Do The Right Thing

The opening credits of “Do The Right Thing”, directed by Spike Lee, are dominated by the intense dancing of Rosie Perez. It begins with the slow saxophone in the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. It sets a somber mood which is quickly interrupted by Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power”, which is where Rosie begins dancing. Her dancing and facial expressions are intense and angry. Both of these songs were anthems of civil rights, so the viewer can make the assumption that movie will play on these themes as well.

Rosie begins with the red dress and blue leotard in front of a dull brownstones backdrop. This contrast between her bright clothing and the muted background really makes the dancer stand out. There is also contrast between the backdrop and the neon tribal lettering of the credits themselves. In addition, the backdrop also subtly changes colors with each outfit change. For example, the background is pulsing red when she is in the boxing outfit, but is flashing yellow during the close ups while she is in the bright red dress.

The camera angles used in the introduction also make the scene powerful. When the song switches to “Fight the Power”, Rosie is featured in a montage of poses, punctuated by the rhythm of the music. Close ups of her passionate face were also used to show the emotion of the dancer. The medium shots were often quickly interrupted. The full body shots were most common and sometimes zoomed in to focus on a specific part of her movement.

"Do the Right Thing" Analysis- Iesha

The intro to the film “Do the Right Thing” by Spike Lee is at the very least eye-catching. The beginning of this movie is first presented by a montage of Rosie Perez movie across the screen. Her body is shadowed as it transitions to the thumping bass of the background music. This most likely serves to abruptly grab the attention of the audience.
From there Perez begins an intense dance sequence to the sounds of “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy. Throughout the intro, Rosie changes into three different outfits. The first is a red dress accented by a black belt, then a blue leotard, and finally a boxing outfit with gloves. The costume changes throughout the intro are interesting and confusing at the same time. It is interesting because despite the fact that Rosie Perez constantly changes clothing, her movements are continuous. What I mean to say is, even though the scene changes her moves flow together, appearing to be one endless dance. What makes this part of the intro so confusing is the reason for her costume changes. This could be a representation of Perez’s character in the movie. Perhaps as the film progresses Spike Lee portrays the actress as a woman who is constantly changing her outward appearance. Regardless of the progression of outward clothing change, Perez’s dance moves flow, possibly signaling that despite of the actress’ physical appearance, her personality remains the same.
As Rosie Perez dances in the intro, her body is captured from various angels. The camera also zooms in on her face and certain parts of her body. The actual movements of her body are harsh and erratic and Perez’s face is angry. The collaboration of these things make her whole performance intense and mesmerizing, this could once again be a view into her character in the movie.

"Do The Right Thing" Intro - Dalsing

The Movie, “Do the Right Thing,” has a remarkable introduction. Rosie Perez dances in three different scenes. In front of a dark orange stoop, Perez dances in a bright red dress. In contrast to a shadowy pink alleyway, she dazzles in a blue leotard with a black leather jacket. Finally, Perez seems to punch at the camera wearing her silver boxing jacket, black sports bra, and red boxing gloves in front of a grey background. The dancing, colors of the backdrops, and the contrasting of each of Perez’s outfits together are used to present the idea of female power.
The jerky dancing of Rosie Perez is used to express the idea of female power in the movie. Perez dances in this film by punching the air in front of her and doing a lot of jarring motions. Also, as she dances, as the audience can tell because of multiple close-ups on Perez’s face, that Perez has a fierce expression. In this scene, Perez seems to be ready show the audience her strength and willingness to fight. By doing this, and by the dancer being a woman, this scene is expressing the power of a woman.
The different warm colors of the backgrounds are used to express power in the introduction of “Do the Right Thing.” In this film, there are multiple backgrounds, the first, a dark orange, the second, a shadowy pink, and the third gray. Two of these colors are considered to be warm colors (red, orange, yellow, etc.) and the other, gray, a dark color. Warm colors, when placed next to cool colors (blue, green, purple, etc.) almost fool the eye by popping out of the picture. The colors orange and pink are supposed to pop out of the picture, or emphasize the importance of this scene. Because orange and pink are such powerful colors, the backgrounds are used to express or emphasize the power of the object of the scene, Rosie Perez.
The outfits that Rosie Perez wears contrasts with backgrounds, showing the powerful aspects of Perez. In the first scene, Perez is wearing a red dress complimented by a dark orange background. These two colors being warm colors powerfully punch out at the audience. The next, a pink background contrasting with her blue leotard and black leather jacket is also an expression of power. Since the first scene’s colors complimented each other, it was a shock to the audience for the second and third, with a silver and red boxing outfit against a gray background, scene to have such strongly contrasting colors. With this contrast in color, the audience is able to feel that the colors are very powerful, and so is Perez for contrasting against these background colors.
The jarring dancing, the powerful colors, and the contrasting hues of Perez’s outfits and the background all present the power of a woman. The jerky atmosphere of the introduction of “Do the Right Thing” created by the color differences, combined with jarring aspect of Perez’s dancing makes the audience feel that the object of this introduction, Rosie Perez is a very powerful person. With this in mind, it is very easy for the audience to recognize that the director wanted to put in a scene that accurately expresses women as a strong entity in the film.

