A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

The title sequence begins with a close up of the man where, the focus is deeply on the eyes. The fact that the left eye has eyelashes whereas the right doesn’t automatically adds fear to the audience. Similarly the hat camouflages with the background, and because the face is hidden, we assume that maybe the character has something to hide. The costume again is very bland which makes us suspicious towards the character, and we assume that he is possibly the protagonist.

The close up then develops into a mid shot where the protagonist begins to drink a glass of milk. Now the focus becomes the glass of milk. Usually milk is symbolic of purity and cleanliness. This contrasts with the clothes the protagonist is wearing because they look very dirty. Kubrick uses the glass of milk to create enigma which allows the audience to remain interested in the film.

As the title sequence develops, the camera zooms out and the mid shot then turns into a wide shot. The audience begin to join pieces of the story line as the camera allows us to see more and we become aware of the surroundings.  It’s almost like a jigsaw where the audience are trying to find out more as the camera is revealing more. The shot above highlights the bizarre mood Stanley Kubrick tries to create. The satorical code is very monotone, and although the costume is not white its like a dirty cream, which shows that none of the characters are pure. Likewise the red lipstick and blood on the clothes of the characters also adds suspense and in the monotone shot, red stands out. Kubrick uses red to emphasise danger.

Finally as the title sequence nears to an end, the characters are further away from the screen, and more of the surrounding is shown. The wigs of the women statues add to the enigma, as it stands out in the monotone of the setting. As the characters go further away, the audience can relax because it was due to them the tension was being created.

Editing-

Usually you would expect the editing to be very fast paced, as that usually creates tension. However Kubrick smartly uses very long shots which allow the audience to think about the storyline. The only fast editing in this title sequence was right at the beginning, where there were fast cuts between the credits. This corresponded with the non deigetic sound at the time too. As the credits end and we see a close up shot of the protagonist, there is a very rapid cut which makes the audience wary to the protagonist.

Sound-

Non-diegetic-We can hear the non-diegtic music prior to anything else being seen. At the beginning of the sequence its just a red background with very slow music. This not only builds tension but also makes the audience feel enigmatic to what will be shown next. The music sets an anxious tone and as a result we apprehend for something to happen. As the title sequence keeps rolling the music becomes faster and again we begin to feel nervous. This is a stereotype for most thrillers, as directors often use sound as a catalyst to help build enigma and tension in their film.

Diegetic sound-There is no diegetic sound in this title sequence, this is because Kubrick wants his audience to remain interested and he needs to keep building up tension and suspense in order to do that.