The Birds - Opening 1
Camera
Wide shot of birds flying around.
No camera movement
Mise- en- scene
No information is given to the view except that we see dark bird flying around.
We can only see the silhouettes of the birds.
The birds are flying very fast.
The birds are flying from left to right. Our eyes are used to read from left to right therefore it seems first normal for us. After the title “the birds” the birds are starting to fly from right to left as well which gives it an unsettle feeling.
Sound
The sound is very important because it creates the sense of reality in this opening sequence without it the scene would feel weird to the audience.
The sounds of the bird are very loud and overpowering.
All the sound is Diagetic.
Editing
The scene is kept in one piece. There are no cuts in it.
The credits appear in the middle of the frame in light blue. Blue is seen as a calming colour so it contradicts with the chaotic birds flying around and being very loud.
The credits first come in as separated pieces and are put then together on screen. This could symbolise that the birds are not what they seem and the world of the people will fall apart.
The credits are positioned in the middle of the frame showing that they are important.
The birds are there to set the tone of the piece and the topic but the credits are more important in this sequence.
There are no effects such as fades or dissolves.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Opening 2
Couldn't Find the video. Did it in class.
Camera Work
CU of the old man opening the package, this shows it must be really important because its emphasises how careful he is being, showing him opening it at a few different CU angles.
Lots of the shots were either LS or CU. I think this was to show expression and detail for the CU and was an establishing shot for the LS.
Ls of him sitting all alone in quite a dark room makes him seem lonely.
When the female character is walking she’s shot from a tracking shot from behind to keep anonymity.
Mise en Scene
The old man is wearing quite posh old fashioned clothes which show he is quite rich.
He is shown in a room with lots of antiques and grand looking objects which also give the impression he is rich.
The girl who is walking is dressed all in black, I think this makes her look quite sinister and mysterious.
There is a massive contrast in-between the scenes which have the old man and the woman in – the old man is in a safe looking, quiet, lonely, room whilst the girl is walking in somewhere brightly lit, although the lighting is a greeny dull colour which makes the place (a train station suburb) seem quite scary. Also she is all alone in this subway which is unusual so it also add to the amount of mystery and lonliness.
Editing
The cuts are quite a slow pace making it seem although the man is in no rush.
There was good continuity as the characters where is exactly the same place following their movements from the cut before.
Sound.
The non- diagetic sound is an orchestra and when the old man is on the screen its quite gentle and has major and minor parts making you think hes quite helpless and lonely, and has things to be happy and sad about.
When the package is opened, the music turns more minor and builds up to a still picture of a woman. Then once the scene changes to the girl walking it becomes very powerful and scary. This give the impression she is powerful and not weak at all.
The diagetic sounds were emphasised quite a lot for example when the old man was opening the package, the sound of the paper and string tearing was very obvious and clearly one of the main things to notice.
Seven (se7en) - Opening 3.
Camera work
Everything is a CU or ECU
The camera is always shooting still shots except when there’s a tracking shot over all the books.
a lot of the shots are canted, eye level or over the head shots.
Sometimes there is shallow depth of field for example in the cuts with the book with the pages turning they show only the book.
No establishing shots, just CU shots making you instantly ask why the man is doing all these different things.
Only shows the persons hands keeping anonymity.
Mice En scene
Lots of writing and drawings in books and on paper
the man has plasters on his fingers, and his hands are dirty
Everything he does is quite slow and careful making him seem like this is important.
Makes it clear he is making something.
The shot of all the books shows that all the books are important.
Cannot see any surroundings or the location which makes you wonder who this person is and where are they because you cannot see anything about the person either.
Editing
some of the cuts are actually quite slow but the constant flickering of writing and other things going on makes it seem very fast.
Some of the cuts are incredibly fast
Some of the shots are taken with a different colour over it such as red.
The writing flickers a lot
Some of the important part are done in slow motion such as the page of a book turning, some of the shots are speed up.
there are credits shown over the top of a clip that’s being replayed
When the man is crossing out the words in the book in black pen it is shown normally and then reversed.
There’s a lot of dissolves
a lot of screen splits
A lot of flashing lights in between cuts
a lot of the cuts overlap.
Sound
There is no diagetic sounds only a non- diagetic soundtrack.
The soundtrack is parallel to the clip because the person who is making sometihng is cutting things and flicking through books and sewing things and the music has sounds in that sound similar.
Also the clip is quite jumpy and a fast pace so the music compliments that because its quite quirky and strange.
