Film opening analysis.

Opening Credit Sequence:

Opening Scene:

The opening sequence of The Breakfast Club starts with the opening credits on a plain black screen with gold text whilst 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' by Simple Minds plays on top. It's an iconic 80s song and once the credits finish, a quote from one of the biggest 80s icons - David Bowie - comes on screen. The quote makes the viewer think about what it meant and how it would relate to the film. As the quote is primarily about children and their relationships with adults and the rest of the world, we understand that the film could possibly be a coming-of-age film about the importance of youth which relates to the lyrics of 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' playing in the background.

In the opening scene we first meet the five main characters when we are introduced to them through a narrative description of them as "a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal" which sets the stereotypes of the characters we are about to meet in the film. When the narrative ends we visually meet the main characters as they pull up to school individually alongside their parents. We are given an insight into each character immediately by seeing their relationships with their parents and we can automatically tell which character is supposed to fit each stereotype through the way they dress, their body language and what they say.

It's clear from the film opening that the plot will revolve around these five teenagers and that one Saturday detention in school, but we are yet to know what will happen between them. From the narrative we know that in the end they are somewhat united as they entered alone but at the end they're referred to as 'us', making us interested in how they came together to form 'the breakfast club.'

The narrative at the beginning of this film shows us that the story of these five teens will be from their point of view. The opening is over a short period of time as it shows them all arriving to their Saturday detention, early in the morning. The narrative used at the start however, is from the end of the film, put at the beginning to give us an insight into what will happen to these characters as the story unfolds.

Before we are introduced to the characters on-screen, the camera shows different shots though an empty, classic American high school. The opening scene sets the time and place for the movie as we are told that it's in Illinois, USA and due to the music, styling of the characters and opening quote, it is obvious to the audience that the film is set in the 80s.