The opening to 'Collateral' takes the audience straight into the action of the film. This is a scene in a busy airport, where one man can be seen bumping into another and then a bag swap takes place. The events of this opening are not particularly special, but the way they were captured and edited is.
There is selective focus upon the man walking through the crowds in the airport. This makes the audience aware of who is the focal point in this scene. There is also an intense close-up over the shoulder shot. This shot is so extreme that the audience is looking through the character's glasses. This makes the audience feel like they are a part of the action, and engages them from the very beginning.
The sound in this opening clip is also quintessentially important. The audience can hear the background noise of people moving quickly in an airport, but above this they can hear the slow, cool thuds of Tom Cruise's footsteps. This shows the audience who is important in this scene by making his footsteps ring out through a packed airport. A 'whooshing' sound can also be heard in synchronisation with important movements and cuts. This draws attention to key movements in the sequence, and aids the audience in engaging with the film.
The opening sequence has no titles running over the top, and they do not precede the sequence. This is an important point, as the audience may be confused as to what film they are watching should the film come on TV.
The editing pace is very important in this sequence, as it is cut slowly when the surroundings are being established. This allows for a high contrast in the editing pace when the bag swap takes place. The editing pace at this point speeds up dramatically to emphasise how quick the action is. The editing pace then slows back down to the original long-running pace it had before the bag swap. The sudden change of speed makes the audience more alert to the action that is going on, and keeps the viewer engaged.
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