Finding Nemo opening

Finding Nemo Opening

Director: Andrew Stanton

Year Of Film: 2003

Opening Overview

Marlin and Coral are looking at their hundreds of eggs and light-heatedly arguing over what to call them- Marlin wants to call them Marlin and Coral Jr. but Coral likes 'Nemo'. So they decide to call one of them Nemo.  

They are messing around when they come face to face with a shark/big scary fish! Coral tries to protect the eggs so Marlin hopelessly attempts to fight off the 'big scary fish shark' and gets knocked out by it's tail. 

Marlin wakes to find Coral gone along with all but one egg. He names it Nemo.

Effective?

This is an effective opening as it makes you feel sorry for Marlin, and Nemo is already an important character in the film even though we have not yet met him. We the audience, like Marlin, want Nemo to be protected. 

This sets up the rest of the story well because when Nemo gets taken we can understand Marlin's fear of losing him. Marlin's personality comes across as caring because he wants to protect Coral. He also is a worrier because he is worried that none of his kids will like him, which  only makes us feel more sorry for him when Nemo is taken.

The non-diagetic sounds at the start of the opening are calming which relaxes the viewer, however when the 'big scary fish shark' enters, it is more panicky and builds tension. 

I thought this was a good opening because you feel sorry for the two main characters straight away and have a good understanding of why Marlin is so overprotective and very scared when Nemo is taken. So this sets the rest of the film up brilliantly.