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Monday 17th November
Thriller Film Opening 10 - Now You See Me
My tenth analysed thriller opening is from the film 'Now You See Me' directed by Louis Leterrier, 2013.
Mise En Scene
Camerawork
Editing
Events, Themes Characters
Titles and Credits
Sound
00:00
0:33 - 1:05
All we can see is a man stood in front of a large mirror in the middle of a room shuffling cards. We see this scene from many distances and angles. This tells us as the audience that the man is an important character, it also tells us that we should pay close attention to everything since it changes so quickly.
0:33 - 1:05
The editing in this time is quite fast paced, we see multiple shots and angles in a very short space of time. This makes the audience pay attention more so they can keep up with everything happening onscreen. It also makes them quesiton why they're being shown this man shuffling cards in his house.
0:33 - 1:05 A series of jump cuts are used as the guy shuffles his cards. This emphasises the impressiveness of what he's doing because we're shown multiple things that aren't in order, this dis-orientates the audience because the shots they're shown aren't in choronological order, this means they don't know how much time has passed or how long the guy has been shuffling cards.
0:00 - 2:01
There's systematic background music, we can hear a cymbal and drums being used along with a repeated echoy noise. This creates a relaxed atmosphere and fades nicely into the background until it's needed for a more prominent effect. This relaxes the audience as the background music is quite slow and calm.
0:38
Close up of the characters hands as he shuffles his cards, this means the audience can see more closely what he's doing. This awes the audience and makes them feel amazed at what they're seeing, this is because not everybody can do something like that. The novelty of it makes them pay attention more.
0:33 - 1:05 There's narration by the main male character we see, this tells us that he's an important character and that we should pay attention to what he's saying and remember it even if we don't fully understand what he's talking about. It's likely what he says now will be understood later.
0:51
The male characters hair looks disheleved and messy, he's also dressed quite casually wearing jeans and a coat. This makes us wonder why he's wearing a coat inside, it also makes us think he's quite a calm, relaxed character.
0:52, 0:59
The mans stood in a room, things seen in the room includes; a large bookshelf, framed posters and one large poster with its on light. This shows he's an intelligent character (he reads) but he also has other fun interests (the posters). This also means we can more closely relate/connect with him as an audience. He's stood in front of a large mirror, this could convey that he's vain and likes to see himself a lot.
1:04
Shallow focus is used on the card the guy holds up, this is used to make the audience pay attention to the cards. It emphasises the importance of the card and tells the audience playing cards is going to be a motif in the film.
1:07
The location switches, we're now in Chicago. This is a huge city and the brightness and size of this location contrasts deeply with the room the guy was just in. This overwhelms and suprises the audience because he didn't seem important or even slightly dressed up enough to be in Chicago surrounded by a huge crowd. This suggests there's more to the character than was previously thought.
1:09
The only writing seen in the opening credits is the location and day in which we see the card guy do his trick. It's white and is a sans serif font, this makes it seem more fun and less professional. This tells the audience that the main characters aren't completely serious and do play around and have fun.
1:12 The next time we see this male character he's surrounded by people. This suggests importance and popularity, it suggests that he's fairly well known and liked since they're all gathered around him.
0:35, 0:43, 1:16
We can see a male character, he shuffles his cards in complex and complicated ways. He's the first person we see onscreen, this suggests he's a key character possibly even the main character. He's stood in front of a mirror suggesting he's vain and likes himself a lot.
1:45
The music gets much louder and more complex after the magician has performed his trick, this exaggerates the awe and excitement at seeing the trick. This helps the audience feel connected to the characters because they want to cheer as much as they are.
1:46
Low angle shot of the side of the building with the card the woman picked on it. This makes the stunt seem more impressive and makes us feel shocked because we couldn't pull something like that off. It also creates mystery because we have no idea how he did it.
The slide transitions used in the clip are straight cuts. This creates surprise and mystery as we're shown lots of things straight after the other. This can also makes the audience feel overwhelmed because they feel they can't keep up with everything they're being shown.
There are a few themes shown to the audience in the clip. The theme of magic is prominent with the shuffling of cards and the end trick. Deception is also a main theme featured in the show, the male narrates at the beginning of the clip. He talks about using someones attention against them, which he's doing to the audience. This cloesly links in with the theme of mystery, this is caused by making the audience ask questions, Such as how he performed the trick and who the guy at the end is. Mystery is a key theme of thriller films in general.
Both non diegetic sound and diegetic sound is used in the opening scene. This is a good mix so that the audience knows they're outside of what's happening and they don't know everything but they still feel involved and connected with the characters.
Two events are shown to us in the opening scene of the film, the guy narrating about deception and then the magic trick. This makes the audience feel impressed and ask questions about the magic and why it's important.
1:59
There's a slow zoom towards the back of a hooded figure. This makes us question who he is and what he's doing since we get a negative feeling from him. This creates mystery and tension because we don't know the intentions of this mystery character.
2:00
At the end of the clip we see the back of a hooded guy, this creates mystery because we don't know who he is. This also creates anticipation to find out what he's doing and who he is, there's also a small sense of fear because we don't know his intentions. He looks rather creepy hanging around at a magic show but not cheering.
02:01