Opening Credits of Do the Right Thing-Julie

The opening credits of Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” begins slowly with a somber saxophone version of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” on a blank black screen. Abruptly the music and screen changed to the Public Enemy song “Public Enemy,” and a dancing Rosie Perez in front of a typical Brooklyn stoop. The opening credits to this movie are intense and eye-catching. Spike Lee’s ability to keep the audience involved in the credits was possible through the contrast between the muted background and other items, and the continuous changes in the camera angles.

At the beginning of the scene, both Rosie and the background were in dull color while the actual credits were in bright neon blue and green colors. The fonts of the credits are a tribal sort of font, which widely contrasted with the muted background. As time passed, Rosie began to contrast more and more against the background. In the two scenes in front of the porch stoop, Rosie’s outfits began to seem more vibrant with the red dress and blue bikers suit standing out from the dull background. In the scene in front of the graffiti wall, Rosie took off a black coat and revealed silver boxing shorts and bright red boxing gloves, which again stood out from the muted background. The muted background in this scene allowed for the credits and Rosie to stand out and contrast the muted background.

The camera angle was constantly changing from close up, to middle shot, full body and many other angle shots. The camera never stayed at one angle or type of shot for more than a few seconds. At one point in the scene, a camera came in from a distant, far shot and zoomed in slowly on Rosie Perez’s face. The shot allowed the audience to see the grotesque, fierce look on her face. This shot amplified the attention of the audience onto the angry emotions of Rosie Perez. The camera also zoomed in and out on many other body parts of Perez including her arms, legs, and pelvis. When the scene only showed one part of the body the reason for movement became unclear and the line of whether Rosie was dancing or fighting was blurred. This change in movement helped to intensify Rosie’s angry emotions.