The Art of the Title: Guardians of the Galaxy

As the title sequence of 'Guardians of the Galaxy' begins, there are many indicators that signal genre,  there is an immediate edit, text informing the audience that the following sequence took place 26 years after the prologue. This accompanies a wide shot of a mysterious planet from orbit before editing in the planet’s name and status as an ‘abandoned planet’. Next we have another wide shot, with numerous instances of virtual effects; for example, the atmosphere being entirely grey, blending in with the jagged rock structures and colossal waves crashing against them, this informs the audience that this planet was abandoned for a reason, and this engages the audience by giving them something to contemplate.

The next important shot is of the protagonist moving through the hostile terrain in a long shot, framed through a crack in a stone followed by a close up tracking shot of his mask, this mask doesn’t give the audience a lot of information as it is entirely emotionless, almost menacing with the bright red eyes piercing the ocean spray he strides through. Following this is a long shot of the protagonist using a device that projects what the previous inhabitants of this world were like. The following shot is an aerial tracking shot of the protagonist which pans back as he projects the ghost-like images of these inhabitants, the aerial shot slowly reveals more to the audience creating tension as he moves further into the ruins before him. Next the protagonist is shown next to a projection of a little girl playing with her dog, the juxtaposition between the innocent little girl and the protagonist only encourages the audience to consider him as menacing.

The next important shot is of the protagonist walking further into the ruins, considerably more relaxed before he removes his mask revealing a young, handsome man; this is completely different to the emotionless mask the audience has seen until now. Immediately after this the protagonist goes against the audience’s expectations by putting on a pair of headphones before the camera pans down to his hand holding a Sony Walkman, the Sony Walkman could be considered humorous to the audience as this man has incredible technology, he still uses a device from the 80’s.

The ensuing scene is of our once menacing protagonist dancing to ‘Come and Get Your Love’, striding around the hostile landscape with numerous tracking shots, one notable one begins with a shot of alien creatures, similar to rats, bounding towards the man before he kicks them away in time to the music. These scenes resolve any tension that the previous scenes had established, relieving the audience of any stress or anxiety and reassuring them that this is a comedic movie. As the music fades and the protagonist stops dancing the final shot of the title is a zoom in of a mysterious orb which is the main focus of the film.