Friday, 15 January 2010

Analysis of a Crime thriller - 'Sin City'


The first camera shot is an establishing shot revealing the glamorous setting of a night time view of a cityscape, this is similar to the conventions of a crime thriller as they are commonly filmed in a large city. The atmosphere created has a very glamorous feel due to the use of dark and light tones of light making it appear attractive yet fairly dull and dark. The first character introduced is a young female women who appears to be a love interest in the film, her costume is an elegant red dress and red lipstick symbolising love and danger. The diegetic music used at this point is sound of traffic, making the seem appear realistic.

As the narration begins it shows the viewpoint of the next main character introduced in the opening. This follows the conventions of a thriller by creating a vivid sense of mystery in the males voice. This is because of whispering and quiet voice making his thoughts seem innocent and soft. Due to the narration the atmosphere is tense as the mellow and toned-downed feel excites the curiosity of the scene.
The conversation between the characters gives an impression that the film is going to be a romantic genre through the glamorous and sophisticated atmosphere, making the audience question the conversation and narration. The tension is built through the steady movements of the characters through the use eye-contact, hand gestures - the close-up shots makes the audience focus on this. Throughout this point there is still diegetic sound to add a naturalistic approach. As the conversation deepens and begins to draw the attenion of the audience, non-diegetic sound begins which relaxes the scene because the music is gentle and has an elegant element to it. Meanwhile, the as the convensation intensifies and becomes more intimate, the camera steadily and calmly zooms into the characters in order for the audience to become involved. There is an extended use of shot reverse shot to show the reactions and mannerisms when the characters are talking.
However, the high intensity and dramatic element of the atmosphere is introduced when the male character unawaringly to the audience shoots the female character. The use of a close-up shot makes the audience incapable of knowing that the character is going to get a gun out of his pocket, adding more mystery and shock factor when it happens. The double crossing used in the opening adds ambiguity and doubt in the narrative as the romantic scene is transformed into a crime thriller. The rain drops that can be seen adds a negative feel to the scene which could hint something is going to happen. Prior to gun shot, there is a horizontal pan shot that slowly allows the audience to see the characters faces. The audience then sees the male character's profile demonstrating a lack of expression compared to his actions and the camera moves into a high angle shot demonstrating a notion of weakness and vulnerability. These micro-elements are similarly to the conventions of crime thriller as it adds suspense and uncertainity.
The last shot used in the opening is a high angle shot showing the consequences of the male character's actions. The characters are positioned in the centre of the screen to indicate the focal area. Even by the time the opening is finished the male character's motives are unknown to the audience, leaving a sense of mystery as to who is are protagonist and the antoagonist. This is an effective method of keeping the audience engaged to the rest of the film. The movement of the camera and characters are motionless and silent to signify the importance this part is to the narration. The sound heard is the narrator's dialogue which makes the audience question what has just happened. Additionally, the diegetic sound of the rain has been exaggerated to add dramatic effect.
The credits used in the opening use colours that relate to the theme of the movie, the colours red has many connotation including love, danger, death etc. The images of the actors in the movie are in black and white which gives the impression that there identities are hidden as the pictures aren't clearly visible - this relates to the themes of crime. The soundtrack has an 'orchestra' feel to it that adds mystery, this relates to the opening scene that the audience has just seen. The movement of the text and image is slow-moving and steady which intrigues the audience as it has a mischievous feel.

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