This is the opening sequence to the film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. This is the third instalment to the Pirates of the Caribbean series, which we would categorise under action, adventure and fantasy. So if viewers have already seen the first two, they would already know the main characters; Captain Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner. However, the opening scene of At World’s End doesn’t show any of them, but other pirates instead.
The scene begins with a close up of a rope; one used to hang people. It slowly pans across, from right to left, allowing the sun to beam on the edges of the rope, creating a serious atmosphere. This is also reinforced by the silence; there are no sound effects whatsoever, creating that solemn mood. Next, the shot is cut to a flag and then a close up of peoples’ feet, all chained together. This tells the audience that people are being held prisoners, and the loud sound of the chains being smashed to the ground, and a drum in the background almost make the viewers jump.
We then see wider shots, and can now see that there are many prisoners, all chained together, and people of high position – maybe the navy or army, due to their uniforms and guns – lining them up. There is now a voiceover, from the representative of ‘Cutler Beckett’, giving the orders, and we realise that it is Lord Beckett who is lining all the prisoners up to be hung.
There are then a series of shots; showing the prisoners’ faces, standing while the officials place the rope around their heads, the announcer/representative, and finally, the man who pulls the lever. The floor opens up, and we get a long shot of beneath the stage, and the feet of the many people who have now been hung. This is quite a disturbing image, and the viewers can tell that this opening is serious, so will not be expecting a light hearted comedy for the rest of the film (though there is comedic value, from Captain Jack Sparrow/Johnny Depp).
The shots of people getting hung continues for about a minute, so the viewers can see the vast amount of people getting hung, and this repetitive notion adds to this sombre atmosphere. The fact that the whole scene is also tinted blue also adds to the sadness.
Finally, (at 1:33 in this YouTube video) the scene reaches its turning point, as one of the people getting hung is a small boy, who looks around the age of 12. We see him stepping up to the stage, and when underneath the rope, we have a high angle shot of him, making him seem even more vulnerable – he already is in a very vulnerable state, he’s only a small boy and he’s going to be hung to his death! We then see a close up of his hands, and he is holding a pirate’s coin, - one of the ‘pieces of 8’. This is a key image and prop in the film, so is introduced is the first scene.
We then get a mid long shot of the boy, and the camera zooms in, and we now hear that he is singing. He is in fact singing the song ‘Hoist the Colours’, a pirate song. His voice is quite high, and is a large contrast to the quiet beginning, which makes the song sound quite creepy and haunting.
He sings the first verse on his own, and is then placed on a barrel (he is too short to be hung) and this again adds to his vulnerability. The screen is then focused on another pirate, who starts to sing, and after that, all the pirates join in too. The sound effects and music in this scene are done amazingly well; it really creates a great and eerie atmosphere. The song itself is quite scary on its own, but as they are all singing it in a solemn voice, they come together as a choir and it’s actually quite spine-tingling! The addition of the banging chains and handcuffs not only give a beat to the song, but add to the fact that they’re prisoners and about to be hung to their death; it’s done extremely well in my opinion. Near the end of the song, one of the officers says ‘Lord Beckett, they’ve started to sing.’, in which he replies ‘Finally.’
The last beat of the song is actually the pull of the lever, and we realise they have now been hung. The screen then cuts to black, with the coin falling down, and the title ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’ appears.
This is, in my opinion, actually one of the best scenes in the film, and is done to a great standard. It is only one scene, so doesn't confuse the viewers, and each shot is just simply cut to eachother, so that the film simply flows. It introduces the film, with the theme of the pirates against the navy and Lord Beckett (Lord Beckett being the one we automatically don’t like, and the pirates being the ones we support), but doesn’t show any of the other main characters. This is so that the audience are just in the right mind frame for the film, and the whole scene seems to take them out of the cinema and into the film, with the great atmospheric music. So although not that much is actually told in the opening scene – as Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner or Elizabeth Swann are not shown, and most of the people who are shown are killed straight away – it just gives the audience a background story and gets them immediately drawn into the film.
(Note – the opening sequence also doesn’t need to immediately introduce the main characters straight away, as this is the third in the series – the audience should already be familiar with them.)
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