“Bullitt”’s opening scene seems to begin in stage two of
Todorov’s theory (disruption) as the non-diegetic jazz music hits the audience
with a loud crescendo. A fish eye view makes the audience think they are
viewing through a camera, and this alongside the suspenseful jazz music allows
the audience to presume what sort of genre this film is (crime). This clever
iconography is continually built up in the opening, through dramatic movement
(such as running from gunfire), costume (such as smart suits) and props (such
as a grenade). Different camera shots
including panning (establishing the scene - Chicago), close ups (used to show
significant props and facial expressions such as the man’s concerned expression
after throwing the grenade), and a mixture of long and medium shots (to
introduce new characters, cleverly differing in angle to represent their
authority) are all used very clearly to make it obvious to the audience what is
important. The use of low key lighting also suggests the film begins in stage
two of Todorov’s theory, as when the opening scenes reach a close, the landscape
becomes brighter and more saturated, making the audience feel automatically
safer. This could suggest Levi-Strauss’ theory of binary opposites, day
(representing good) and night (representing evil). Though it seems we haven’t
been introduced to our hero yet, we can presume we will meet him in day time.
The beginning of ‘Prisoners’ shows that there is a theme and
significance of Christianity within the film – though I won’t be focusing on
the opening scene but rather whereupon equilibrium is disrupted, I feel as
though it’s important to note each feature within the film that links to
religion in some way. The opening scene contains one of the lead characters, Keller
Dover, saying the Lord’s Prayer before hunting a deer for thanksgiving – a
religious holiday. Music follows an RV, with lyrics relating to God and stories
from the Holy Bible. As the RV fades into the distance, as does the music – significant
as this may be interpreted as a lack of religion, or disappearing religious
beliefs from those later associated with the van. A close up shot is used to
show a cross necklace hanging from the mirror within the parked car of Keller
Dover. These little things show the audience that the family is religious, and
that religion will play a part in the plot at some stage. The film is based
around a kidnapping, and by using a shot focused on the cross and then focused
Anna, one of the stolen girls, the film begins to drop hints – perhaps going
unnoticed by those who aren’t sure what they’re looking for - straight away. To
me, this is important in a thriller film, especially if involving crime or
mystery – you must tell the story the entire way through, not just jump to a conclusion
at the end. Although a thriller is supposed to be scary, I find it is most
effective when it makes logical sense. That way, it’s not just scary in film,
but in real life too.
The film starts in
equilibrium, even though there’s a gunshot within the first couple of minutes.
Todorov’s theory is used well here, as the audience can see before, after and
how the girls disappeared (keeping some secrets to be revealed later, of
course). The audience are able to feel the disruption – though not loud nor obvious,
it’s just a simple shot zooming into a tree outside of the house, with muffled
audio continuing from the previous scene – the use of colour is very
significant here as it contrasts cold and desaturation with warmth from inside.
After this single shot, a lot of the film is only in low key lighting,
desaturated and/or cold colours, to represent the lost warm energies of the
girls and happiness. In the first couple of scenes containing the RV, the
colours are very desaturated, perhaps foretelling a wish of death. When mixed
with the young girls’ childish energies, it seems very wrong – as though
someone or something holds back all things warm and happy at this time of their
lives during a holiday that should be filled with rejoice. The use of colour
shows Levi-Strauss’ theory of binary opposites, in this case safe and
dangerous. Inside (safe), the colours are warm and saturated (up until the
girls’ disappearances), whereas outside(dangerous), the colours are cold,
unsaturated and harsh, making the entire mood shift negatively and thus showing
the audience that it isn’t safe.
Overall, I would say that ‘Bullitt’ has a more suspenseful
music accompaniment. It also uses a greater variation (or certainly more
notable/exaggerated) camera angles and shots to its advantage – such as panning
to establish where the film is set straight away, or a low angle shot to
represent the authority of unintroduced characters. Both films don’t make it
obvious who the protagonist or antagonist are straight away, perhaps a technique
I should use when making my thriller opening, in order to add enigmatic
qualities to my short film. Both films use ideas from theories such as
distinguishing between equilibrium and disruption, and creating binary
opposites at the beginning of a film. I found that personally, ‘Prisoners’ felt
more dramatic when developing into stage two of Todorov’s theory, as the
audience could contrast the equilibrium they had just previously watched on
screen, to the disruption that became present on screen. From both films, I
have discovered that colour plays a key role in establishing binary opposites.
Whether it’s changing from low key to high key lighting or saturated to
unsaturated colours, I should consider how my film looks aesthetically if
trying to portray binary opposites successfully.
