Forrest Gump - Opening Analysis

Institutional Information
Forrest Gump is a 12 rated, American romance drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. It was released in June 1994 and distributed by paramount pictures. The film stars Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, a simple and naive man, who, thanks to the supportive words of his much loved mother, has never thought of himself as disadvantaged. We follow Forrest through his eventful life and many tribulations as he fights in the vietnam war, becomes a world class ping pong champion, leads a running cult and makes his millions. Yet Forrest's most reoccurring feeling is his love for Jenny, a childhood friend who Forrest has always held dear to his heart. 
The film was a big success, it was made on $55 million budget yet made $677 million at the box office worldwide. The film received good reviews and won academy awards for best picture, best actor in a leading role, best director, best adapted screenplay and best visual effects. 

Genre and Target Audience 
Forrest Gump is a romantic drama.It is targeted towards both genders (even though females are stereotypically more attracted to this type of film genre) and at any age group above 12 years old. I believe that this film would appeal most to slightly older age groups, mid 20s perhaps, as they would most likely relate to this character more than a teenage audience would. Also I think that this appeals to the older generation as Forrest faces both complex issues of his own and those that have been experienced by others in their lifetime (e.g the vietnam war). 

Opening Credits 
We are initially greeted with the Paramount Pictures ident which silently fades into a black screen. We then see a single feather floating through a blue and cloudy sky. We follow the journey of this feather as the most important people in the production process are listed off, such as the director and the lead actor. Then in a simple white font the name of the film is presented. The title is very understated and does not deter from the importance of the feather in the background as this holds significance in the story. 

Location and Atmosphere representation
A long tracking shot continuously follows the movement of a feather for two and a half minutes, as it floats down from a cloudy sky and over a town park, to eventually land at our main character's feet. This is our establishing shot and sets the scene for the film. As the shot pans round to show more of the buildings in the background it becomes clear that our film is located in a typical city setting. The mis en scene of the scene depicts an ordinary day; the weather is cloudy, yet there are rays of sun around our protagonist as he sits on the park bench. Nothing about the setting is out of the ordinary which nicely coincides with the character of our protagonist as he is no more than your average American; holding no significantly superior traits over any other characters that are introduced throughout the film. 

Narrative
During the opening credits we follow the journey of a single feather which holds strong significance to the overall story and sets up the tone of the film from the beginning. Feathers typically connote wisdom and freedom, which juxtapose the character of Forrest when he is  presented to us as a young boy as, in his younger years, he is very much restricted in his life due to his naivety and low IQ. However, the more nondescript significance of a white feather is its use in the USA as a symbol of courage, persistence and superior combat marksmanship. This is a very noteworthy implication of the presence of the white feather in the opening title sequence, as Forrest later describes his experiences of war and receives the meal of honour for his bravery in combat. Also the specific white colouring of the feather implies innocence, which is a key aspect of Forrest's character. 
The slow movement of this first portion of the film and the calm instrumental that follows the camera movement conforms to the typical convention of a drama film. This movie entices it's audience through the strange significance of a feather in the story and the small bread crumbs that it leaves as to what the story is about and who the character of Forrest Gump truly is. 

Character Representation 
The first thing that we see of Forrest are his muddy trainers, pressed up against the pure white feather. The white innocence of the feather against his childish choice of shoe and their muddy appearance depicts his childlike and immature personality. Also the choice of sports shoes gives an insight into his passion for running and shows the significance that this hold in his story and also the promise from his mother that his shoes would 'take him anywhere'. As the camera pans up we then see that Forrest is wearing a smart linen suit. This, when paired with his muddy shoes and military haircut, all add up to make a strange combination. However, although it may not be clear yet to the audience, these features all are relevent to his character, for example the suit signifies his success in business and his hair style reflects his time in the army. 

He then places the feather in a book in his suitcase and again we see a strange miss match of items; there are socks, a baseball hat, a toothbrush and a toothpaste, a newspaper, some clothes and an illustrative book on which it is portrayed a blue sky with white clouds. Again all of these items hold significance to the character of Forrest, and as he add the feather to this collection, we come to understand that this also is an important factor in the story. 

Conclusion
Overall I think that this is a very well thought out and effective opening to a drama film. The use of the feather and other props provide subtle hints for the viewer which all link into the storyline. This film conforms to most of the typical conventions of a drama film, with the ordinary setting and mis en scene, calming instrumental music and slow paced camera work, consisting mostly of beautiful imagery and establishing shots. At this point Forrest is still an ambiguous character as we have not had any basic insight into his story also it is interesting that no other characters have been introduced at this point which infers that this story revolves around this one protagonist and that he is the major character in this story.