Technical codes: angles and editing; lighting;

sound etc.

Visual codes: mise-en-scene; action codes, typography etc.

Interstellar opens with a panning

Master shot of bookshelves, with small
childrens toys lying atop; of these
small childrens toys lies a small toy
model rocket, foreshadowing what the
climax of the plot will be about in time
to come.
Aerial shot of the farmland showing
the setting of the movie to a sudden
change in camera angles.
Cuts from Point of View shots of an
aircraft, to over the shoulder, close up,
and low angle shots of the pilot of the
aircraft, Cooper, the main character of
the story.
These camera angles instil a sense of
urgency and intensity in the viewer to
be aware of in either the current
scene, or scenes to come.
There is immediate eerie non-diegetic
background music, behind the
narration done by Murph, this aids in

The films audience can easily

understand the function of each
character seen in the opening
sequence.
The films protagonist, Cooper, is
immediately seen to be
involved in immediate action,
which alludes to the audience
that he will be the core of the
film.
Similarly, throughout the
opening, other minor characters
are seen telling personal
anecdotes about what is to
come. This allows the audience
to better understand what their
possible role in the film will be.

Pre-Knowledge

There cannot be any audience preknowledge since there is no prequel

to Interstellar. With this, some
audience members may have
previous knowledge of the topic
covered in this film, which may aid
in the films understanding to this
group.

New Audience
Genre/
theme:
Epic
Science
Fiction

.
Set design is key in the opening of Interstellar, as there is a
generally dark and eerie undertone shown through the
various opening clips. These clips consist of generally slow
paced cuts that allow for the dark set and low key lighting

Audience:

Opening Sequence: Interstellar

The films opening allows a new

audience to easily understand the
theme and mood given by
Christopher Nolan. The mise-en-

Responses: uses and gratifications;

different readings

Narrative
codes:

Propp: character functions

The typography used in the opening scene is clearly

reminiscent of texts used in documentaries and science
fiction films. This instils a predisposition of what the film will
encompass in the audience within the first few seconds of
the opening sequence

Targeting: different audiences

Todorov: equilibrium; disequilibrium; enigmas;

resolution; transformation etc.

Who are these characters? What do they

represent? What do they foreshadow?
There are not too many enigmas as this film
does not involve everyday actions.

Levi-Strauss: binary
oppositions

Very few binary

opposition occur
throughout this
opening sequence.
With this, there is
some opposites seen
throughout this
sequence, and this can
be seen with the slow
pace in the beginning
switching to the fast
paced plane crash
scene.
Similarly, the very fast
switch from low key to
high key lighting from
scene to scene can
also be seen as binary
oppositions.

The audiences response to this

opening sequence can be mixed.
For example, with the character
introduction with somber and
melodramatic non-diegetic
background music playing
throughout, the audience may
gather that there may be some
dramatic conflict to come as the
plot continues to develop.
A reading of mise-en-scene can
allow the audience to understand
different mood of different scenes
to understand the films overall
theme.