http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VXkUzf1
The opening title sequence is plain but suggests a lot, the idea of using white and black creates the sense of fear and conflict. These colours create the idea that the film is going to be climatic.White connotates goodness and purity as opposed to black which is associated with power, evil, death and mysteriousness. This could be trying to express to the audience the idea of good vs evil, in the western culture it was traditionally said that white and black are colours that depict opposition.
The high angled shot of the protagonist on the shore being pointed at by a gun symbolises power and authority.The fact that this shot is high angled tells me that the protagonist is now powerless and incapable of helping himself.
The opening music sounds emotionally intense, it creates the sense of fear and pain. There is a sense of implied horror to the sound because of its haunting element suggesting a dark past. It starts of sounding gripping and mysterious then as it becomes louder it sounds deathly and ghostly. I notice that the sound shows aspects of a credcendo as it starts of quiet and ends loudly. There is a variety of repeated bass sounds at the begin and double bass sounds contrasting with the urgency to the beat throughout.
The strong waves crashing and dull weather helps to emphasise pathetic fallacy and the sense of lack of hope.There is a sort of enigma being implied to the audience at the beginning as we are trying to makesense of whats going on, creating suspense.The panning shot of the waves, emphasises the setting and the isolation of the particular area.
The film cuts from the a low-angled shot of the protagonist on the shore signifying helplessness, to a establishing shotof the strong waves crashing against the sea bed. The close up at the beginning, of the protagonist helps to reveal the emotions of the character. From this it is being revealed to the audience that he is in pain and is defenseless.
The fade out at the beginning from Dom Cobb at the shore to the flashback of the two small children playing in the sand presents a sense of mysteriousness and confusion to the viewer.It suggests there is a strong emotion between the scenes. The idea of this flashback being present at the begin suggests there is something the audience have not yet been revealed to. The protagonsit blacks out and the opening scene continues to a unknown character finding him.
The high angled shot of the protagonist on the shore being pointed at by a gun symbolises power and authority.The fact that this shot is high angled tells me that the protagonist is now powerless and incapable of helping himself.
This low angled shot suggests that this unknown character has a higher status and authority opposed to Cobb.
There is a extreme long shot of the building, although the location is still concealed the director wants to emphasise whats happening amongst the setting. The location is purposely a mystery to have the audience questioning and drawn into what is going on.
Just as this unknown character is about to turn around the protagonist is dragged into the scene creating a build up. It cuts from this particular shot to a close up of Dom Cabb eating leaving the audience questioning as to what just happened. The cuts are being used to create an atmosphere and leaves the audience with unrevealed answers.
We are not revealed to the identity of this mysterious character. A point of view shot of character helps to create tension about the identity of the character and his relevance. The low lighting helps to conceive this
tension.
The two midshots of the protagonist and this unrevealed character as they start talking is done to explore how they interact with eachother. Mulitiple view points are presented to the audience as a way of inviting them to understand whats going on. The bassy non- diegetic sound used in this scene helps to create dramatic tension. It shapes pur response to the actions of the characters and links to the narrative because it helps to make us more aware when something good or bad is going to happen.
The extreme close up of the spinning top tells me that this is symbolic in some way, it removes the distraction of the two characters
conversation suggesting it is important. It builds up tension to the scene as we do not understand its relevance. The endof this scene to emphasise that he is more incontrol and isnot helpless as opposed to how he was first introduced to us.
This tracking shot gives us a change of perspective. The fact that it is a mid-shot suggest that the body language of these characters is important as it helps the audience understand whats going on. Over the shoulder shots and point of view shots are used in this sc
ene. A wide shot is used at the begin of this scene to make it evident to the viewers that the protagonist is in the same location. A high angled shot of the protagonist is used towards to show he is no longer powerless.
This extreme close up of our main characters watch ticking creates a climax as the time slows down, a build up is created until the camera cuts to the bomb outside. The continuety of the two shots creates dramatic tension as we
didn't expect a bomb to explode. There is a immediate transition from the over the shoulder shot of the
