Briefly analyse how the opening scene of Apocalypse Now uses the elements of film form to create meaning and audience response and how you feel this is setting up the content, themes , narrative and attitude to heroism and war in the rest of the film

The opening sequence begins audibly with the illusionary pounding of helicopters passing, proceeding this the song "The End" by The Doors (not the best choice of song but okay. not my film) begins to play as we are shown an establishing shot of a Vietnamese jungle as war time helicopters traverse by it. The now dirty and foggy shot lingers as the helicopter blades and score merge to form something of its own atmosphere. As the song begins the vocalist declares "This is the end, beautiful friend" as we see the forest napalm bombed. The camera pans across the fire torn and smoky expanse of the forest war scene and as the editing dissolves together with a close up shot of the main character, Captain Benjamin Willard, played by Martin Sheen. We see many shots dissolve together over the close up of Willard, the ceiling fan of his room which mirrors the blades of the helicopters, the fire, the forest as the lyrically appropriate song continues to assault the senses. The lighting and editing of this opening sequence shows an emphasis on duality, we see half of Willard's face cloaked in shadow as the other shots are superimposed over him as well as the shots of the shadowy jungle silhouetted by the glow of the deep orange fog and fire. As the opening music ends we are shown more close up shots of the alcoholic Willard suffering from post traumatic stress and cabin fever are shown. The dialogue delivered by Willard in this scene is dubbed over the cuts of him in his room, adding to the sense of insanity the opening sequence gives us. We see a high angle shot of Willard crouched down in the room appearing very small, this is mirrored in the overdubbed dialogue from the deep voice of Martin Sheen stating "Each time I look around, the walls move in a little tighter". The now erratic and violent "The End" slowly starts to get louder as the scenes again start to merge. Great use of lighting is again used to shadow half of Willard's face with the ceiling fan framed over his shoulder as the scenes cut and change. (Idk if that's everything but oh well i tried)

Research on New Hollywood, Francis Ford Coppola and the Vietnam War

New Hollywood: - New Hollywood or post-classical Hollywood, sometimes referred to as the "American New Wave", refers to the time from the mid 1960s (Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate) to the early 1980s (Heaven's Gate, One from the Heart) when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence in United States, influencing the types of films produced, their production and marketing, and the way major studios approached filmmaking. In New Hollywood films, the film director took on a key authorial role. Key Directors include Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Altman and Sam Peckinpah Francis Ford Coppola: - key films include Apocolypse Now, The Godfather triology, Twixt and The Rainmaker The Vietnam War: - 01 Nov 1955 - 30 Apr 1975 - As its name says, the Vietnam War took place mainly in Vietnam, the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia - Impact of Vietnam War on American History The Vietnam War had a significant role in shaping the history of America. At the time when America was fighting for equality and freedom abroad, Black Americans were fighting for the same rights in the same country - the films that the Vietnam War inspired were; Deathdream (aka Dead of Night, 1972) Hearts and Minds (1974) Coming Home (1978) Apocalypse Now (1979) Platoon (1986) Full Metal Jacket (1987) Hamburger Hill (1987) Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)