sarah, go back to your room. play with your toys and your costumes. forget about the baby.

Part C;

Category One - Transitions/Colour;

The opening of Labyrinth is animated and therefore all in one shot. There are no shot transitions as such, but the way the director has run all the visual information is smooth and seamless. Jim Henson has used the swirling mist and the barn owl as transitions between the names in the credits. The mist at the very beginning twirls around revealing the producer's information. As the credits roll the owl sweeps through them, often changing the words as it flies over. The owl flies into the distance of the shot into what looks like an invisible pool of water, causing ripples to come from the centre as the title 'Labyrinth' appears. This is all enhanced by the music with accompanying scales/glissandi on the xylophone that add to the overall magical effect, enchanting the viewer.

All this is done to reinforce the genre and mood, reminding us that Labyrinth is a fantasy film.
The colour used most in this title sequence is a semi transparent blue. This is the colour of the mist and the crystal ball and labyrinth (maze) that come from it. It is also the colour of the water ripples and the font used for the title and credits. This blue against a spacious black backdrop effectively makes the opening mystical, as we wonder what hides behind the mist.

The most important transition in my chosen film opening is the link between the actual credits and the very first scene of the narrative. The barn owl that is predominant throughout the credits swoops across the screen, flying directly into the story. It lands on a perch to the right of the frame as our main character runs in. The audience are meeting her for the first time.
The barn owl is symbolic of the link between fact and fiction. Sarah lives in her own world a majority of the time, in between real-life and her imagination. This film is the story of how through a slight disruption in the real-world, she is pulled toward her fantasy world.
The owl also alludes to Jareth, the Goblin King. A barn owl is his other form and when we first see him he is in this form. The transition into the scene cleverly symbolises him 'flying' into her life and world.