Reservoir dogs opening scene analysis

Reservoir dogs opening scene analysis

Opening scene to reservoir dogs:
The first shot used is a mid-shot focused mainly on the manager of the diner, the use of a mid-shot suggests this character is not significantly important to the entire film. Also there is no use of non-diegetic music and only hushed, whispered conversations as the diegetic sound. This gives the entire scene a feel that these individuals are intimidating and/or threatening to the people around them but the dialogue in the seen never addresses this making the viewer believe these individuals just carry a menacing air about them.

When it finally cuts to the first person sat at the table you realise he is sat in a suit, a clothing choice which would be a peculiar choice for somebody at what seems to be late morning in a diner. This adds to my previous estimation that these individuals don’t abide by society’s code of conduct. However to contrast with this the dialogue in the scene is about the etiquette of tipping, an act which you would not relate to people whom come across threatening since it is perceived as an act of kindness. This makes the audience feel uneasy as they are unable to fit these characters fit into an obvious stereotype.

The bright lighting, due to the morning setting, also relates to this feeling of unease since the stereotype of villainy and criminality is that it’s performed in the dark, in the shadows. This is likely to be the reason that these characters wear suits since its dark formal evening attire, this will be what the characters believe is ordinary clothing since they are meant to have come from society’s darker side, one which thrives at night.The conversation in the scene quickly evolves to the flaws in society tying back to my previous statement about how these individuals do not follow the rules society has laid out for everybody to follow.

Analysis of a thriller, The Silence of the Lambs interpetation

Chas Farthing

Analysis of a thriller

The silence of the lamb interpretation

 

The opening of The Silence of the Lambs interpretation by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University is very eerie. It is set in a forest, a very desolate place, with only birds chirping to signify how un-inhabited it is. This creates tension because it plunges the audience into the unknown intrigueing the audience. The non-diagetic backing track is very calm and also eerie, again to intrigue the audience and to not give away too much of the film. It helps set the mood of the film and gives the general idea that the film isn’t going to be a comedy.

 

The editing between the scenes are faded in to keep the mystery of the film, frame by frame.  The mise en scene of the film is also slowly introduced by the clever editing. The opening scene consists of green plants and living things. Slowly, the things start to change in the next few scenes: The leaves start to die; trees that have fallen are rotting on the ground. It then gradually dissolves into the scene of chrysalises surrounded by dead leaves and cockroaches. It’s as if the film is saying, what was once green is now rotting and all the evil is coming out of their shells and consuming the world, spreading the rot.

The scene consisting of the rot and 'creeps' disgusts the audience and puts them more on edge. The non-diagetic music emphasises the horrible mood already being portrayed through the mise en scene. It also gives another hint as to the main plot of the film by having many of the bugs dead on the white canvas. This is because the film is about the life and methods serial killer. The moths are also a running theme throught the film to disturb the audience because moths are generally seen as a pest without a place in our 'perfect' world. The white background which I previously called a canvas is also to imply the normal/clean society and the bugs are an impurity or an infestation. This is a referral to the story of the film because it is about a serial killer, whom are generally seen as a stain on the canvas of society. There is also a jar filled with dying leaves and cockroaches on the white background. This could be to imply the serial killer in society because it looks normal on the outside of the jar but on the inside everything is dying and filled with dirt and grime, all undesirable avoided ammenities.

In a few scenes after that, many dead moths are thrown onto a desk. This is to symbolise the aloofness on the subject of how many people have been brutally killed. All the victims have the same insignificance to the murderer. They are then shown to be placed in a perfect line which shows the prcision of the killer and the order of the killings.

Overall the title sequnce of The Silence of the Lambs interpretation doesn't give away anything about the film to the naked eye. After a closer inspection however, it is clear that it shows alot about what to expect in this horror, especially if you have already watched the film so you can spot the key features.

 

Overall I believe that the opening that was made by the university of Hong Kong is better than the original in my opinion. The one from the actual film is good at setting the scene and introducing the main character. It isn't an opening of as much thought however in my opinion though because it doesn't set the mood as well as the interpretation.

 

Cape fear title sequence analysis

 By Ruairi Pammen

 Cape Fear analysis

The film begins with a wide-angle shot of the lake using naturalistic sunlight to reflect of off the water highlighting the rippling effect; this foreshadows the disturbance of peace in the narrative. At the same time a trumpet plays acting as a sound sting further suggesting my previous theory that the on-screen action is all pointing towards a ripple in an other-wise tranquil environment. After this there is a transition to the image of an eagle which is superimposed upon the water, as it glides across Robert De Niro’s credits come up aligned to the left of the screen, subtly suggesting to the audience that he is in-fact the predator, as the eagle is a symbolic representation of a bird of prey.

The positioning of the actors names on-screen is important as De Niro is situated on the left, Nick Nalte drifts into a more central position, with Jessica Lange to the right, portraying Nick as the protagonist protecting Jessica from De Niro by intercepting him. The non-diegetic soundtrack begins to build up in pace, intensity and lowers in pitch all suggesting the future will be futile and darkness will overcome the desolate victims. The soundtrack is traditional and rather generic of the thriller genre, with its sole intention to provoke feelings of unease and uncertainness in the audience.  As it pans across the water the audience is shown an extreme close up of the victim’s eye portraying fear (through her non-diegetic facial expressions). After this there is another extreme close up of teeth, by isolating certain body-parts the director Matin Scorsese can incite feelings of discomfort because the body-parts are un-known who they actually belong to.

