For these two days, we were assigned to analyse a film opening sharing the genre of our film opening. I chose "The Bourne Identity". Here are the results.
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Long/exLong shot, (somewhere in the middle) means that you don’t focus onto any
particular area in the shot. Diegetic sound and visual of thunder and lightning
to start off. Diegetic wind in the storm. Faint figure of a body in the water
visible when the light is bright enough. The lack of any established details is
typical of the mystery genre because it keeps the audience in the dark wanting
to know more.
“Steady camera” (in this and future
shots) simulates the effect of being on a boat. Crane shot is used to establish
the side characters roles by revealing them as playing a card game. The high
angle paints this scene as suspicious and gives us a large view of the room.
The characters are middle-aged as evident by their choice of clothes and build.
None of them look bigger than the others because of the camera angle.
Non-diegetic slow-paced violin instrumental adds the predictable suspense
common to the genre. As the characters are minor, certain stereotypes are
established to generalize them as fisherman. The only reason they’re featured
within the scene is for plot advancement and the use of cards, bottles
and numerous other small details show that they are just generic fisherman
characters used to advance the plot.
Regular jump cuts between the ocean and
the card game show that neither location is more important than the other,
despite one having no action. This hints at something big happening during
ocean scenes due to it’s shared screen time with the card game. The large
amount of tracking/panning shots simulates the feeling of the audience being
there, allowing them to become more connected with little explanation. The
diegetic foreign languages spoken show the characters limited importance to the
overall plot, only being there for effect.
7 second shot with a camera zooming and
panning following the man shows that he’ll be of importance to the scene,
judging by the screen time. The coat he’s wearing shows the weight of the rain
and the danger of the situation. The
diegetic sounds of his actions also hint at his significance. The
dim lighting (with occasional light flashes) reflects the harshness of the work
line this character features in and foreshadows the dark nature of the film. 
The following of his actions continues to
this close-up as he realizes there is a body in the body of the water. This
allows his reactions to be shown to the audience, despite us not knowing all
the details of what he’s looking at being known. We get a better look at his glasses and
judging by their
make, it suggests a more intellectual fisherman to the others if we believe
this character is also to be stereotyped. The “steady camera” continues as jump cuts
occur between the mans actions and the body. The lighting is shared with the
previous scene.
The title fades on with letters coming in
from the left and right of their original position. The simplistic nature of
this title screen in conventional of the genre because like the genre it’s
representing, it doesn’t reveal too much about the film but does tell you
something. The music is the non-diegetic soundtrack from before that had
bridged into the scene, keeping the atmosphere. However, the music is now starting to
build more layers, representing the film starting to develop a character and
starting to give you information. The font is very technological, as you can
tell that it’s been computer generated. This hints at the technology based
themes throughout the film.
Several shot follow showing the act of
getting mans body onto the ship. The amount of focus placed on him hints at him
playing a pivotal role. This adds a layer of mystery simultaneously due to the
fact the audience believes he’s dead, giving the audience two possibilities.
This is either a scene from the end of the chronological order or he’s not
dead. Limiting answers but not giving a definitive one allows the audience of
the genre to make an attempt at working out the plot, a convention typical of
mysteries. The variety of shot distances, angles and the “steady camera”
further allow us to see a lot relating to the scene without giving crucial
details, we see character reactions and movements without understanding why
they’re doing it. The diegetic sound of the rain is still their, emphasising
the harshness of the environment they’re in. Editing is just straight edits,
but the length of time before the next cut varies.
A lot of the same elements are shared
with the last scene. This specific shot lasts 8-9 seconds before cutting away,
hinting more towards the focus of this character. This can potentially be seen as trying to give the film a little bit of a documentary feel, allowing for more analytical discovery themes. Little changes between each
shot because of it telling you just enough to get you hooked but not enough to
reveal anything big.
Now that we can physically see the character that’s been rescued, we can see
that it is “Matt Damon”, the cover character of the franchise. Judging by this
fact, we know that the ideas from before have been limited to the fact he is
the protagonist. As the protagonist, it leans more towards the idea that he’s
not really dead and this is a current story rather than past-tense. This kind
of mystery solving is what the audience longs for in a mystery film because
they feel like they beat the film to the objective, giving themselves self
satisfaction, meaning the film is respectful of its audience and understands
the genre it represents.
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While there's definitely a lot more that could be talked about, it further reinforces an idea about this genre. Vagueness to a narrative is very useful to the mystery genre.
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