Titanic - Opening Scene Analysis

The opening scene of Titanic has a very slow pace of editing. Also, the cross fade transition between each shot is very long, this helps to set the pace and mood of the film, and indicates that the film is not going to contain a huge amount of action. The slow pace of editing is a connotation of romance films.

Also, playing in the background, is a slow, classical non-diegetic soundtrack. This also contributes to the genre indicator of a romance film.

Shown in the opening scene is shots of people standing on a dock waving off their family and friends on the boat, next shown, is shots of the boat's passengers waving goodbye to the people on land. This shot then cross fades to one of the ocean, maybe symbolising what will later happen to the ship.

The slow pace of the opening scene is very effective at setting the scene for the romance genre, and is used in the majority of films in the romance genre.

The mise en scene which is used in the opening scene instantly sets the scene about where and what period of time the event was set in. The addition of sepia during the editing phase also really helps to identify the time period in which the film is set to the viewer.