Open on an establishing shot of a city at
night. The setting is stereotypical of the spy genre. The time of day indicates
mystery and secrecy which help to establish some of the films themes. The
lights in the distance of the shot indicate decadence. They also imply that
there is more to be seen; that there are things going on off screen that we as
the audience do not yet know about. This is conventional of the spy genre
because it implies there is a mystery or conspiracy.
This is the first shot we get of the main
character. It is a close up of him in
the back of a car with a gun. Other than the obvious genre indicator -the gun-
this shot implies the genre of the film through the use of lighting and
character. The high volume of shadows in the shot implies mystery and secrecy.
The characters costume; his hair, ring and suit; all give off a high class,
suave, James Bond type vibe which is a stereotype of the genre.
This shot is of the ‘villain’ reaching
for his gun; a
canted angle is used. This builds tension both with the characters and audience
because the canted angle makes you feel uneasy and like you have a lack of
control. It implies the characters are tense and that the scene is building to
some kind of ultimatum.
The main trope of the spy genre in this
shot is the car chase. It is a long shot which lets the audience get a view of
all the action. It is also a high angle shot which makes the cars look small
and inconsequential, dwarfing the significance of the scene. The shot has a
clear colour palette of orange and blue. The orange implies danger which
contrasts with the calm of the blue, and this reinforces the theme that the
peril doesn’t matter.
Following the first scene, there are a
number of graphics such as this which appear on the screen for a brief time each. The voice over they are
accompanied with explains some of the back story and context of the film. It
conforms to stereotypes of the spy genre by featuring themes of war and
international tension. The colour red implies danger and blood which are also
conventional of the genre. It could also imply love or romance, which are often
featured heavily in the genre.
This long shot gives us more of an idea
about the theme of the movie and also tells us more about the main
character. The long shot lets us look at
the surrounding environment which we can see is under military rule. We can
infer that the setting is Germany from earlier in the trailer. We also see the
protagonist in the shot. His positioning directly in the center implies he is
important. His demeanor juxtaposes with the environment making him look even
smarter. The camera is placed at the horizon line making the character seem
important, and because we see his back we are seeing a similar view to him.
This makes the audience empathise with him.
Here we can see the ‘villain’ trope.
Without any other context we can tell that the center character is the
main antagonist because
of his nefarious demeanor. The deep shadows in the surrounding
environment; the scientific lab; the evil henchmen and of course the large bomb
all help to frame the character in a powerful way. His location; directly in
the middle of the
shot also makes him look significant because he is the first thing we look at.
This is a low angle shot which makes the character seem powerful and important. His motorcycle, boots and dark clothes make the character look rugged and ready for action; we can see this is a hero type character which is stereotypical of the genre. The setting contrasts with the character by being a bright and happy countryside environment, not the place you would expect an action chase.
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