Black Hawk Down

Black hawk down opening sequence

In the opening sequence of black hawk down there are local Somalian people treating their dead friends or family. They are shown to be very sad and scared of the situation that they are in. a Red Cross van is also shown to be helping the locals. There is also a refugee camp shown where lots of poor homeless Somalians are fighting over the food that is being distributed. They are then shot at by the local militants and some of the locals are killed by the militants, the Americans circling overhead in the helicopter want to intervene but are not allowed as they are not being shot at. This shows the harsh realities of conflicts. In the opening sequence there are no main characters introduced to the audience as the audience are being introduced to the bad situation in Somalia. There is also an establishing shot shown of the refugee camp that is from the helicopters point of view, it shows all the malnourished locals swarming to the aid trucks and the militants standing watching with machine guns. The hermeneutic code is present in the opening sequence as the audience do not know why the Somalians are dead or how they died. This makes the audience question how they died. This is used to make the audience want to continue watching the film and wanting to find out how and what killed them. The opening sequence reveals the location of the film to be a dry arid country; it shows that the country is very underdeveloped and 3rd world country with very few amenities. The main camera shots used in the opening sequence are master shots that show the surroundings and all the carnage that is happening in the surrounding areas. The editing in the opening sequence is mainly invisible editing to help the continuity of the sequence. The sound in the opening is non-diegetic music that is parallel to the situation that local people are facing. It is slow and sad emphasising the seriousness of the situation that they are facing. There is also diegetic sounds of the gunshots and the sounds of the helicopter used to enhance realism. The opening credits are presented in white text on top of the footage. The text that is used is typical of text used by the army and is quite small on the screen. There are also quotes shown in the same text such as, “only the dead have seen the end of the war”. This is a snare as it tries to send the audience down the wrong path. Also the proairetic code is presents as it shows when the Natives are speaking in the alternate language the audience starts wondering the impact or outcome of the situation and how are they relevant. There is a partial answer shown when in the refugee camp when they are getting shot at. It shows that civil war could be the cause of the deaths.