The close up immediately after this is of Robert de Niro under high-key lighting harshly emphasising the shadows under his eyes making him look demonic, disguising his identity and his emotions (perhaps because he’s emotionless). As his head leans back the darkness completely consumes him hiding his entire face from view. This adds to the anxiety the audience would be feeling because he could re-appear at any time. The colour transitions from green representing jealousy and envy, to red which represents blood, violence and death suggesting the antagonist has acted upon the overwhelming feeling of resentment and subsequently murdering the persons he desires to be.

Snatch Analysis

Jake Chatfield

Snatch analysis

In the opening sequence of snatch you see the main ‘gang’ after the action they had previously had with in which you see the main protagonists taking off their disguises, which shows that they have just committed a robbery clarified by the fact that they are holding a huge diamond. This is then held in front of his eye to see how many carats it is and too see if it has complete clarity because he knows if it does he’s in for 'big money'. This creates excitement and thrill. The opening then progresses to introduce the title of the film, ‘Snatch’, which is an coincedental name because of what they had just done (stealing the diamond) so the word snatch is signifying the crime and theft involved in this film.

The film then opens and progresses to introducing the main characters, they use a wide angle shot on all of them which is then zoomed in to a close up shot of the characters whilst they are in action. They have all been taken from the actual film to give the person viewing the film an immediate reaction which will pull them in and make them want to carry on watching the film because it shows scenes from the film which make the characters look scary, threatening and relevant to their characters role. They do this by the scenery they surround them in, the way they dress and the accents they use. An example of accent, scenery and dressing would be used of mickey; he is set in a caravan, he has a strong Irish and is wearing very worn out clothing with lots of jewellery, also naturalistic lighting is used which makes it have a sense of normality which makes the scene as realistic as possible. The clothing used for each character has been specifically used to help create the character and this has been used very well in this film because they all have the ‘Gangster' look, but all in their own ways, this has also been used because it helps people relate and also makes the film as realistic as it possibly can be which helps draw the audience in and also make the storyline clearer.  

The iconography used in the first 2 minutes of the film snatch is very specialist to the characters, for example the robbery part of the opening the gang are wearing a disguise which covers the true identity of the gang they also use guns and masks which make them look very threatening and also clarifies their characters role. Also in the opening sequence of 'Snatch' accents, diegetic and non-diegetic sound are used to help signify the different character they are playing, this helps bring the audience in and also makes them very realistic.

Mood board; analysis

By Ruairi Pammen
Mood board; analysis

My mood board was intended to convey my all-time favourite thrillers that have shaped my perceptions on what makes the genre so enthralling and entertaining. I wanted to choose a wide range of thrillers from the cult classics; all the way up to the modern Hollywood blockbusters because it’s interesting to see the adaptations that have gradually occurred overtime due to the audiences tastes.

Image 1 (Gravity poster) - 
This helped shape the format of our plot as we wanted it based on the rapidly advancing technological feet’s humans have relatively speaking only recently started achieving and how these incredibly impressive, powerful and brilliant hi-tech progressions could result in the downfall of humanity. Intercutting with Gravity and man’s yearning to expand their knowledge on the unknown, the desire in-turn completely enveloping them resulting in the safety of a human life being a lesser priority to the goals of the advancements.     I also liked the Hawthorne effect presented in gravity, how everything they do is being monitored and scrutinized resulting in strange behaviours and emotional turmoil. In the context to our film Britain is the most heavily monitored country in the world using CCTV cameras in every town and major city.

 

Image 2 (Hunger games)- 
The narrative is set in a future ‘dystopian’ where entertainment is worth more than the safety of a person’s life, highlighting a more brutal prophecy for how far the human conditions and desire for ‘blood sports’ will drive us, by completely disregarding a human life for the satisfaction of gratifying their need for entertainment. This intercuts with our storyline showing similarities in; being set in the future, the thirst for entertainment, the value of human life’s deteriorating in value.

 

Image 3 (American Psycho)- 
In American psycho the antagonist ‘Patrick Bateman’ is a wealthy investment banker, on the surface he’s just a clean cut yuppie however, beneath the bravado possess a psychopathic alternative ego. Although this slightly contrasts with our main antagonist ‘The Hacker’   who isolates himself from wider society, performing horrific acts of genocide from his desktop computer in his dark ominous den. Although both characters are seemingly different there’s a metaphorical connection because Patrick Bateman internally suppresses his twisted and sadistic alter ego however The Hacker hides his demonic behaviour under the cover of darkness in the sanctity of his own home.

The word art-
I used words that would be typically associated with the Thriller genre, describing the audience’s thoughts and feelings that great directors such as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino would be able to successfully incite in a fully engulfed audience during a good thriller.      

Mood Board

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