HW 2a - Existing Opening Sequence Analysis (DYM)

1. The film is Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) Its genre is comedy/spy movie. The comedy comes from all the silly unrealistic dancing, and the comedic music as a satire of the common perceptions of 'The Swinging Sixties'. We can connote spy film from Doctor Evil's line at the beginning.
2. The opening takes place in London in the 1960's and also in doctor evil's lair. The opening follows events in real time, there aren't time jumps. This helps to accentuate the comedy, as whilst doctor evil is planning Austin's assassination, he is dancing round London.
3. Dr Evil states that he is going to assassinate Austin Powers. It then skips to London, where Austin is dancing through the streets, soon he is being chased by a group of fans and has to hide in a phone box, and behind a magazine with his face on it. His attempts to hide are futile and ends up fleeing round a corner. He comes back leading a marching band and begins a big dance sequence in the middle of the street. He then flips into a union jack car being driven by Mrs Kensington. The sequence of events are important as they set up how well known and whimsical Austin Powers is, contrasting against Dr Evil's very slightly more serious tone.
4. All the events are connected, except for Dr Evil's scene at the beginning, which aims to set up the story and is very unconnected to the London streets.
5. Dr Evil, Austin Powers, and Mrs Kensington are introduced. Dr Evil is very easily characterized as the classic bond-esque villain, with his white cat and scar on his face. Mrs Kensington is connoted as the 'bond girl' character. Austin is shown to be the main protagonist, as the majority of the opening is focused on him and his whimsical exploits.
6. Not much story information is revealed, except for the setting up of the main character's and that Dr Evil is going to try and assassinate Austin. We also learn from the graphics that it is set in London. We can surmise from the clothing and constant pop-culture references that the film is set in the 'swinging sixties'. Overall this opening sequences is quite separate from the rest of the film.
7. I think that all the audience needs to know is the whimsical tone and comedy of the film, with the actual story not needing to come in till after the opening sequence. However i feel that the idea that Austin is going to be assassinated adds to the humor of the opening sequence, as you question why anyone would want to assassinate him.