Opening Sequence Analysis - 21 Jump Street

21 Jump Street (2012)

21 Jump Street is a 2012 American action comedy directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The movie is about two underachieving cops that are sent back to a local high school to blend in and create a synthetic drug group.
The movie stars: Channing Tatum, Ice Cube and Jonah Hill.

The first shot is a title written 'THE YEAR 2005' in a blue font. This immediately introduces the audience to the year that the movie was set.

The next shot is a high angle shot of students getting off a typical American, yellow school bus. This highlights the setting and genre of the movie.

 The shot then skips to a zoomed in version of credits and then zooms out. This is part of the editing as the titles appear from the left and slide to the centre. The transitions are straight cuts and are incredibly fast. This creates a rapid pace, which can make the audience feel very tensed and wanting to know more.

There is then a medium over the shoulder shot of one of the main characters. This creates a narrative enigma as we can only see the back of the character. This introduces the audience to the character but also illustrates to the viewers, more of the setting. The mise en scene is also used appropriately and effectively as the character is wearing casual clothes which make's him look as if he is one of the students at the school. This is believable as they are undercover and need to remain in disguise.

 Next, there is a close up shot of the character from the front and an over the shoulder shot. This allows the audience to be introduced to the character.


Music
During the first few seconds of the opening sequence, the movie begins with non-diegetic music of the song 'Slim Shady' by Eminem. This music represents the mood of the movie and the setting in which the movie is based upon.