Monday, January 10, 2011

Double Indemnity - Opening Sequence Analysis


The title of the film:
The title of the film is ‘Double indemnity’, and at first we see that the film is in black and white, seeing that the film is ‘old’. The use of the black and white, creates a creepy atmosphere as you are able to see smoke and dust a lot better; giving a ,ore creepy feel to it. We see a silhouette of a man on crutches walking towards us, and this relates to the title as it is all about money; he was harmed for whatever reason. The title is clearly seen by the viewer, as it is in bold letter in the centre of the frame.

How the setting/location is revealed:
We are able to see an establishing shot of a main road, with road signs, the sign says ‘Los Angeles’, so we are able to depict that this movie is set in Los Angeles. It is currently at night because of the darkness, and this adds to the creepy effect within the movie; as most crimes are committed at night and that is when it is most haunting.

Costumes/props:
The man who we see firstly we believe to be the predominant character, is in a suit with a long black trench coat and a trilby hat; looking very formal. I believe this says a lot about his character, and we can instantly know a little bit about him. We see this male holding a gun, and this prop is very common amongst thriller movies, the audience will automatically have questions that they want answered such as why he has the gun, what is he going to do with it, all these questions we want answered. Another prop is the car driving very swiftly and out of control, additionally the audience wants to know this car is driving in this manner.

Camera work/editing:
During the opening sequence we see the titles, and these consist of who was within the construction of the movie. The male character appears to be walking towards us which is very clever, we want to know why he is on crutches; also who done it to him. Furthermore, the long shot of the office is really effective, in my opinion, as we are able to see the sheer amount of workers that work they; due to the deserted desks in the shot.

Title and font style:
Traditionally in thriller opening sequences we see the traditional use of bold and simple font that is central in the frame, and I feel this creates a much bigger impact. The simple text makes the viewer feel relaxed just before they watch the movie, because we know that through a thriller movie the audience will not be relaxed.

How the opening sets the story:
Firstly we see a man driving erratically through the road of Los Angeles, and then he pulls up outside of a vast building. We then see the man go up in a lift to the office which he works at, and we are unable to see his face very often, possibly to make the audience wonder why we are unable to see his face. We will then watch on, and the mystery will unravel.

How does it suggest that it’s a thriller:
The opening sequence could suggest that the film is a thriller, with the use of blacks and whites as these colours will be seen as haunting. Also, the music in the opening sequence makes out the film is going to be a thriller as it’s very sinister and builds a lot of tension for the viewer; possibly making them sit on the edge of their seat.

The characters introduced:
In the opening sequence we meet the driver of the car, and we find out that his name is Mr Neff, and we learn that he is an important member of the company, possibly a manager. This could be thought due to the fact that he has his own office, and it is higher up than the workers little desks.

Special effects:
In ‘Double Indemnity’ the opening sequence I feel doesn’t have very many special effects used, it is just simple camera work. The only special effects that could be used were to assist the car in driving so fast around the streets.

No comments:

Post a Comment