Evaluating the opening sequence of Bourne Identity

The opening scene of the film Bourne identity starts by cutting straight to a storm. The scene does not fade in making then movement smooth and calm. It flashes in telling the audience that something dramatic is happening. The storm is used to foreshadow that a storm may be coming. The music begins as a group of mystery characters are shown nearby a boat. The sailors communicate in a foreign language making it difficult for the audience to figure out if these characters are good or bad - this therefore adds to the curious atmosphere. Parallel editing is used to show that the two scenes - the sailors on the boat and the floating body- occurring at the same time. This builds up tension as the audience watch the characters eventually meet. They wait in anticipation to see who will reach the other first.

The floating body shown reveals to the audience that a murder has been committed. The audience may wonder why and who has done this crime but this is part of the story and have to work it out for themselves. This is also generally used in both spy an thriller scenes as it creates a mystery that needs to unfold. A POV shot has been used here so that the audience so that the audience can see what the sailor is currently seeing. This also reveals to the viewer that the sailor has spotted the body as we wait to see his reaction and whats he's going to do next. A flash of lightening turns the screen completely black, the title emerges. Random letters appear in a coding effect that forms in the title.

This can foreshadow that the character has to figure out something highly complicated in the future. After the sailor has spotted the body the music tempo increases as the audience can now see what we may assume to be the main character of the film clearly and evidently for the first time. The theme of the mystery continues as we still have no idea who the man is.The diegetic sound as well as the pace of the music as the sailors realise that the man is still alive. They also start to shout to each other as they panic in a rush to save his life. The music starts to fade out as an extreme close-up is used - inevitably to attract the audiences and also focus their attention on the scalpel which is about to cut open the main character. The now nearly silent music is used to emphasise the focus needed when operating on a body.

Binary opposition

Binary opposition is used within the glass marksman as Bond himself is consistently seen as a 'heroic' character in all of the movies. He is always trying to be captured by a supposed 'villain'. On the other hand, |binary opposition is a very easy way to gain attention of the audience and is continually used in spy genre films, this helps to build tension and drama. Binary oppositions can inevitably create a huge amount of conflict between different conflict this is portrayed through good vs evil, black vs white and Indians vs cowboys etc. Moreover, in our short final clip we will include a Todorovian narrative which is normally used when binary opposition is created as good starts to prevail and then the characters all come to a conclusion then order is fully restored. 

lighting created in casino royale

In this clip the lighting helps to convey the mood and atmosphere. It is used to guide the audiences attention to a particular object - in this clip we can see that there is shadows surrounding the young girl guiding our eyes towards her and the shot glass. This inevitably creates anticipation for the audiences. Additionally the soft lighting creates a diffused illumination and the sun also creates hard light whilst an overcast sky creates soft light. The light from the sun reflects off of the shot glass which shows the direction of the light is aimed at the girl. From this we know that the director is manipulating the light of the scene which is typically decided on two primary sources: key light and fill light.
Furthermore, backlighting is used behind where the young girl is stood to create a silhouette and this causes the edges of the subject to glow. This also causes her hair to glow and look rather fuzzy  it also gives an angelic halo effect around of the head.

Lighting research

Firstly, lighting helps to convey mood and atmosphere in a scene. It can be used to guide the audience's attention to a particular object, person or gesture. Furthermore, it can be used to guide the audiences attention and also cast shadows. By controlling the direction of the light and its intensity, cinematographers can create various visual effects. The careful control of light can produce shadows that conceal details and create moods and direct the audiences attention to point of emphasis.

High Key Lighting refers to a low contrast lighting style that is used to brighten up

everything within the frame and cut down on shadows. With high key lighting, every person 

in the scene, as well as every object get the same amount of light so that everything looks even. The advantage of High Key Lighting is that it also cuts down on shooting time as there is no need for a complex set up of lights.

Backlight is a term used in visual arts such as photography, film and stage lighting that simply means “light that comes from behind”. A light source placed on the opposite side of the “subject” (model, actor) from a viewer’s (camera, audience) point of view. On a conventional theatre stage this means lights that are hung upstage (towards the rear of the stage) that shine back towards the acting area.The angle of backlighting can vary from low down, right up to nearly over the “subjects” head. Light directly overhead is referred to as “toplight” or “downlight” and shares similar lighting qualities to backlight.

Fill light:An auxiliary light, usually from the side of the subject that can soften shadows and

illuminate areas not covered by the key light. 

I would really like to incorporate the idea of back light to create tension and show off the main character in the centre of the triad. Additionally I would also like to use high key lighting as it helps to brighten everything up in the centre of the frame and also create shadows. Lastly I am going to consider using low key lighting to portray the idea that something ad is going to happen and build up anxiousness.