Catch Me If You Can film opening

Genre

Catch Me If You Can is a comedy drama thriller directed by Steven Spielberg.

Narrative

Frank Abagnale has seen his family torn apart and destroyed by a child abductor. Throughout the narrative of this film, he strives to put his family back together. He is a confidence trickster and enters into lots of high spirited drama throughout the film.

Setting

The opening scene is a very memorable animation of Lowrey type figures who run through different environments which symbolise key elements of the film.

The different settings include an airport and a hospital which gives us a taste of the environments that the main character will trick his way into and the lifestyle that he will follow.

The opening shot is an establishing shot of an airport. This connects to the storyline of the film as Leonardo Di Caprio plays a con man who tricks his way into becoming a pilot. It is a long shot which shows there is a distance between the character and the airport. The airport connotes travel and distance. The two are not intrinsically connected. The character has his hand in his pocket and is adopting a very casual stance. A bright yellow arrow shows us the character. We know he is going to be an important figure in the play.

Themes

The theme of broken homes runs through the film. Throughout the film we see how a very troubled childhood can affect the rest of your life. Frank's parents divorced when he was 14 years old, and he decided to stay with his dad. Because of his broken family, he started to act in ways that demanded attention. He began to steal from local shops and hung around the wrong people, and so began his life as a con man.

Frank does not enjoy living on his own when he is on the run and he struggles with pretending to be different people all the time. The film explores the question of identity.

During his life on the run Frank becomes addicted to money and beautiful women, and addiction is another theme of the play.

Character

Leonardo Di Caprio was introduced in the opening scene as he hides between the strokes of the letters. Tom Hanks is introduced with an arrow. His body language connotes an air of importance and authority. He chases Leonardo Di Caprio and gives further hints of the storyline. The idea of chase is present throughout the sequence.
 The characters are silhouetted against a really colourful background giving a light-hearted feel. The costumes of the characters add to the 1960s feel of the sequence.

Throughout the scene, Leonardo Di Caprio takes on many different roles denoted by the change of costumes. There are lots of females which could indicate romance.

Atmosphere

Saul Bass is the graphic designer responsible for the animation. It was made by cutting out hundreds of paper body parts for the characters and then scanning them onto a computer generated backdrop.  The film does not take itself too seriously and this opening scene sets the mood for the story and encourages the viewer to engage in the story of the film before it starts. The whole scene is actually an animated reproduction of the whole movie.

 

Sound

The opening scene is played out to the  non- diegetic music from John Willows which is floaty, jazzy music. It has a 1960s feel about it. It links the subject and style of the film and creates the mood and creates a sense of suspense. The finger snaps link with the jazz style of the music and introduce a new credit or scene.

Titles

The writing is in long black lines which extend up and down from the letters. These lines cleverly create part of the scene, and the character can hide behind them, connoting a devious and cunning character. He is not quite what he seems. As the character changes, the audience is given a hint of the story to come.