TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

By Will Slocombe

ENIGMA CODES

I believe that film producers use enigma codes to create questions for the audience, and to create intrigue for them as to what is going to happen in the next an hour or so of production time. An example of this is in the opening scene of “The Dark Knight”, where there is a bank robbery occurring in broad daylight. This juxtaposes conventional themes of Batman films, because they are almost always set an night time, because of protagonist’s nocturnal lifestyle. Therefore, it makes the audience conjure up questions about what has happened to the Dark Knight in the film.

MONOLOGUE

In the film “Australia” the main character narrates the opening scene. He, with the help of text describes the context of the time period, in which the film is set in. This cleverly introduces the audience to the storyline and makes them intrigued as to what is going to happen to this particular boy in this film.

The director also uses an establishing longshot of the cattle heard to show the sheer size of the herd, which could represent the dominance that the Whites now had in the Outback.

SOUNDTRACK

Soundtracks are often used in opening scenes because they create an audible memory for the viewer, which often helps them to remember the visual aspect of the opening scene as well. One of the most famous examples of this is the opening scene for “Chariots of Fire”. It is unique and a pleasure to listen to, which means the audience may just watch the film because of its opening scene’s theme song. The visual aspect is also simplistic and unusual, men running along a beach. This could create interest for the audience as they may not know why these men are training in this particular way.

EDITING

In the movie “Titanic” the director puts a filter of the video to make it seem like the footage is ‘found footage’. This makes the audience feel like they have travelled back in time to when the Titanic set sail. I believe that this is clever way of setting the era and location of the film. The producer also uses an upwards pan shot, that moves from the crowd of people at the docks, to the ship. This effectively shows the enormity of the boat, in contrast to it’s passengers.