Lightning McQueen

Lightning McQueen

The character of Lightning McQueen from the movie Cars is very memorable from a child's perspective. He is introduced by driving out the back of his trailer. During this sequence, close up shots of his wheels, exhaust and number are used to show the character off. The shot of Lightning McQueen moving towards the light and then being photographed gives the impression that he is famous, many children would want to be like this character even though it is an animation.

The location of this scene is at a very large race event in which the main character will take part. The lightning in the scene is made through the use of spotlights and background lighting as it is set at night. The use of colour in the film is significant as it appeals to children of that age because there is use of bright colouring (Lightning McQueen is bright red). These thing make up the Mise en Scene of the clip.

The sound in the introduction is a mixture of a backing track, sound effects and a voiceover. The backing track is used for the most of the opening of the film as it gives a good sense of the type of film and the lyrics relate to driving. Sound Effects are used in the sequence to help show that the movie is about racing by the use of revving engines. The voiceover gives the watcher good understanding of the main character and what he does.   

This sequence of being introduced to the main character uses many opening sequence conventions including:

• Introducing a character(Lightning McQueen)
• Giving an indication of what is to come in the film (a race)
• Establishes location (racetrack)
• Hooks Viewer (through the use of action, the cars racing round the track)

Overall, the introduction of Lightning McQueen will be very memorable to children because of the use of bright colours, good camera shots and sound work.