E.T The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Analysis of the Opening Scene

We have chosen E.T The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) as our clip to analyse due to it covering all three types of genres that have been given; Fantasy, Adventure and Sci-Fi. The opening title, credits and choice of music creates an atmosphere that is relevant to the genres that E.T The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) covers. The non-diegetic music builds a tense atmosphere before E.T is chased by the investigating humans, this adds to the adventure side of the film. However, as E.T. is an alien and therefore non-human, this gives the film an element of Sci-Fi along with the spaceship in the first establishing shots. The fantasy side is also represented by alien life-forms being introduced in the very first stages of the opening scene. The microelements are used very well in this film, for example at the beginning there is an establishing shot to show where the spaceship has landed and a pan of the area which gives the audience a very good idea of the location. Also, there is a shot of the city to show that E.T is intrigued by the view and perhaps wants to discover more, furthermore to be part of human life down in the suburbs. The sound is represented throughout the opening scene by non-diegetic, orchestrated music that adds to the sci-fi and fantasy of E.T The Extra-Terrestrial (1982).