Breakfast at Tiffany's opening scene Textual Analysis

At the beginning there is an establishment of the company that created this film, this is a recognisable logo for the audience and allows them to decide if they like the creators from previous films to determine whether they will like this one. This is also a credit as it is acknowledging the people who made this film.

A fade then darkens from the logo to the establishing shot, the screen darkens in order for this happen. This signals the end of the creators logo credit for the audience and they become aware that the film is about to start, this works as a smooth transition for the audience and it is not too sudden and does not break continuity harshly.

Music begins it is non diegetic , the sound acts as a description for the character, the music acts as sweet and pretty, the music is played alongside the woman getting out of the cab and her walking around Tiffany's, therefore the music could only describe which creates character establishment that she is both sweet and pretty which is reinforced when she gets out the cab because you can see she is pretty visually and you can assume she is sweet as she is kind of cute for bringing a breakfast to eat outside of Tiffany's which we also assume is her favourite shop due to her being there to window shop so early before anyone else is up. She is also established to be cute because she has dressed up to go to her favourite shop, the music is just generally helpful for character establishment. The audience could also assume it is morning from the music as it isn't to loud and its sweet, therefore leading to the assumption that people would like to wake up to it.

The first shot used in this opening sequence is an establishing shot, this is good for an opening sequence because it allows the audience to know where the film is going to be set which helps understand the personality of the characters as you then can see if they are like the other people or the stereotype set for that place. You can tell that this film is set in America because the cab is yellow and that is a common association with America, you can tell that it is specifically set in New York though because you can see the Empire State Building. There is also mise-en-scene within this shot as you can tell that the region is urban as there are concrete streets and lack of foliage compared to a country region. There are buildings lining both sides of the street, telling the audience that the region is busy and urban. There are several street lights also lining the streets which tells us that this place is a place where people visit at night also . The buildings are modern telling us that this place is a modern area and therefore urban because if this was set in the country there most likely wouldn't be many buildings to start with however the ones that there are would have been old. The use of the modern buildings and the streets alert the audience that this is set in an urban region. The street lights are also on but the sky is also getting light, this allows the reader to assume that it is morning as with the region of city the people are stereo typed to be nocturnal therefore the audience guesses its morning which sets the scene further for the audience by the use of mise-en-scene as it is the use of lighting.

A pan shot is used to follow the cab which shows the main focus in the shot and you know that the person who steps out of the cab is going to be important because the camera is following them so all the audiences attention is now on them . This is god for an opening scene as you can assume that the person who gets out of the cab is going to be the main character therefore there is establishment of character. The cab also works with mise-en-scene as due to its association with New York we again know that this is set in New York and therefore that the region is urban within this clip.


There is a low angle shot of the Tiffany&Co sign which establishes where the setting is for the audience, you now know that the woman has came to visit this shop. Also the use of the shop shows the sign to be higher than the woman and she is blurred about which helps the character establishment as you can see that form this positioning that the woman looks up to this shop and loves it, in facts idolises it.





This shot is an extreme long shot and allows us to see both where the person is and who the person is. You can see from this that the person is a glamorous woman, and you can she is on a sidewalk in New York window shopping. This is good for character establishment as we now know she is the main character as for a good couple of minutes she is the only person in focus telling us that she is mostly likely to be the main focus of the film the whole way through. You can see within this shot that the woman is wearing a long sleek black dress that is very flattering, this tells the audience that the woman is feminine as she is into feminine things, she is also observing a Tiffany's window showing that she has an interest in jewellery and general feminine things. This is helpful for the audience for character establishment as you can tell she is a girly girl and this is a stereotypical feminine woman. In this shot the actresses name also appears alongside her, which makes the audience aware who is playing who, there is no one else in the shot so it is evident that the actress in the shot is Audrey Hepburn, this allows the audience to establish who the main actress is in this film.




The title is shown right next to Audrey Hepburn when she gets her coffee out and holds a croissant in her mouth. We already know she is a Tiffany's from a previous shot, so if you put both together you can clearly see she is having breakfast at Tiffany's just like the title. The fact the Audrey Hepburn is right beside the title reinforces that she is the main character as she is placed right next to the title which highlights her importance, especially since she is the only person in the shot.  This shot also raises a question for the audience, is this a regular thing for the woman or is this the first time she has done it? This grips the audience and makes them want to find out, they also want to find out why she has such a fascination with the shop, this makes an audience want to continue watching.


The credits continue within the opening scene and this alerts the audience of who is who, this is also helpful for character establishment as the audience may recognise and actors name and then choose to watch the film because that actor is in it.

Within this shot you can see that woman is by a door and because she is looking down we can assume she is looking at a keyhole and therefore we can assume that this is where she lives, We know that she lives in an apartment sort of place so we know that she isn't rich, even though her clothing suggests otherwise. This shot is good for character establishment as we learn about her class position and then learn that because of her class position yet her contradicting clothing, she has an interest in fashion.







Overall I think this was a good opening scene because from it I learnt that a lot about Audrey Hepburn's character, also I learn about opening sequences in general and the main aspects which are included, for example, music and opening credits. However this opening sequence seemed to be an introduction to the film, which I liked.