The only dialogue in this is 'you got me closer to god' and this is at the end of the intro in the soundtrack.
The credits are all over the place showing that the movie is quite chaotic and strange.
No Country for Old Man - Opening 4.
Camera
The opening sequence starts with wide shots of the landscape to establish the scene.
The first camera movement in the scene is a pan from right to left to let the audience know that something important is about to happen.
Our eyes are used to read from left to right. Therefore the pan from right to left is irritating for our eyes and makes us aware that there is something about to happen.
The camera than tracks to the car to show that the action of this scene will happen in the car.
The first medium shot of the scene is to show intimacy with the two characters.
The CU of the gas pistol shows that this is an important prop.
In the next scene the police man sits on a table and the camera track in on him making it obvious the audience is meant to focus on him.
High angle of the killer washing his hands.
The high angle shot showing the legs of the dead policeman tracks down to the shoes of the killer and him tacking the gas pistol, this also shows it is an important prop.
The POV of the driver following another car puts the viewer into the position of the killer.
The POV of a rifle aiming at animals indicates a change of scene.
The low angle pan of showing the dead people leads us into this new situation which contradicts with the peaceful atmosphere of the desert.
Mise-en-scene
The first shots where there is no people give a feeling of loneliness.
The sun rise over the landscape could symbolize the beginning of the story.
The peaceful images without any movements in them until the first pan contradict with the Narrator which talks about changes in society and brutality.
The killer is dressed in black shows that he is the antagonist.
The police officer can be spotted as being a police officer because of his uniform and the car.
The colours are mostly browns and rural colours.
Editing
Slow pace cuts.
The cut from the police station to the POV of the killer driving the car is linked through the editing to the killer without the editing it would be difficult to know who is driving the car.
No titles are shown in this opening sequence.
Sound
Narration of the policeman telling his story and his problems of dealing with crimes. This is Non- Diagetic sound.
We are aware that something bad will happen. The voice-over narrates the story and adds meaning to the images.
Non – diagetic soundtrack used in the beginning.
The sounds of the killing of the policeman and the handcuffs dropping in the sink are really loud showing they are important. These are Diagetic sounds.
The siren sounding in the POV of the killer driving the police car tells us that he is driving the police car otherwise we wouldn’t know that it is a police car and tells us that it’s the killer driving it because we know he killed the police officer.
The Reeds - Opening 5.
Camera work
LS establishing shot that’s tracking slightly.
Ls of a man dressed in black on a canoe
MS of a woman in the car showing she is an important character.
There’s a fast track of grass which could be the POV from an animal or something that’s running fast.
The man in the canoe is show from a distance or from behind which keeps him anonymous.
CU of the man in black holding a Gun showing that its an important prop. After the Gun has been shot there’s a LS of bird flying showing they have been affected from a long distance away.
Mise En scene.
the man on the canoe is dressed in black giving the impression he is the villain. As it’s a black cape it also gives the impression he is associated with death because the grim reaper wears a long black cape.
Quite a dark and gloomy and there are no other people around so it makes the place seem lonely.
The canoe is quite battered which we see in the CU of it.
Massive contrast between the scenes with the guy in the canoe and the scenes with other people in.
The Scenes with the car are quite brightly lit with lots of other people around making it seem happier and more normal.
The people dancing next to the water are all wearing white and lightly coloured clothes which give the impression that they are protagonists and may be quite innocent. They are also travelling along the river in a white boat. You can tell it’s the same river as the one the man in the canoe was on because it has the same yellow colours grass next to it. Although we can tell they were both on the river at different times because they are lit differently for sunlight and dusk.
Editing
Lots of fades
The cuts are quite slow in the beginning and they get faster and faster as the clip goes on Until it ends in the title of the film.
There is cross editing because there are two separate scenes which seem to be meeting near the end of the clip.
Sound
Non- diagetic soundtrack playing, quite sinister and creepy high strings playing.
The diagetic sounds of someone breathing and the gun shooting are very loud so they show these points are important.
There is no soundtrack playing for about 4 seconds after the gun shot, just the sounds of birds squawking and flying.
After the birds flying and the sun going down the music goes lower and starts to be more powerful as it shows all the other characters and how they are dealing with this.
As the cuts get faster the drumbeats get faster and the heavy breathing of a scared woman increases as well.
There is little Diagetic sound after the gun shot only a few screams from women and heavy breathing. There is a short piece of dialogue right at the end.
The soundtrack is parallel to the clip.
