Editing style & features: there are some occasional slow motion shots, which help to emphasise the power of the waves when they wash onto the shore, and also when they crash into some large rocks just off-shore. there is a fairly short montage/ time lapse involving the clouds passing overhead faster than usual, which makes me feel as if some time is passing between the scene before the time lapse, and the scene after. this time lapse also helps to fill some time in the title sequence, and gives the audience a short moment to conjure up some ideas as to what will happen next. there is a close up on the characters eyes (who I presume is the main character protagonist of this series), and then a cut to a large number of bottles of what I presume to be bootleg alcohol (given that the series is based around prohibition era America) . these two shots placed on after the other show that the character has acknowledged the bottles, and either one of two things: either he caused this to happen and then proceeds to leave the scene to inform his peers of his success, or that an enemy of his caused this act, which resulted in a large shipment of bootleg alcohol being lost, at which point he proceeds to leave the scene, locate the culprit, and eventually exact his revenge for this attack on his trade.Credits & text: the credits are placed either on the opposite side of the screen to the main feature of the scene, or they are centre screen, and the action of the scene passes over or by them. a good example of this is first at 0:06, where the waves recede back from the shore revealing the name of the actor who portrays the main character of the series, "Steve Buscemi", an then at 0:32, where the name "Vincent Piazza" is displayed on the left portion of the screen, opposite Steve Buscemi's face.
Camera movement & framing: the framing of the shots in this title sequence up until 0:52 give it an air of mystery, as up until this time, we don't get to see the full face of the man in the sequence, but rather just a section of his face, or his eyes, or the rear of his head, which is one of the things that drew me into wanting to watch the whole title sequence, I wanted to see who this guy was, to identify him, and to see if i had seen him in other films. at the 0:52 mark, we as the audience can finally identify the man in the sequence (Steve Buscemi) and the way in which the camera manoeuvres around him almost glorifies him, and helps to present him as someone to be both respected and feared. the camera is placed at a slightly lower level than that of Buscemi's face, and it orbits him from his left cheek to his right cheek, at the same time the time lapse is in full swing, complete with changes in lighting and weather, making for a really powerful scene.
Mise-en-scene: there are three main focuses of the Mise-en-scene in this title sequence: The main character the crashing waves, and the bottles of bootleg alcohol.
Sound, dialogue & music: the music in this title sequence seems to be of the Country & Western genre. to me, it suits the scenery of this sequence almost perfectly. it is fairly calm (which suits the scenery - a beach on a bright, sunny day), and is very light and open. it bring images of the good times into my mind, days when life was good, everything was going well, family and friends, having fun, being together, that happy feeling when everything is in one's favour, and there are no worries. but it also has a stronger tone to it, which allows this piece of music to be applied throughout the entire sequence, even the scenes in which the lighting is dull and the clouds are bleak, therefore making it an excellent, well rounded piece of music.
Introduce characters: there is a man in a suit, and given the genre and time in which the film is set, I can safely presume that the man is involved in organised crime, and the scenes in which what seems to be bottles of bootleg alcohol floating in the sea reinforce this presumption. The character's stature and gait suggest he is a top ranking Mafioso. this man is portrayed by Steve Buscemi.
Indicate genre: the suit, combined with the hat, the fancy Italian brogues, the rose, and the bootleg alcohol are all common conventions of crime dramas set in prohibition era America. records suggest that contrary to the violent nature of the Mafia, the men involved were well respected and enjoyed the finer things in life, which ties in with the backing track of this title sequence. the music seems typical of america in the 1920's as it is fairly refined and well constructed, much like the Mafioso themselves.
Iconography: the man in the suit can be seen to represent many things, typical to this genre, the time in which it is set, an to the idea of a man dressed in a suit: Mafioso typically dressed in suits and were well respected among the corrupt upper classes in several american states during the prohibition, they were very formal, even in the way they dealt with those foolish enough to stand in their way, they were honourable - only killing someone of they felt they deserved it, but they would tend not to take someone's life if said person had done nothing to prevent them from carrying out their operations. they ha access to vast amounts of money,and were constantly in the process of generating more through various types of protection rackets, rug smuggling operations, phone tapping among other things, and with this unrivalled money generating capability and the classically refined yet ruthless nature of the Mafioso they were both feared and respected by many, and with that respect came huge amounts of power.
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