Kirsty - AS Media

“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.