Full shot analysis of Casino Royale opening

The establishing shot in this scene is a wide, low angle shot. It gives you an idea of the setting that the scene is in and the low angle emphasises the size of the building and also adds to the mysterious atmosphere.

The next shot is a low angle close up of the first character and this allows you to see his nervous expression clearly and as it is from a low angle it makes you feel as if he is important and you're looking up to him.

The wide long shot in the next part of the scene pans along and follows the character from behind as he walks down the corridor. This is used to again show the eery atmosphere as you can see the character is alone in the corridor and perhaps walking into some harm.

The next shot is a low angle shot of the office the character is walking in to. The fact that the camera is at a low angle makes the viewer feel as if they should not be in that room and as if they are spying on the character.

There is a close up reaction shot next, which shows the viewer clearly the characters reaction to hearing an unknown voice in his office and the panic in his eyes.

For the next few seconds there is a shot, reverse, shot part where the camera switches between two characters as they talk to eachother. A medium long shot is used in this part which gives the viewer an idea of how far apart the characters are standing from eachother, to show they are not comfortable with talking to eachother.

The next shot is of a cricket game and a wide shot is used here to show the large amount of people there are and the whole action of the game. A shot, reverse, shot is also used in this part as it shows that one man has spotted another and keeps looking back at him to watch if he moves.

The fighting scene uses a mix between medium, long and close up shots. It uses a two shot so that both characters are in the shot at the same time. By using the long shot the viewer can see all the moves they are using to fight and then switching to a medium or close up shows the reaction and feeling on their faces. The fighting scene also has one shot from an aerial view which shows the viewer the two characters smashing through the toilet cubicles and you can still see the action from the fight.

Casino Royale film opening

The beginning of this film is shown before the opening credits to give you a background story to the rest of the film and explains the important history of James Bond and how he gained his 007 status. To gain this status he needed to kill two people.

The scene at the beginning shows Bond's lead up to his second kill and then uses flash backs to show his first killing. The whole of this beginning scene is in black and white to show that it is in the past and then everything from after the opening credits is in colour to show it is the present day.

The location is set straight away by the bit of text in the corner of the screen telling you where they are. There is no speech in the flash backs where James Bond is killing his first person, just background music which builds suspence with the viewer as they watch what the know is about to come.

At the very beginning of the scene the viewer can tell it is an eery atmosphere as when the man steps out of the car he looks around him before proceeding into the building. The first person you hear talk in the film is the main character James Bond and as he has the conversation in the office the camera work makes it look very shady and mysterious as Bond emerges from the shadows and the whole office is very dark, which adds to the tense atmosphere.

Genre research

In Fridays lesson we were discussing what genre we would, as a class, like to make our 2 minute film opening. Most of the class were thinking of a horror/thriller as we thought this would be a fun, more straight forward genre which you can do a lot with. Other people were thinking of doing a comedy which I think would be the hardest genre to do as we would have to put a lot more thought and careful planning into it and it may end up not being funny at all.
I would like to do a thriller movie opening as I think we can create a lot of suspense and it would be a fun, interesting genre to explore. When i researched this genre this is what i found from the website http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html:

"Thriller and Suspense Films are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features.
If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that rentlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy."

Examples of some thriller films are:
Pulp Fiction, The Shining, Phone Booth, Psycho and Memento.