Johnny English

Our group have chosen to analyse the title sequence to Johnny English due to the film being in the same genre as our film we have created.


At the beginning of the title sequence for Johnny English we see a number of split screens informing us on a variety of things. We are introduced to the protagonist in this title sequence, we find out that in the film the protagonist is actually Johnny English himself and we find out who he is. We find out that the actor we see is not just an actor playing a role in the title sequence we find out that he is actually the protagonist, we find this out on the very first clip for example in the split screen we see an image of Johnny English and we see text next to it saying ‘passenger: English j. seat 6a, window allocated’ from this we can work out who Johnny English actually is.

Throughout the whole sequence every person is in silhouettes apart from the main protagonist and I think this gives us an introduction on who the main character is. We can also see that maybe London isn’t the only place he goes; maybe he travels many other places too.

In the next clip we see the actor being introduced, we see him walking out of fire, we see a silhouette of a hand holding a gun and finally we see ‘destination: London’. These clips give away many things. In my opinion the protagonist walking out of the fire is meant to be humorous, because I think it is meant to be a copy of James Bond, it is humorous because the actor is a very comedic guy and the fact he is copying the role of James Bond and perhaps pretending to be him is funny as it is not something you would have seen before. In my opinion the fire he is coming out of and the hand and gun silhouette is there to connote danger and action which could be coming up in the film. The ‘Destination: London’ shows us the setting and where the film is going to be set, this is not the only thing that shows or tells us that it is set in London there are also other things we see too we will see later on in the title sequence.

 In this title sequence during the split screens we see lots of thing which we will probably see in the film for example we see a target, this probably connotes danger and actions as well as the guns the protagonist seems to be holding, the fire blazing all over the background and also the fact he shoots a whole in the casino chip.

In one clip we see an aeroplane taking off, this shows and resembles the places maybe he will visit and the places this film is set. In one part of many of these clips we see a silhouette of a woman, this maybe shows us his personality, maybe in this film he is the typical spy who gets seduced by all the women, this could also be copying James Bond. By using the women it brings in the male gaze and possibly attracts more men to the film and title sequence.

We see England on a globe map then it pans in to a typical British black taxi and a typical British big red bus, all of these things certainly give away that the film is made and set in London, England. A target is aimed at the Taxi which the protagonist and this maybe connote the danger and risks Johnny English will be getting into. We then see a glance of him in the taxi with him with his legs crossed in a humorous position; this is to create a comedic scene within the sequence.

The last clip we see are circles round the car as if he is being tracked down this may show in the film he is getting chased with many people after him.

The music is very fast paced and reminds me very much of a spy and so it gives off that the genre is maybe an action movie but joined with the clips we notice it is in fact an action comedy. The protagonist is dressed in a suit and this is the only thing we see him dressed in, to me this is a typical spy, James Bond thing to do so that’s another point that this film is slightly bouncing off of James Bond although in a comedic way.