Opening Scene analysis - CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

The first thing we see when the movie begins is the woods and a lot of greenery; this gives us the idea of where most of the film will be set. We also see the setting before we see them. This setting is idyllic and makes us partly jealous that they are living in such a beautiful place. We then see a deer - this is the first living thing we see which causes us to align with the deer. The deer is then killed by a young boy who was camouflaged in the woods - Bo. As we were aligned with the deer, we feel sympathy for the deer however this alignment is now destroyed. At this point, the family is presented as dangerous and violent as all we've seen them do so far, is kill an innocent deer. This part of the opening also includes fast editing to speed up the pace of what is happening.

After the deer is killed, we see a ritual happening where Ben tells Bo he has now become a man. This ritual highlights two of the key ideologies of the movie which are masculinity and rituals as the ritual performed is essentially about masculinity. this part of the film focuses all of the attention on Bo which suggests that the film could be on Bo growing up into a man. This also causes our alignment to fall with Bo.

We then see the family all washing themselves in a river and then they have a little water fight. This is the first 'normal' thing we see the family do and it is also the first time we see the family together. This scene creates the image that they are all living happily through the facial expressions of each one of the characters - they are all smiling and laughing.