In opening shot for the credits the camera is at an over the shoulder shot angle so that it is easier for the audience to focus on the person speaking and leaving the room. As they get up and leave the backing track 'Little Green Bag' - George Baker Selection plays, this is a song that has elements of 'coolness' to it from the jazzy bass intro and the way that the bass line is played twice follwed by a drum groove, this is what gives a bouncy feel to the track which suits nicely for the rest of the opening credits. There is 4 seconds of a black screen whilst the lyrics are spoken on the soundtrack of the credits before the first credit is displayed; 'A film by Quentin Tarantino', it's in a bright orange toned yellowcolour which succesfully stands out from the black background, resulting in the audience to be able to read this clearly.
Following on from the first section, the men appear on screen gradually, all walking in a group. We view this from a 180 degree shot. The background contrasts with their black and white suits so that they stand out, also the scenery is very simple, just a brick wall with a pale blue truck parked in front. Although the scenery is simple, it's effective as it allows the audience to focus on the characters walking; ergo they are able to establish the groups behaviour and form.
The director changes the 180 degree angle to a portrait close up of the actor Harvey Keitel. Yet again the credit is the same colour, this shows continuity. When the camera is close up on the actors face it becomes more apparant that the footage has been slowed down slightly which gives an extra essence of 'coolness' to it, in fact most men who I have spoken to regarding this film think that they look cool wearing a suit because of this film. The clothes the actors are wearing are almost like a statement to say that they are the 'top dogs'. The fact that this character was credited first suggests to the audience that he is the alpha male in this group of men.
Simirlarly, the next shot is a close up but of another actor by the name of Michael Madsen. This shot only lasts around 4 seconds but informs the audience that he is one of the leaders as he is in the front of the pack. Also it may be an obvious thing to point out, but the character is smoking, now this could be shown in such a blatent manner as something may relate to it later on in the film.
In the fifth shot, the credits are focussing on Chris Penn. We could see him in the background of the fourth shot and in all honesty, I don't think the transition from him being in the background to being the main focus was all that smooth. I think that if I was going to do a change of focus on the characters I'd have to take a lot of care into making sure that the transition between the shots are as smooth as possible.
The sixth, seventh and eighth clips are much the same so is hard to talk about something different. However the difference in the eighth shot is that the credits say 'and Tim Roth, this implies that he is the last 'important' character that needs mentioning.
Finally the last clip lasts longer than the rest and is also like the beginning but at a different angle. It is a wider shot, angled from behind but the audience can see that they are all walking together in the same formation. The credit 'are' appears on the screen then dissappears to be followed by 'RESERVOIR DOGS' scrolling from the bottom of the screen up to the top and pausing for roughly 5 seconds. All of the credits so far seem to have been a build up for the main credit being the title of the film. This makes the title sound all the more powerful making the audience want to watch the rest of the film. In the rest of the clip the screen is black with more credits listed on the left hand side in the same colour then more appearing down the central, this goes on as the backing track plays and fades out, once fadeded out we then hear the beginning of the scene commencing.
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