ACTIONJames Bond- Skyfall

Fatihah&

Chloe

Appearance

Villian in white juxtaposes to what we usually associate the colour white as pure and innocent

• Suit• Earpiece• Earpiece• Styled hair• Cufflinks• Watch• Knows how to handle a gun

• Suit• No tie• Sunglasses (not formal)• Man in white suit • With black shirt • Man with dark suit. White shirt • Woman in blood red dress• Blood on woman's lip, shows

violence• Tied in rope

Props• Smashed computer- shows that there was

something important on the computer that needed to be damaged/ destroyed

• Alcohol- as the alcohol is expensive and the villian is proud of it shows that he is powerful and also juxtaposes to the scene

• Silver tray, flowers in a vase• Guns- danger, protection, violence • Ear piece- spy, secret, he is being controlled

shows that he is not doing it on his own• Rope- kidnapping, forced• Shot glass• Record player- contrapuntal sound

Miscellaneous• Blood – the blood in the opening scene suggest a

strong suggestion that there has been violence occurring in this scene also reinforces that the people are dead. We expect to see violence in action movies and by showing this in the first scene speaks directly to the audience that it is an action movie

• Dead bodies – again showing violence and by showing the bodies implies that they have been left and are now irrelevant to the film

• Spotlight/White light backing – the bright natural light that frames the one remaining person alive could signify as going into the light and also creates bond to look like a silhouette

Location• Empty corridor- as it is empty and is

deserted except from bond creates an eerie feeling

• Dark flat• Deserted city/town- suggests war, or

something dangerous and destructive happened here, it creates questions in the audience, why is it empty? What happened?

• Establishing shot of city surrounded by water- shows isolation, and answers some questions

Signs & Signifiers Opening of skyfall:-Location is a dark hallway signifies that something bad has happened, there is no artificial lighting only natural. The main character is edging with care bringing up a gun, which signifies to the audience that there is a need to protect himself and violence will be occurring. We associate guns with, death, violence, danger, protection and frightening.Bond is seen wearing a suit, signifying to the audience that this character is smart and professional, he is not unemployed, he has reason to be there. We do not fully see bonds face at first, but as he walks closer to the camera, a stream of light highlights bonds face, by only showing this part of bonds face creates mystery, we do not know if he is a villian at first or a main character it is a secret to the audience until this stream of light shines on bonds face.As bond investigates the scene the audience is shown a dead man face down to the floor, signifying that there has been a lot of violence occurring, something unexplained. The soundtrack to this scene is quiet, lingering in the background, a group of strings creating tension and building the suspense in the scene

Technical codes, Symbolic codes, Written codes

Technical codes

Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the camera work in a film.

Symbolic/ visual codes

Symbolic/ visual codes are all the ways in which appearance is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the mise en scene in a film

Written codes

Written codes are all the ways in which text is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the headlines in a film

For example in skyfall in the opening scene we are shown an out of focus man moving directly towards the camera, there is a bright natural light streaming in, framing the man in the shadows. As he moves forward the shot changes from long shot to a medium shot changing to an extreme close up and the strangers face is revealed. The camera moves with him for a moment and then moves around the back of bond tracking him. The camera then switches to a front view of the character, the camera changes to be shot in the point of view of the character., but as we are shown the second dead body, bonds legs come in to frame and the camera tracks bond again.

For example in the second clip, we are shown different personalities of the characters just by their appearance and clothing, we are shown the difference, one is a villain the other is the hero. I watched one of the clips without sound or prior knowledge to the films story line, only knowing that bond was the main character. This was very interesting as I was just judging the characters by their appearance and body language, it was clear to me that the other man with bond was a villain instantly, with his white blazer and hidden red shirt. He expressed an air of confidence, he was not worried or frightened, his body language was not comforting or directly kind towards bond in the first few seconds, his body language was threatening.