page_title: Gun barrel sequence
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: Gun barrel sequence / Origins
caption_attribution_description: English: Screenshot from The Great Train Robbery (1903)
context_page_description: The gun barrel sequence is a signature device featured in nearly every James Bond film. Shot from the point of view of a presumed assassin, it features James Bond walking, turning, and then shooting directly at camera, causing blood to run down the screen. The visuals are usually accompanied by the "James Bond Theme", written by Monty Norman.
  Originally designed by Maurice Binder, the sequence has featured in every James Bond film produced by Eon Productions. While it has retained the same basic elements, it has evolved noticeably throughout the series. It is one of the most immediately recognizable elements of the franchise and is featured heavily in marketing material for the films and their spin-offs.
  The British media historian James Chapman suggests that the sequence is a significant part of the James Bond mythos because it "foregrounds the motif of looking, which is central to the spy genre."
context_section_description: Maurice Binder created the opening titles of the first Bond film, Dr. No, in 1962. Binder originally planned to employ a camera sighted down the barrel of a .38 calibre gun, but this caused some problems. Unable to stop down the lens of a standard camera enough to bring the entire gun barrel into focus, Binder created a pinhole camera to solve the problem, and the barrel became crystal clear.
  Binder described the genesis of the gun barrel sequence in the last interview he recorded before his death in 1991:
  The media historian James Chapman observed that the sequence recalls the gun fired at the audience at the end of The Great Train Robbery (1903).
caption: The 1903 film The Great Train Robbery, acted out by Justus D. Barnes, may have influenced the James Bond gun barrel sequence.[3]
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