Directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez (2005)
Mise En Scene
The opening scene quickly shows the audience a lot about the film, that it is in black and white, apart from the colour red. A woman appears first who we may see as the “femme fatal” like in a film noir. Her dress is red and is the only item that appears in colour, the red suggests something maybe seductive. Also her red lipstick shows up brightly on the black and white surroundings. A man then appears to talk to her and is dressed formally in a suit with his hair slicked back suggesting the two of them are at a formal dinner party or out for the evening. After talking for a while the couple go in for a kiss, as they kiss they become a white silhouette, this suggests that the two characters are close to one another so they have been joined. They also stand out from the backdrop of a very dark city.
Editing
Editing is used well in the opening scene of Sin City, because of the black and white. Everything is in black and white apart from red, the womans dress in the opening is red. This implies that red is an important colour for the film and will be significant throughout the film. It could stand for seductiveness of all the women that are involved in the film, it could also stand for lust that the men have of these women; hence the name of the film sin city. Finally it could stand for murder and blood throughout the film making it perfect for a thriller as it's sinister and mysterious.
Sound
The opening scene starts with non-diegetic sound, jazzy formal music that shows the age of film and also the romantic like setting. This music continues to when the two characters kiss which shows the romance. There is also a narrative from the male character, which takes the audience through what he is doing as he is talking to the woman on the balcony. This makes us feel that he could be one of the main characters but could either be the villain or hero of the film. The narrative and music sets up the rest of the film as being dark and mysterious because we aren’t really sure as to what is yet going on.
Camera Angles
The scene starts with an establishing long shot of the woman walking to the edge of the balcony, this sets up the audience with the fact that she is the focal point of the opening scene. The red dress makes her seem seductive and maybe slightly mysterious to viewers. They start with shot reverse shots of the two characters to show maybe they don't know each other yet and aren't at all close. But by the end of the scene the two characters are in a two shot, showing that their relationship has grown more intimate, which shocks the audience when he shoots the women at the beginning of the opening sequence.
Titles
The titles show the different characters but in a comic book cartoon theme, which shows where the original story was from for the film, but also as it’s in black and white it makes it look more sinister and interesting. It helps the audience to discover the traits of each character before the film has even begun. By showing each characters actor or actress in the titles shows the audience that it has quite a few big names in it, therefore they may become more interested and inclined to watch the film.
No comments:
Post a Comment