Step Up Opening Sequence Analysis

Step up begins with two long shots of completely different environments and two opposite styles of dance informing us from the very beginning that this film is about dance. The institutional details appear in a normal large font clear and easy to understand, the text is simple to not turn away the attention from what is going on behind the text. The lighting in both scenes is drastically different, one has soft and natural lighting because this goes hand in hand with the style of ballet which is; soft, innocent, peaceful and feminine, you can tell they’re doing ballet because of the costume it has a very clear mise en scene. Whereas in the other scenes the lighting, also natural, but it’s at night and the surroundings look sinister, dark and mysterious the mise en scene consists of males wearing large baggy clothing with hoods up essentially hiding their faces/identity this makes the audience feel weary and this adds to the enigma codes. The low key lighting shows that the dancers may be seen as lower class than the ballet dancers. The lighting also re enforces the danger aspect of the scene and also shows the contrast between the street dancers and ballet dancers. In the street scenes the positioning of the actors is almost pack like they dance in large groups and when someone breaks from the group they all crowd round in a circle which suggest they are gang like and protect one another. Whereas at the ballet school when the dancers are dancing they are spread out which suggest they feel safe and secure in the environment also we can tell they are of higher class than the street dancers as they can afford to pay for somewhere to rehearse instead of like the street dancers just dancing on a street corner. Also the ballet dancers are all dressed exactly the same suggesting they are not individual they are all the same and have the same goal there is not anything unique about them.

The film title appears with each letter spinning as if they’re dancing and this goes with the theme of the film. The camera moves to a low level action shot of both the Ballet and Hip-Hop dancers in shows there feet and great detail and attention is

placed on the foot work and style in which the dancer’s feet move. The music in the opening sequence is Hip-Hop but both groups are dancing to in rhythm to it, this may imply that both styles and individual groups of people are going to come together as one.. The cast’s names come up in shot with the type do dancing they do with helps us identify what type of person they are, although none of the casts faces are in direct shot so we do not yet know the main characters.

There is no dialogue in the opening sequence we as the audience are only left to imagine how the actors would talk based on stereotype. Again because there is no dialogue we are faced with the visual but no oral. We are then left imagining based on stereotypical knowledge what the tone of each character would potentially be. This continues to add to the mystery of who the people are again you are left to the visual sight of the location instead of relying on the ambient sound. The shots cut between each of the two styles of dance but leave enough time in-between to keep the audience engaged therefore the pace is appropriate. The opening sequence ends how it begins, slowly fading out to allow for the film to really begin.