The Wolf of Wall Street - Opening Sequence

The film ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ is a 2013 American biographical comedy from acclaimed director Martin Scorsese. The plot of the movie is based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stock-broker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.

Technical Codes A number of technical codes are used throughout this opening scene to help ensure that the movie is engaging and visually exciting from the outset, so that the audience is hooked into the story, encouraging them to continue watching. The first shot that the audience sees of Jordan Belfort is a low angle shot. This signifies Jordan’s status and makes him appear more powerful and influential from the very start, establishing him as a lead role.

There are many long tracking shots following Jordan’s movement throughout the first section, signifying that he is in control and captivates the audience’s full attention. One effective long tracking shot is of Jordan’s limo leaving his mansion. The shot pans round to capture the spectacle of the impressive spectacle of the mansion and the stretch limo. This makes the audience respect Jordan, makes them wonder how he made this fortune and want to see more into his luxurious life. A long shot is also used in the office of Stratton Oakmont - Jordan’s company. This is used on the crowd of workers that are applauding Jordan, their boss. This offers impressive spectacle and scale of the empire that Jordan has built. This increases his power and superiority.

There is an extreme close up of cocaine being separated into a line by a credit card. This shot directly and bluntly informs the audience of the use of drugs in this film, and increases tension and jeopardy as Jordan’s health is clearly at risk. The extreme close-up also forces the audience to recognize drugs as a main theme throughout the film and allows them to establish it early on, to increase understanding. This is a great example of mise-en-scène used to create an atmosphere towards the desired effect of the film - to be entertained and informed. A close up is also used on the 100$ bill that Jordan uses to snort the cocaine. This shifts audience focus to another main theme in the film, money, and is also an effective feautre of mise-en-scène.

The editing in this opening is quite long in the beginning, but speeds up to fast paced editing when Jordan enters his office. The effect of this is that the editing corresponds with the high-speed bustle of the Wall St. business ethics. It also creates tension in that the audience must focus to keep up with the action. The change in pace of the editing also occurs during and after roughly the time when Jordan does cocaine. This mimics the effect of the drugs on Jordan’s mental state, in that everything is sharper, faster and less fluid. This adds a sense of empathy with Jordan as we are brought closer to his mental perspective.

An action match is used when Jordan crumples up and throws a 100$ bill and throws it in the bin. This editing includes a shot of a side angle shot of Jordan crumpling up the money and then a cross cut to a shot of the money landing in the bin. The effect of this action match is to show the action of throwing the

money in the bin but in a fast paced way, by skipping from the initial movement to the outcome. This corresponds with an eyeline match at the same time, as the second shot shows a high angle shot of the bin, from Jordan’s height. The effect of this is that it brings us closer to Jordan and offers us as an audience his point of view.

The mise-en-scène of this opening sequence also adds to the overall engaging and entertaining effect whilst we get to know the main character, Jordan. The fact that Jordan is dressed in a clean and expensive looking suit and tie conveys the idea that he is a very wealthy man with a lot of privilege and power. The whole location of his house also emphasizes this in the use of wooden carved starriness, large intricate windows and other impressive architectural features.

Symbolic Codes An old-style American song is used in the background as non-digetic sound and adds to the comedic and light-hearted effect of this opening. It is used as a symbolic code showing ‘the good life’ and a privileged lifestyle where Jordan has no worries or financial struggle.

Another symbolic code is prominent when Jordan throws his glass of orange juice over his shoulder carelessly after he leaves his home and gets into his limo. This connotes that Jordan doesn't have to worry about breaking things as he can just immediately buy another one. It also acts as a signifier to the comedy side of this hybrid genre, introducing the audience into what they can expect from the film.

The fact that Jordan separates his cocaine with a credit card and snorts it through a rolled up 100$ bill subtly combines drugs with money, and symbolically connects the

two things together. This suggests that these two powerful substances come hand-in-hand. It also symbolically shows that money affects man like a drug, they become addicted to it, and it affects there behavior in a huge way. This also provides an insight into the more sinister undertone to this seemingly perfect world, and portrays power as a dangerous spectrum.

Audience Appeal The audience is drawn into this opening and engaged in this film due to the pleasures and gratifications they derive from it. These features are the driving force behind keeping the audiences attention and making them keep watching the film. Firstly, the direct address of narrative to the audience from Jordan incorporates the gratification of satisfying interest of the true Wall St. events in history and also being informed about Jordan’s life. This pleasure is from Blulmer and Katz’s Uses & Gratifications model.

Another example of a gratification from this specific model is the gratification of finding reinforcement for personal values within the identification category. This gratification is offered in that we as an audience feel positively about ourselves for not doing cocaine. This is gained when Jordan casually lists his daily intake of drugs and says that “on a daily basis I consume enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island and Queens…for a month.”. The way that Jordan is so open and relaxed about his clear drug addiction also offers the simple pleasure of entertainment as it is comical and daring.

The entire opening sequence and the rest of the film offer a gratification of finding out information about society and the world, in that this is a biographical portrayal of Jordan Belfort and the Wall St. financial empire in the early 1990’s. These true events make this plot relevant in the lives of millions and make the story more tense and engaging.