Analysing the opening sequence of Touch of Evil (1958)

Touch of Evil (1958) directed by Orson Welles has a very interesting opening sequence as it is made up largely of a four minute single-shot sequence.

The scene starts off with a close-up shot of a man setting the timer of a car bomb, and then runs to the car he has targeted, without the viewer seeing his face, and with the use of some terrific shadows on the wall he has ran past. The camera follows him up to the car and then, as the man turns and runs out of the shot, it drifts upwards slowly to take the viewer into a brilliant high angle shot of the car and its owners (a couple) getting into it. The camera doesn’t stay still though, however, but it keeps moving and follows the car as it drives around a building. As it comes back around the corner, the car now facing the camera, the camera carries on moving backwards in the street, with various people crossing the road and various different music playing from the different cars and buildings that the camera moves past. The viewer, then, doesn’t have too much time to think about who planted the car bomb or who’s in the car as action is on-going in all parts of the shot. Also, the effect of the different pieces of music playing from different sources emphasizes the business and confusion of the setting. The camera keeps on moving and then, as a couple (Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh as Ramon Miguel Vargas and Susan Vargas) cross the road, begins to focus on that specific couple, whilst the car it had been following up to this point overtakes the camera and moves briefly out of the shot. It reappears quite quickly however, as it has been held-up by a group of goats in the middle of the road, at which point the couple then overtake the camera. The car catches up with the couple quite soon though, whilst people continue to cross the road, until both the couple and the car reach an officer who will decide whether they can keep going and enquire whether they’re American citizens. At this point the viewer learns that the Ramon Miguel Vargas is an important policeman who has recently solved a big case involving the notorious ‘Grandi’ family. Both the couple in the car and the Vargas’ are allowed to continue, then, as the car carries on straight ahead, out of the shot, they cross the road and the camera moves to follow them. Shortly after this, the viewer hears the car bomb explode and the camera switches the image of the explosion (this is the point where the single-shot sequence is ended) and then, after a quick, short zoom-in further towards the explosion, it switches back to a low angle, slightly shaky shot of Ramon Miguel Vargas running towards the explosion.

(the opening sequence of Touch of Evil)

This use of the single-shot sequence is very effective in this opening sequence as it ensures that the viewer can’t take his or her eyes off the screen, as there’s always something happening. This is especially the case with the constant over-taking and re-over-taking of each other between the two couples, as the viewer must keep an eye on both of them, but is also emphasized by the continuous crossing of the road by several people at almost all times. Also, the viewer doesn’t have a clue who was in the car, and who planted the bomb, so the long single-shot sequence creates further suspense regarding this mystery. Furthermore, the fact that the camera is always moving backwards causes further disorientation and mystery to the viewer as he or she can't tell how much longer the camera will carry on going for. Regarding the narrative, then, this opening sequence is very successful as mystery is increased throughout.

It is, however, also successful regarding the mise-en-scene, as some excellent uses of shadow ensure that it’s pleasing on the eye. The camera movement and angles are also very effective; in particular the rising high angle shot near the beginning just after the car bomb has been planted. All of these mise-en-scene features, incidentally, are generic signifiers of the noir period.

So, in conclusion, this is a very effective opening scene as is builds tension, introduces mystery, and includes several genre conventions.

Audience Research: Audience feedback from our 75% completed film

Sample & Method

We showed our approximately 75% completed film to eight people in order to gather opinion on what they thought of it so far and how they think it could be improved. Unfortunately, we were unable to ask people which matched our target profile audience, as we collected this data during school times. However, we did keep to our target gender, as out of the eight people 5 were male and only 3 female. This matches our target gender as we stated in our audience profile that, primarily, our target gender would be males, but that females could like it too, so we felt that the roughly two thirds of the feedback from males and one third from females was a good compromise. The people that we asked are all current six formers at City of Norwich School, three of them study media studies and half of the group are big movie fans. We feel that a sample group in which one half are big film fans whilst the other half also watch films but are not so avid followers is reasonable as we said in our audience profile that our film may well be appreciated more by film buffs but would also attract mainstream audiences. Taking these into account, we accept that this data gathered is not from an ideal sample group, but nevertheless we feel that it is a useful exercise and hope that it will provide us with helpful information.

First, we asked each participant to watch the film through, one-by-one, without interruption. We then asked them to fill in a short questionnaire which we had prepared previously. The questionnaire consisted of these questions:

Gender:



Was the mise-en-scene appropriate?



Was the music effective?



Was the narrative readable?



Was the lighting effective?



What aspect of it did you like the most?



How could it be improved?


