Smallville Opening Sequence Analysis

                          

Characters 

Lex Luthor, his Dad (the businessman), Aunt Nel (store owner), Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent, Lana (the little girl at the store)

How might we divide this clip into smaller sections to write about?

The opening sequence could be split up into multiple sections starting off with the helicopter ride, then inside store while Smallville football team winning their game, leading to the rockets falling from the sky, and ending the Luthors in the corn field.

How does this clip function in terms of storytelling? For instance, is it introducing / revealing character, developing setting, establishing conflict, clarifying relationships, etc.

 
These clips introduce new characters while establishing possible plots. Inside the store we see Jonathan and his wife Martha enter with Nel, the store owner excited to see Jonathan but with a seemingly less enthusiastic response when she sees Martha. This could possibly foreshadow a love interest from Nel and Jonathan. These clips as a whole help develop the setting of Smallville emphasizing the corn field and then cutting to a large size of it being destroyed by a rocket. This crash could potentially hurt Luthor's dad who is a business man and in the scene right before he was seen signing a contract to likely purchase the corn field.

What greater themes are being hinted at in this clip that may be shows that are further explored/ developed in this episode / series?

A couple themes that could be developed throughout the series include romantic relationships and good vs evil. The first few clips of the series sets up the possibility of a lovers quarrel inside the store, while the damaging of the cornfield foreshadows a conflict between the morals of good and bad.