The audience are then able to acknowledge that the movie is perhaps one of suspense and danger, which creates excitement as well as belief that the movie may almost be a mixture of fairytale from say, Alice in Wonderland where the character of Alice also falls into a hole where her story or fantasy begins so, the audience are now aware that the story of the Matrix has now also begun.
The film changes the audience’s expectations of what the genre will be because after analysing each frame, it shows different camera shots, visual language, and use of imagery and so on. The first frame shows a motel sign reading “Heart of the City” with the background of this scene seeming a bit rundown and dull, like a suburb. The frame is a medium close up angle with a vertical tracking shot, with a cut edit. The diegetic sound in the movie lets the audience hear the murmur of police walkie talkies in the distance so that they can recognise that the convention displayed is implying the movie may be of crime drama genre.
The second frame shows a car drawing up near the motel with two agents coming out of it to consult the lieutenant about the situation involving Trinity at arrest.
The Agents are younger than him and are shown to be looking down at him to show their status, which the camera angle is portraying.
The third frame shows the position of the lieutenant and Agents where the camera angle here has been deliberately shown as a high angle in order to make the audience aware that despite the lieutenant’s assertive attitude, the Agents are in possession of much more power than him.
The fourth frame is a soundtrack dialogue as a conversation between the lieutenant and Agents
“I think we can handle one little girl”, he says this as he gestures towards the building, which brings in the use of a crescendo, a jump cut between the outside and the inside. The Agents word before this is clear and firm,
“The orders were sent for your own protection”... and appear to be expressionless with the dark colours from the police lights suggesting a cold, threatening atmosphere and a sense of foreboding.
The fifth frame shows the lieutenant looking over his shoulder in a confused way with a surprised and almost doubtful look on his face about his unit’s safety now. The shot shown is medium close up and the soundtrack is diegetic, with the aural clue of us suspecting police to be around as a result of car radios and police walkie talkies.
The sixth frame is an Agent wearing a communication wire to show him as an FBI agent. However, this may also show his communication to the Matrix, which is obtained through the use of phones. The Agent is looking towards the hotel building sign which is out of focus. It is focused on the foreground, with his finger pointing to the building, an indication of his direction. The shot is close up, low angle to draw the audience’s attention to the foreground.
Next is the seventh frame showing a policeman at the main scene of where Trinity is, taking his handcuffs out, with a nervous expression on his face, ready to arrest her. She stands with her hands behind her head, and we see the officer’s wedding ring in a medium close up shot of his hand showing he is married.
The audience are aware of his fear because in the next frame, the camera is focused on her instead of the police officer who is very frightened by the whole situation. He goes to cuff her, her eyes closed, and keeps an intent stare on her face.
Frame nine shows Trinity’s eyes open and we expect the attack. There is the noise of staccato, the breaking of his arm and the shot of his gun. Lights in the background show the cheap looking hotel from the inside, including her expression which is vicious in a medium over shoulder shot, as she lunges at the officers in fierce attack. This finishes with a crescendo to end the climax.
In frame 10, a reciprocal is shown by the camera as she resumes with the attack in position in the air, bullet time with a 360 degree pan around the subject.
The next frame is a medium long full shot, with Trinity in slow motion as she jumps in the air and launches a kick at one of the officers. Her shadow shows her threatening position as she’s suspended in mid air, to emphasize her height.
In frame twelve she runs over walls in a sideways full shot where the audience are now aware she is supernatural, after a demonstration of the power she possesses. She ends her attack with a final blow to the officers, their bodies on the ground, perished, as she stands in the middle in long shot as a silhouette against the destroyed chaotic hotel as the audience try to figure out who she is.
The producer uses a range of these camera shots, angles and effects to establish the genre of the movie, and leaves the audience a challenge to try to work out the mystery and danger behind the character of Trinity. This applies to all characters and frames throughout the movie as the producer has introduced genre after genre to keep the viewers occupied and at the same time entertained.
The film changes the audience’s expectations of what the character roles will be because each new frame introduced shows various conventions that indicate various character statuses.
For example in the beginning of the film, Trinity is introduced in a black outfit, a slick hairdo to match and a stern expression to accompany this. She succeeds to defeat all her opponents in a series of fighting techniques, which portrays Trinity as perhaps a villain. However the audience are mistaken because although she possesses supernatural powers, we see her later in the movie to be part of those involved in the Matrix, so the audience accept her to be one of the films “good” characters.
Similarly enough the character in the film named Cypher is shown to portray vice versa. He is shown as part of the Matrix at first, so the audience understand him to be on the good side. They are again mistaken as Cypher is shown to be on the agents’ side later in the movie and kills Morpheus’ people while they are in the matrix. He also attempts to finish Tank off but fails, which brings triumph to the audience of the characters when this is shown. Therefore the techniques of changing the genre every so often creates mystery and suspense of the movie but at the same time urges the audience to continue watching as though they are in wait of the arrival of yet another convention.
The opening sequence establishes the characters and engages the audience’ attention as it introduces the role of each individual character through a range of differing film genres and actions to portray this. As a result, the audiences’ attention will have been captured because it will build a sense of anticipation, leaving the audience almost hanging onto the storyline, in assumption that there are more twists to the story with the changing of the genre to come. The audience then believe that perhaps the role of each character will change again, to introduce a new personality in the movie, the main reason for viewers’ engagement in the film.