Findings

Pleasingly, our feedback was extremely positive. For the question ‘Was the mise-en-scene appropriate?’ for example, every single participant (males and females) agreed that it was appropriate, and one male went on to say that it was ‘very’ appropriate as ‘the woods are very secluded’. The responses for the following question, ‘Was the music effective?’, were also very positive, as, again, every participant agreed that it was effective, with one participant (a female) claiming that it was ‘very’ effective whilst another (a male) said that it ‘built tension and atmosphere’. One participant (a female), however, said that it was effective, but ‘could have been better though’. The following question, ‘Was the narrative readable?’, was one that we were very interested in the answer to, as, although we ourselves knew what was happening, were hoping that it was obvious for everyone else too. Fortunately though, all but one of the participants agreed that the narrative was readable, however the one participant (a male) who said that it wasn’t readable also said that this was a good thing as ‘the man in the office was mysterious’. The answers to the subsequent were again extremely positive, as once again every participant agreed that the lighting was effective. We were pleased that this was the case, as we ourselves were very pleased with the lighting in our film. The next question, which we were eagerly awaiting the answers to, provided, as we hoped, a large variety of answers. Three participants (two male and one female) chose ‘he music’ as their favourite, whilst another three participants chose the ‘extreme close-up shots of the man in the office’. Two people (one male and one female) claimed that the ‘quick editing and flashing transitions’ was their favourite. Out of the remaining two participants (both males) one claimed that the ‘slow motion effects, because they’re cool’ were his favourites whilst the last one said that he liked the fact that it was ‘gangster’. The final question was another one that we were excited about the answers to, as the answers to this were the real purpose of the exercise. Unfortunately though, not everyone answered the question, although we took that as a compliment for no improvements could be made. One suggestion that we did receive though (from a male), was that ‘the cast could fit the age description of the characters better and the costumes could be more authentic’. Although there is nothing we can do about this at this point, and our cast was made up by the actors that they were because of certain unfortunate circumstances (see the post entitled ‘Thriller Planning: The cast), we value the opinion nonetheless as we can include it in our evaluation. The other suggestion that we received (also from a male) was to ‘extend the slow motion section, and make the bit where they walk out of the woods slow motion as well’. We were very grateful for this suggestion as, after deliberating between our group, we decided to try it as the participant had suggested, and we, as a group, agreed that it was an improvement.

Conclusion and implications

We were extremely happy with the unanimously positive feedback that we received, and we feel that it has helped us improve our film, thanks especially to the suggestion to extend the slow motion section and to add another slow motion section. Overall, we feel that this has been a useful and positive exercise as the very positive feedback has given us further confidence in our film, and we now feel that we can continue as we have been and get it finished.

Audience Research: Method 2

Audience Research: Method 1

Thriller Construction: Soundtrack changes and information

Unfortunately, due to rules regarding copyright, we were unable to use the track from Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet as we had initially planned. So, as a result of this we searched for various options using unsigned bands and artists whose works have been listed under the Creative Commons License Agreement. Fortunately, we found that the song 'Cells' by The Servant has been listed under this agreement, so we listened to it and played it with what we had of our film and found that it was an excellent match. It also matches the style of our other initial idea for a soundtrack (see Thriller Planning: Soundtrack).

We found out that the track was listed under the agreement on the following website, also demonstrated by the prontscreens:

http://musicatknifepoint.blogspot.com/2007/09/servant-cells.html

Which took us to this page:

Afterwards, knowing that we could use this track, we downloaded the instrumental version from the website below:

http://www.airmp3.net/search/the_servant/cells/mp3/a

We are very happy with this as our soundtrack because sections of it are quite dark and industrial, and as a whole it matches our film very well.

Noting the key features of narrative in The Godfather (1972)

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972), accepted by many as the greatest movie ever made, has a very rich and complex narrative. Below are some notes on its key features:

- One of the key features of this narrative is that a reasonably marginal character during the first half of the film (Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone) becomes the main protagonist at the end. This could be done to show how quickly (and even with minimal intention) the mafia underworld can suck anyone in and change and manipulate them.

- Another important feature of the narrative is the constant introduction and then the deaths of many characters, portraying the brutal and merciless nature of the mafia underworld.

- The narrative stretches over a long period of time, ensuring that the viewer appreciates the seriousness of the business and the impossibility of getting out once you’re in.

- The injury and near-death of Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) prompts all-out warfare in the streets and confusion amongst the Corleone family, this is represented in the narrative by the absence of a protagonist, causing confusion to the viewer as he or she must now look for a new protagonist to relate to.

Marlon Brando (right) in The Godfather

Mise-en-scene analysis and stylisation in The Third Man (1949)

Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949) is a famous film noir and has recently been voted the ‘greatest British film of all time’, whilst TOTAL FILM has described it as “A British movie masterpiece”. It is also highly rated within noirs, and it's not hard to see why, as its mise-en-scene is brilliant throughout.

Chiaroscuro lighting, for example, and the use of shadows are used to ultimate effect in some scenes, such as in the examples given below:

It is also full of other noir mise-en-scene conventions. For example, the tilted angles to create disorientation and hint at the fatalistic nightmare theme are used brilliantly. Also used to create this theme is the consistent presence wet and shiny pavements. Furthermore, it is almost always night time (as it is conventional in noirs), which further supports the theme.

Going back to the use of tilted angles, the slight camera movements in the enclosed space of the Ferris wheel scene are extremely effective in inducing claustrophobia and unease. It is difficult to notice that the camera even tilts as it is done so gently and subtly to ensure that the viewer feels himself or herself to be inside the unstable cabin. The tilted, high and low angles are also used very effectively in many other scenes, such as in the example below:

Also present in these shots, however, is excellent location filming. A prime example of this can be found in the chase scenes, in particular the final chase of Harry Lime (Orson Welles). What also stands out in this sequence is the build-up of claustrophobia. The shots of Lime running and of the group chasing him are shown alternately, and when it switches back to Lime he’s always in a smaller and smaller space, thus showing that his time is running out.


It is clear, then, that the mise-en-scene in The Third Man uses plenty of film noir conventions to great effect, and this has undoubtedly played a large role in the film's success.