Die Hard with a vengeance opening analysis

In the opening scene they use many different long shots to set the scene. These are called establishing shots. These shots are effective as they immediately tells the audience that the film is set in New York. This is because it shows many iconic buildings in New York. A casual song is playing in the background as slowly edited shots of normal people, doing there daily commute to work are shown on screen. This sets the opening scene as a plain one that is just there to show where the film is set. This ends suddenly in an explosion. Any sense of normality is immediately dispersed. The explosion is used as a trigger for the music to stop playing. This leaves just the diegetic sound that would follow a terrorist attack e.g. emergency sirens. The opening scene does not reveal anything about the characters or story, these are revealed and built up during the next scene in the police station. One reason for this is that it is the third installment in the series, so the main protagonist, John McClain is already known about. The audience will also know that the plot will likely be about him having to single-handedly stop a well organised plot to obtain a large amount of money by ether theft or hostage taking. The title is put over the top of the background image as it is showing the establishing shots. This tells the audience that it is 'Die Hard set in New York'.