Analysis stops at 3 minutes 10 seconds
The fourth film that I will be analysing is the James Bond film, Casino Royale released on 14 November, 2006. It stars Daniel Craig and Eva Green, directed by Martin Campbell and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer and Columbia Pictures with the studio being Eon Productions. Casino Royale earned $599,045,960 worldwide becoming the highest-grossing Bond film at the time. The film received a positive response from critics and earned eight BAFTA nominations.
The opening scene starts with an establishing shot of a large building. This then cuts to a low angle shot of a man getting out of a car outside of the building. The use of a low angle shot makes the character seem more powerful and strong and indicates to the audience that this character is going to be a dominant one in the film. He is wearing a large black coat with a fur hat. This costume tells us that he is a wealthy man as, assuming his hat is real fur, is very expensive and large, long black coats are often worn by businessmen who are generally considered as important and rich people. He is also wearing a shirt and tie which connotes that he is a businessman or someone of great importance. This shot then jump cuts to a shot of the man going up the elevator.
A greyscale filter has been used over this opening scene making the look of the film more grey than just black and white. This suggests that the scene is very serious, dark and bleak which is often seen in many action films.
We see a tracking shot at 01:00 that is following the man walking along a staircase. In this shot, we can see that the building is very grand and large which connotes that it is a very important location. This suggests that the man is also of great importance and whatever he is going to deal with will be very important as well. In addition, we can see that the building is modern with the use of glass used throughout the building and the metallic surfaces. This suggests to the audience that the film will be set in present day. Also, the use of the diegetic sound of the characters footsteps across the floor emphasise his importance and authority. Furthermore, this fits the archetypal traits that a masculine male is said to have as men are seen as the more powerful and dominant sex.
In the over the shoulder shot at 01:16, we can see a character in a large black office chair. This signifies that he is also some sort of businessman and so a very powerful character. In addition, the setting that he is in backs this up as there is a modern desk, with leather chairs and other modern furniture and decor. This also suggests that the man is very wealthy due to all of the modern and up-to-date items in the room.
The character who was previously seen walking on the staircase is seen sitting at the desk in the LS of both characters in the office. We then see him opening a drawer in the MS which has a gun placed in it. A gun is an icon of power and danger and gives a reading of the character as being quite dangerous.
During the lead up to the reveal of the gun, some incidental music starts to play, it is very quiet at start but starts to increase in volume when the gun is seen in the drawer. This music adds to the tense atmosphere between the two characters and also adds suspense for the audience.
Suddenly, we cut to a flashback of the character and in the over the shoulder shot at 01:55, we can see he is in a fight with another man. In the aerial shot at 01:58, we can see that this location is in a bathroom which looks to be quite dirty and this contrasts to the luxurious, business-like setting that we saw previously. Fight scenes are something that we typically see in an action film and because the fight is between two men, it fits the archetypal masculine traits of men being aggressive.
A different filter has been used to create a different colour tint on the fight scene to indicate that this is a flash back and that it hasn't just suddenly cut to a random fight scene. The scene has been edited so that each shot is no longer than a couple of seconds to emphasise the rapid and swift movements that the characters are making which also shows their skill. In addition, incidental music has been added that is very high paced which fits well with the high paced fight scene.
This then cuts back to present day where there is a CU of the character sitting at the desk who has a gun held up to the other character. The camera is in deep focus with the mans face and the gun in the foreground. The diegetic sound of the gun being reloaded is emphasised to show the power of the weapon and show the damage that the gun can cause. This makes the character who is holding the gun seem very powerful to the audience.
After this, we cut back to the flashback in which the two characters are having a fight. At 02:33, we have a low angle shot which makes the character, who is winning the fight, seem very powerful against the other character. The incidental music becomes more fast paced again and as the character continues to win the fight, which then leads up to the other characters death, the music become even more frequent and louder.
The diegetic sounds of the character shouting and screaming with pain also emphasise how powerful and dangerous the character who is winning the fight is. The diegetic sound of heavy breathing from the character after he wins the fight emphasises the intense physical activity that he has just been through which is also something that is archetypal of a masculine male.
The use of typography at the start of the scene where it establishes where the location is has been done in a capitalised serif font which connotes sophistication and so relates to the location.
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