Representation 

In the opening sequence of ‘Moon’, Sam an adult male is shown as the labour worker for Lunar Industries, the film then goes on to represent women as a kind of prize/reward for the man while he does all the hard work. In the opening of ‘Under The Skin’ the man (the motorcyclist) is shown as emotionless and focused. He captures the woman (or alien?) without any sense of caring, this contrasts to the woman who cries which is showing emotion. The alien, Laura, is also shown to be emotionless. She drops the woman head on the ground and pays for attention to the ant when the audience is concerned for the paralysed woman.

Narrative Structure 

In the opening equilibrium of ‘Moon’ the audience learns allot about Lunar Industries and why Sam is working on the moon for them. It also sets up binary oppositions such as the west and east and ideologies like capitalism in the infomercial montage. It sets up the rest of the movie as well as showing the audience that Lunar Industries are corrupt and cannot be trusted which helps the rest of the movie to work. On the other hand, the messages that the opening equilibrium in ‘Under The Skin’ gives the audience are more subtle than those in ‘Moon’, and when it’s the first time watching the audience will probably be left confused. The jarring changes of shot length and lighting from low key to high key set the tone for the rest of the movie and make the audience feel like an outsider just like Laura, the alien, does. With close up images it shows an eye being made, and the sound of what sounds like Laura learning to speak with phonics suggests the process of Laura becoming her human form. Unlike the ending of ‘Moon’ the ending in ‘Under The Skin’ is different to the beginning as Laura has become more human and has empathy which contrasts to her at the start. However, in both equilibrium’s she doesn’t understand humans and still cannot entirely be one.

Visually, these two images look similar:

Moon – Opening

Under The Skin – Opening

The exploded projection from ‘Under The Skin’ has a planetary feel but can be interpreted as an eye being made. Similarly,  the animated sequence in the opening of ‘Moon’ is of space and in some ways looks similar to the exploded projection in ‘Under The Skin’. Both tell the audience information as the exploded projection gives the idea that Laura is other worldly and the animated sequence shows the corruptness of Lunar Industries when they only represent West America.