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.

Response to Opening Credits

In the movie “Do The Right Thing” directed by Spike Lee, the opening credits begin with the harmonious saxophone playing the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and is harshly interrupted by Public Enemy’s song titled “Fight the Power.” Alongside the song “Fight the Power,” a reel of snapshots with Rosie Perez in different stances is played, which show her in defensive poses as well as flexing her arms, legs, etc. Each stance is very important because it helps to portray the theme of self-defense and strength in the movie. Once the snapshots have finished, Rosie Perez is captured in a medium shot dancing in a red dress with very stiff and strong movements. The medium shot then is zoomed in to a close-up of her face which is filled with intensity and anger that may represent her frustration that she faces throughout the movie. Other factors that also help to emphasize her facial expressions and body movements include the costumes and lighting.

The lighting is very effective in the sense that it conforms to the attitude that Rosie Perez is trying to convey. With Perez’s constant expression of frustration come the shades of orange and red. These colors are consistently used for the portrayal of anger and heat; in this case, I feel that the movie uses these colors in order to represent both. By putting the lighting in sync with the characters personal emotions, it helps to highlight her presence within the scene. These colors also help to convey the atmosphere that she lives in. For example, these colors may represent the hassles of going about her daily struggles in New York amidst a heat wave. Along with the orange and red lighting, there are some scenes where red light clashes with white/gray lighting. The two colors go up against one another as if challenging the other for the dominance in the scene. This is most evident when Rosie Perez is in her boxer wear.

Her constant costume changes also make her stand out because they represent a different aspect of her character. In a sense, the red dress is used to symbolize her sexuality while the boxing outfit may be used to represent her ability to defend herself by fighting against the oppression she faces. Although the blue bodysuit does not represent an exact message of character, it accentuates her toned body, which may help to show the audience that this is her in her purest form and nothing can be hidden because the outfit is skin tight.

Whether or not these elements are used to portray Perez’s character, they all are utilized in the aspect that they capture the attention of the viewers. Essentially, these tools all were used in an effective manner because they uniformly made an impression amongst the viewers and left them wanting to see more.

DTRT: Opening Credits

The opening credits of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing are intense. From the moment the scratches of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" shatter the peacefulness of the sax solo of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the viewer watches more the four minutes of Rosie Perez dancing as Public Enemy plays and the credits flash across the screen.

Perez's dancing is tense with energy and passion, an apt bit foreshadowing of the film to come. A lot of her moves are kicks and punches that go along with the song. It seems almost violent, a message director Spike Lee enforces by adorning Perez in boxer's clothing and gloves. Her lips are pursed. Her eyes are narrow. This is not fun dancing. There is an anger and a hint of sexuality that lives in Perez's dancing that somehow strikes the viewer as real despite the obviously fake backdrops of Bed-Stuy apartments and subway tracks.

The backdrops, despite their falseness, also smack of reality. They're not picturesque views of a metropolitan New York City. Laundry flies across rooftops. Unassuming brownstones and storefronts sit idly in the background without competing for attention with Perez. Graffiti stains the walls underneath a faux subway track. The red, white, and blue used by Lee to paint these backdrops ring of americana; if the scenes are American, it tells the viewer that the coming film is a statement about a certain part of American culture. The warm, sepia tones, as well as Perez's dancing, lets the view know that the next two hours are going to be hot an intense, thick with action and social commentary.

Dance Intro Analysis- Monica Cook

“Do the Right Thing” by Spike Lee features a dance intro by Rosie Perez. Rosie dances to “Fight the Power” by public enemy. The intensity of the dance increases as the song continues and becomes more aggressive. At first Rosie is in a red dress, followed by a blue leotard and motorcycle jacket, then a black and silver boxing outfit. Each outfit was related to the intensity of the dance she was doing in that order. The red dress at first was just playful dance moves that got more powerful and focused as the song continued. The blue leotard was second and her moves were much harder and stronger. When she was in the boxing outfit she appeared to be “fighting the power.” Towards the end during the lines about Elvis being a hero the dance is most intense because the lyrics and beat are most powerful.

Another aspect of the intro to consider is the coloring of the scenery and camera angles. There were many close ups on Rosie’s face while she was dancing and they captured very tense and angry expressions. There were high shots that panned down to mid-shots, the mid shots where few but were focused on the moves. Far shots were used to capture the dance moves and change of lighting as the music intensified. The credits and outfits were brighter colors, and the backgrounds were dark and lit from behind with red and orange light. As the dance got more intense the background faded to a dark red to almost dark, especially when she was dressed as the boxer or in the leotard.

Spike Lee wanted viewers to see the dance and the credits, so they stand out against the background and against each other. Neons are used for the writing and they are also not placed over the dancer but to the side. The location of the dancer and the outfits are also related. The red dress is in front of a house, the blue leotard and leather jacket are in a neighborhood setting, and the boxing outfit is placed in an alley with graffiti. All the aspects: sound, dress, and scenery are tied together in the intro to successfully create a mood. It seems as if Rosie is really in a fight in the end.