Shoot ‘Em Up 0:00:1:45
Stock Setting: The
setting in this opening is perfect for this genre of film as it is set in a
run-down part of town with litter and dirty alleyways. The first part is set in
a filthy street but then changes to an abandoned warehouse which is an ideal
location for a thriller as most of the times it is where the antagonist is
capable of having the upper hand as the location is often dark and mysterious
so they can surprise their victims. As this setting is very darkly coloured it
allows for the enemy to be more enigmatic as we do not know what they can do
which is common in most thrillers.
Stock Characters: The
main character from the opening looks like a typical stock character of a
thriller movie as he is dressed in his casual clothing whilst sitting alone on
an abandoned street which suggests that he is an ordinary man minding his own
business which is typical for the protagonist in a thriller, however the
antagonist in this opening is a bunch of male henchmen who are trying to kill a
female, which is rather ambiguous as it is not the typical stock character for
the enemy as it is usually one person who is a lot more powerful than the
protagonist, yet they were all defeated by him easily, however the idea of
trapping the female into an environment that she cannot escape from is rather
common when it comes to the thriller genre.
Themes: The theme
of this film follows that of a crime thriller as there is a lot of violence
that occurs from both the bad and good guys, whilst the good guy is protecting
someone from the evil acts of the bad guy. However usually in a crime thriller
the protagonist is someone who may already be in a position of authority such
as a police officer as they are the ones who act against the enemies and either
capture or kill them, whereas this protagonist seems to be an ordinary man
helping out a fellow citizen.
Narrative: From
what is shown from this opening, we will follow the life of this man who seems
to be like an ordinary male yet is highly trained in firearms and combat which
may suggest that he has a past that we will find out later on in the film. We
are also shown that this man helps out those who are in need.
Iconography: The
image of the carrot is often linked to someone being healthy as it is a
vegetable however this idea is totally changed once it has been used as a
weapon to kill someone which is the total opposite of what carrots are meant to
provide. The idea linked to a pregnant woman is also linked with someone being
rather weak and dependant on others, however this woman again changes the
iconography of it as she is able to escape those chasing her and fire a weapon
which is not typical of someone in her situation. When we see the gun appear
from the man’s waist to begin with we automatically know that he is going to
harm the woman, as they are typically associated with death and violence and
this is very common in Thriller films as they usually contain lots of conflict.
Camera Work: To
begin the scene we are shown an extreme close-up of the face of a male, which
immediately adds a shock factor to the audience. The jump cut out gives the
audience a better understanding of the environment that the man is situated and
reveals that the area is rather dirty and run down. The other jump cut out from
the man’s face then shows the woman crossing the scene holding her stomach
which shows that this man may not be caring as he is letting her just leave
without asking if she needs help. Close ups are very common in this clip as
they help to portray the emotions of the characters whether they are terror,
for the woman, anger, for the evil man, or no emotion at all which is what the
main character is doing.
Editing: The use
of fast, straight cuts adds to the tension of the opening as it makes the start
more upbeat as the action flows naturally with the straight cuts which enable
it to be more realistic for the viewer and maybe grow attached to certain
characters as the scenario is more believable, whilst the fast cuts make the
whole scene more on edge as the audience is unable to focus on specific things
for long periods of time so they stay intrigued to find out what happens next.
Mise-en-scene: The woman who crosses the street is
dressed in a very bright yellow dress which makes her stand out from the dull
background colours that surround her, which makes the audience focus on her so
we can identify that she is in some form of pain. The man carries on eating his
carrots whilst the woman passes by which connotes that he may not be caring for
those that he does not know and shows that he may have no emotions. As the man
exits the broken vehicle we are shown lots of rubbish falling from his car
which shows that the man does not have respect for his property so may not have
respect for other. The carrot is used later on as a weapon to kill the bad guy
which is done for comic effect as something which normally does your health
good is actually the thing that is killing you. The man retrieves a knife which
shows that he is obviously dangerous and not to be messed with as he approaches
the female, who challenges all ideas of gender as she is able to draw a weapon
from her bag to try and defend herself keeping in mind she is minutes away from
giving birth
Sound: The sound used at the beginning of
this film is a piece of music that is rather loud and edgy which adds to the
shock factor of the close up on the males face (parallel sound). The sound of
the carrot crunching as the man bites into it sort of breaks the music up a bit
as you focus on that as the sound of it is rather distinct. The sound of the
carrot crunching stops once a woman begins to pant and weep as she passes across
the street holding her stomach which denotes that she is in some form of pain
and as the man has ceased what he was doing, it shows that this woman is more
important than what we was doing before. The sound of the cars screeching tires
draws both the characters and the audience to a different target which is a car
crashing and then a man shouting abuse to the woman threatening her which
indicates that this person may be a bad guy. The witty comment that the
protagonist uses after killing the first man is used to stick in the minds of
the audience as it is the first thing that they see of the violence so they
will remember it throughout the film. The music throughout the rest of the
scene is quite upbeat and is only interrupted by the sounds of gun shots and
cries from those the man is shooting.
No comments:
Post a Comment