In the opening shot, there were immediately several genre conventions. The most obvious one was the cityscape, as the first setting in the film is on the balcony of a high-rise building. Also concerning the mise-en-scene, there are shiny wet pavements and chiaroscuro lighting. Concerning the editing, there are several techniques thrown at the audience. The editing during the conversation between the man and woman is very slow, with incredibly slow zooming in and out. The use of colour on specific body parts (red lips, green eyes) and objects (red dress) also work very effectively. The red lips and dress, for example, create a theme of sexuality and romance. However, this is canceled out and degraded by the theme of sleaze created by the characters smoking, and the slow jazz music playing in the background, which also, along with the black and white, is a throwback to the film noir era. Furthermore, the switch to monochrome during the kiss adds an interesting effect. Apart from the slow zooming, there are also some brilliant camera angles and styles of shots. There is a very nice high angle shot early on, for example, and the zooming out, panning shot that spirals away from the high rise building we were on taking us into the opening credits is fantastic. There are also several genre conventions concerning the narrative in the opening few minutes. For example there is an internal monologue straight away, and the woman's appearance is of an exaggerated version of typical femme fatales, and then the man kills her for reasons unknown to the audience, so there is an immediate hook.
Following the opening sequence, the opening credits are done in a classic comic strip style, with fast-paced music with a low base line giving it an industrial, sinister edge. The images during the credits show extreme violence, fitting in with the music, and giving the film a very dark and sinister tone straight away. However, the images being cartoons, the audience can't take it deadly seriously, so it makes it more fun and enthralling than threatening.
Overall, I think that Sin City has a brilliant opening, and the film is brilliant throughout. I really love the mix of classic noir and modern styles, and it is something I'd love to try and achieve in my own thriller opening, although I know that it would be extremely difficult. I also love the use of narrative in the film, where it is mixed up in non-chronological order and switches from one character to the next. This is something that I could achieve quite easily in the synopsis of my own thriller, provided that I am able to come up with an interesting plot for each storyline. I also really liked the separate internal monologues, however that is something I don't think I could be able to achieve in my thriller, as it is likely that it would end up quite weak and amateurish. There are, however, things that I could use in my own thriller, such as the slow-paced editing, and the use of sleazy music.
Visual analysis of mise-en-scene of the opening shot:
1 comment:
Good, focused textual analysis Tamas. PLease try not to align your text centrally as this makes it look less professional. I'd like to see more evidence of research into other thrillers on your blog. Also, I know you have done some excellent planning. Where is it?
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