Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite

A title sequence sets up the story for every TV series or film this means that it is a very important factor for a film to have as it sells the film to the audience. Within the film Napoleon Dynamite there are many things to think about in the title sequence and the most important of these would be mise-en-scene. Throughout the friendly title sequence of this film there is only carpet of the background places which creates a mystery for the audience as they have to evaluate where the shot is being taken. Some of the floor designs give you a hint about where Napoleon is at the time an example of this would be where he is eating at school with his school lunch. The audience see a constant close up of the characters hands and only see how the character moves around the objects that are in front of him. The objects used in this title sequence are; carpets and flooring, meals and food, food trays, U.F.O. Abduction insurance card, Preston High ID card, a plain black wallet, grass landscape, self-made ninja spike, library books, fat free sweets, chap stick, school stationary and drawing of warriors.

When the food is displayed on screen it shows different types of food and most of them are greasy which gives the audience an idea that Napoleon might have acne due to all the bad, unhealthy food he eats despite the fat free sweet. Also, when the food is displayed the audience can see that it is set out perfectly and different types of food that are on the same plate do not touch each other, this could hint that Napoleon has OCD.

When the UFO Abduction insurance card is displayed the audience can tell that Napoleon is a geek any other school stereotype, for example a jock, would never have one of these cards as it may ruin or jeopardise their popularity. The library books then back up this theory as one of the books is titled ‘Sciences and Centaurs’ this is a very geeky title for a book and therefore backs up the idea that Napoleon is a geek. Another way this can be backed up is by the ninja spike and the drawings of warriors.

The first sound of the film title is the sounds of birds chirping this suggests that it is in the morning as this is usually the noise you hear when you first wake up in the morning. The happy, friendly music then starts up before the UFO Abduction insurance is displayed is could suggest that the music picks up when it shows more of who Napoleon is as a person and what his interested in.