After our first couple of lessons on film openings, I have begun my research on film openings, textually analysing how they create enigma and the information of the narrative and characters presented within the first two minutes.
The Bourne Identity - Timeline of Opening Sequence
1/10 sec's - Universal production company logo. Diagetic sound slowly
fades in of sea. Sea sounds start with the golden as the
golden rays of the logo spread across the globe.
2/10 sec's - Universal logo fades to black screen. Sound of sea
crescendos slightly. Screen remains black for the rest of
the 20 seconds into the film.
3/10 sec's - First image seen by audience is a body floating in the sea,
the camera is looking up at the body from below. This image
alone can already reflect the character of Jason Bourne. He
is a man who is lost at sea, in the middle of a storm;
meaning he's lost in his life- he has no recollection of who
he is, he has lost his identification and is being chased by
a storm (CIA) trying to figure out why it is they want him
dead. Although to a new audience, the symbolism of this
scene may not be obvious, the composition of it overall
still depicts one of the central emotions of this film and
the rest of the trilogy- the feeling of being completely
alone, being lost- this at least anyone watching can pick up
on. The image of the body appears with the sudden diagetic
crescendo of thunder. During the last few seconds leading
up to 30's into the film, we see a faint flashing coming
from the male silhouette above. Musical drone begins
creating a tense atmosphere.
4/10 sec's - Straight cut to the establishing shot of a boat in the storm
with the sudden sound of thunder which doesn't last for very
long on the screen. Shot of sailors, camera descends from
above deck, audience may assume they're playing poker. Music
drone continues to play, diagetic sea, thunder, rain sounds
continue also.
5/10 sec's - Another layer of music introduced, tittles establishing
location appear on screen - "Mediterranean sea, 60 miles
south of Marseilles." More shots of sea storm with intense
sounding non-diagetic music. Series of shots exploring the
game of poker below deck,playing for cigarettes in middle of
table.
6/10 sec's - First time we hear diagetic dialogue in a foreign language-
man counting in Italian. Possibly a fishing boat, judging by
the background and location.Game of poker could possibly
reflect how the relationship between CIA + Bourne is like a
game of Poker? Last ten seconds of this minute ends on a
closer shot of body in water, storm sounds crescendo.
2nd Minute begins here
1/10 sec's - Camera starts to slowly zoom in on body moving amongst the
waves, same long shot with camera below water level. We see
the light on the body flash again. Shot switches in a
straight cut to a man coming above deck to throw something
over board.
2/10 sec's - Audience can definitely guess this is a fishing boat from
man's costume. Shot sequence of close up of fisherman
switching to the body in the water, camera now above water
level from POV of fisherman. Another layer of music
introduced when fisherman realizes the floating object is in
fact a body- main theme of film?
3/10 sec's - Camera below water level again, this time very close to body
-midshot and zooming in slowly. Diagetic storm sounds
underwater playing along with the non-diagetic tension
building music. Music accentuated as there is a straight cut
to a black screen with emerging blue tittles. Very digital
looking font- letters emerge from this number cloud. Tittle
of "The Bourne Identity" appears, into which the camera
starts to zoom in. After tittles appear, non-diagetic
musical rattle heard. Music crescendos during this part,
main theme getting stringer and louder. Tittle gets lost in
the number cloud again. Colour used for font is blue +
white.
4/10 sec's - Arial shot of men pulling up the body. Diagetic sounds take
precedence over musical score. Closer shot of body being
hauled on board- audience knows he's either dead or
unconscious. Musical accentuation + main theme continue.
5/10 sec's - Dialogue + subtitles showing translation show men assume
he is dead. Close up shot of hand moving of hauled body.
Last seconds of opening show men dragging the body below
deck.
- Current setting is in the Mediterranean sea on a stormy night/evening.
- An unidentified body of a man has been found floating in the sea. The man's professional diving wetsuit shows it is unlikely this was an accident compared to if the man would be in everyday clothing, which would suggest he fell overboard, thus the cause of his presence here would create less enigma as the audience can already assume what happened.
- The man who floating is alive but unconscious
- The Italian fishermen have pulled him on-board safely
How this opening creates Enigma
- Audience is left curious to find out what happens when the man regains his conciousness
- Who is the man pulled on-board?
- Why was the man floating there to begin with?
- What is his importance in the narrative? - Protagonist?
- Is he injured?
- Why is he wearing a professional wetsuit?
- What was he doing before he was found at sea?
This opening propels the story forward. Some of these questions become answered very soon after the opening two minutes, others take time to be answered throughout the movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment