Dissecting the intricately beautiful opening sequence of SKYFALL, the latest blockbuster in the James Bond legacy, is a heady task. First hurdle is the length. Director Sam Mendes dedicated over 3 minutes and 55 seconds of his film to the sequence, and designer Daniel Kleinman clearly had no trouble filling every frame with richly layered compositions hinting toward the movies key themes and elements.
I love the gorgeous segue from the Prologue into the Opening Sequence! As Bond (Daniel Craig) crashes below the water's surface, we shift from the reality of the main story into his psyche. Our hero plummets into his dark, watery grave as finely manicured, female fingers grip his collar pulling him deeper into his own demise.
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| A badly wounded Bond sinks deeper into his worst nightmare. |
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| As James nears the sandy ocean floor, the abyss opens below-- sucking him in as though someone pulled the bathtub drain. |
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| Like any good Bond Girl... beautiful, yet deadly. |
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| We'll see repeated versions of this gun range target, representing both the location of Bond's injury and an upcoming scene where 007 misses his mark. |
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| The underwater environment evolves to show weapons falling from the sky (get it, SKYFALLing). Guns and knives stab into the sandy terrain, creating a maze of tombstones. |
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| The water becomes clouded bloody red as the camera zooms pass two proud statues marking the entrance to an old world mansion. |
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| Bonds bright blue eyes pierce through a shredded facade. We fall into a deeper level of his subconscious as the camera dollies into his eye. |
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| This structured interior environment references the relocated agency headquarters, buried deep in brick-walled tunnels of London's underground. |
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| Bond as bond shoots at approaching enemies, his own shadows turn into his fallen victims. |
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| The continuous red references both Bond's blood, and the chaotic nature of the movie's main villain, Silva (Javier Bardem). |
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| Although mostly obscured and only on screen for a few frames, a skull emerges from the congealing blood clots. |
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| Put your hands up. |
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| This segue uses same gun range target, now set ablaze to introduce us to a location used later in the film...... |
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| The gorgeous Macau Casino sequence!!!! Love the glowing Dragon lanterns and nod to the upcoming set design. |
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| The black and white, mirrored section features more Bond Girls.... |
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| ... and guns.... |
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| the same spooky old mansion from before.... |
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| and yikes, another skull! |
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| In the last section, 007 returns to the brick tunnel environment to face his biggest demon.... |
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| .... himself! Seems James can't stand to look himself in the face as he shoots out the fun-house mirrors. |
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| His wound. His target. His way out? |
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| Bloody fireballs rain down on the mansion and graveyard. |
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| Transition back into the primary reality of the film, we pass through his eye again. |
http://www.buzzfeed.com/stacylambe/watch-skyfalls-title-sequence
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