ANALYSING OPENING TITLES - Once Upon a Time in the West

Once Upon a Time in the West - (1968) - Sergio Leone 

• Once Upon a Time in the West is a 1968 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone for Paramount Pictures.
• The interesting thing to note is that the filmmakers are using the different sounds to build tension. There’s no dialogue or music, but the sculpting of sound is as important as the visuals to create the mood and to set the scene; buzzing flies, dripping water, telegraph ticker, knuckles cracking, birds, train whistle, etc. It’s so long that the audience almost becomes frustrated at the slow, subdued pace. 
• Leone chose to substitute music with amplified sound effects. The sequence is so elongated that the audience almost becomes frustrated at the slow, subdued pace. 
• Impressively the use of animated titles was incredibly difficult especially before digital editing and unlike anything seen around the time. The transitions across the screen incorporate them into the scene.  
• The titles are used imaginatively during the shots, setting it apart from other titles. 
• The camera angles and shots at the beginning already show the men to be the antagonists. This is firstly shown by the very slow pan across the train station room, showing all three of the men standing still in various doorways. The slow pan emphasizes the tension and shows that there is something wrong. Also, the use of low angle shots represents their status.
• Snakey, the character who sits in the chair, is shown to be a very sinister character. When he captures the fly in the barrel, he listens to it buzzing and grins. This shows the nature of this character, he likes to have power and is fairly corrupt. 
• The opening scene does a very good job of establishing the location and genre, there is no doubt that this is a western film. This is done by the use of classic iconography of the western genre. 
• An example of this would be the stand-off at the end of the scene, a common sequence in western films. Another would be the harmonica music played by the protagonist in the scene, music that reflects not only the location but is used in other western films.