the opening itself, although its not entirely visible, 'Who watches the watchmen?' The opening sequence starts with a 6inear narrative because it goes through events chronologically. We are introduced into the world of the film through a montage of slow motion clips which provide hints to the films conte0t. The narrative technique of foreshadowing is used when both the sets of masked vigilantes have their pictures taken and it mimics each other. This suggests that the Watchmen might suffer the multiple often ghastly demises to their careers that the "inute men suffered. The narrative todorov theory is apparent in the opening sequence. The #quilibrium, The minute men fighting crime Disruption of #quilibrium, $overnment crackdown stops the minute men !ecognition of disruption, the presentation of some of the watchmen as children 4!orschach and %ilk spectre5 2ew #quilibrium, The new vigilantes the Watchmen. The ending of the opening sequence differs from the normal convention of the todorov theory because it depicts a riot where a "olotov cocktail is thrown this would keep the reader interested to watch the rest of the film to see why there are riots and civil unrest.

Watchmen falls into many genres= )ction, %cience fiction, %uperhero movie, &rime fiction, Drama and Thriller. The main genre however is )ction. The conventions of an action film have been used and they include= Weapons, #0plosions, (illings, &$1 >? and 2on diagetic dramatic sound. This targets the audience because They re the target audience of an action film so they will most likely want to e0pect all the conventions of an action film.