There are no typography elements within the opening scene of Spectre. Directors may have chosen to do this because titling, or any other text, is just not necessary due to the extremely high brand awareness associated with the James Bond films. The marketing/promotion of the film and the commonly known James Bond ident, along with other things, will allow the audience to identify the film when they come to watch it. This famous ident and the other James Bond related information is a cultural code when you look at the Barthes semiotics theory, because the audience will have to have this external knowledge prior to watching the film in order to be able to identify it as Spectre. Due to the audience do have this knowledge, it represents the Spectre and James Bond brand as being well known and in turn successful.
Throughout the opening scene the lighting is kept light, besides when the building collapses and dust/debris causes for it to slightly darken. The frequently seen bright light gives positive connotations to the audience, which when linked with the James Bond brand may represent an exciting and action-packed narrative. Alternatively, the audience may have an oppositional view of this choice of bright lighting and they might interpret it to be foreshadowing that the good will defeat the evil in the end. The darker parts of the scene highlight the destruction that has been caused and for the audience this is rather thrilling because it shows that destruction and action will be a major part within the narrative.
When the camera is filming outside there appears to be a dull, yellow coloured tint over the scene. This dull yellow colour is known to represent caution and decay. Caution is relevant because James Bond is about to put himself in to a dangerous and life threatening situation, and decay could be used to connote that the buildings and the location of where this scene is taking place is quite old and is being to look worn down.
James Bond's clothing is kept darkly coloured and dull. First we see him wearing a primarily black skeleton costume and then he switches to a smarter, dark grey suit. The dark colours look smarter, making James Bond look more official and responsible, however dark colours are a semantic code for darker and more evil concepts. The character, portrayed as an antagonist, is seen wearing a cream and bright suit, which contrasts with this idea of him being one of the bad characters within the film. These two contrasting costume colours clearly differentiate the two characters from each other and cause the audience to make the protagonist and antagonist connections, linking to the binary opposites theory by Levi Strauss. Looking back to the start of the opening scene when all the characters are wearing skeleton costumes, this is confusing for the audience because we have no background information, such as why is James Bond there and what the event is actually about. This event therefore becomes a hermeneutic code as it crafts mystery for the audience. This code is a great way to engage the audience as they will want to discover the answers to the questions they're raising.
The gun that James Bond uses to kill some of his targets and to blow up one of the buildings is one of the first props we see, after the skeleton masks. Guns and other weapons are conventional to the action film genre because they are iconic to violence, destruction and crime. With this being said, using the gun in the opening scene and so early on in the film will engage the audience further because action is being implemented and this probably foreshadows more to come. The antagonist does not have a weapon at all, whereas James Bond has the gun. For an audience that has never seen a James Bond film before this could possibly cause them to think that James Bond is the antagonist. It represents his character as being violent and dangerous. Another prop used in the opening scene is an earpiece. Bond inserts an earpiece in to his ear as he is approaching his targets and he is then able to listen in to the conversation happening in that building. Earpieces are associated with police and security, making it very easy for the audience to link Bond to some sort of security agency through the use of this prop. A more major prop is the helicopter that comes in to rescue the antagonist character. By using a helicopter, equipped with two pilots and another member, emphasises on wealth and power. That person, or the organisation he is working for, must have a lot of money and power in order to be able to afford a helicopter and to operate a rescue mission during a highly populated event.
As there is no text used or any significant codes shown we cannot identify a specific location. However we can deduce from the opening scene it is being set in a major city or town due to the major amount of money and effort that has been put in to this parade. This does not surprise me as it is an action film generic convention for films to be set in major cities. Bond walking on rooftops is tense for the audience because one false move and he will be dead, however his smooth and confident body language calms us. It also makes us feel tense because we are expecting action and this bizarre choice of getting from one point from another almost shouts out to us that this action is close. Inside the helicopter is another setting used within the opening scene and as I have previously mentioned it connotes wealth and power. In addition to these initial connotations, the crazy, hectic situation of the mid-air 3-1 fight between Bond and the antagonists puts the audience on edge as it is unlikely that Bond will win. Nevertheless he does win the fight and flies the helicopter away, showing another of James Bond's skills.
Previously in this analysis I have discussed Bond's confident and smooth body language as he walks along the rooftops. He manages to convey his confident and smooth body language throughout the opening, even when he is fighting in the middle of the sky!!! As an audience, we identify Bond as someone who knows what they're doing and are experienced in their field of work. As we watch the film we relate to it because we visualise that this happens in real life (uses and gratifications - personal relationships), and we hope that all government agents are as good as he is as then we know we will be safe.
Spectre falls in to several different genres: action, thriller, crime and adventure. As an audience we can identify these different genres because of the conventions associated with them. Despite these multiple genres, the main one is action and this is the one I will be exploring in this analysis. Action film generic conventions that apply to Spectre's opening scene are weapons, big city, good vs bad, mass destruction, killings, a chase, explosions and fights. James Bond uses a gun to kill the antagonist characters and cause an explosion, which in turn creates mass destruction. As I have already stated in this analysis I am not aware of the location of where this film is set, however I can deduce that it is quite a big city because of the money and effort that has been put in to that event. The good vs bad (binary opposites) concept is implemented as Bond is seen fighting against people, who are portrayed as antagonists. Bond chases the main antagonist character through the parade, where they eventually end up on the helicopter and fighting.
The standard of editing is very good because it comes across as smooth, continuous and sharp. The sharp part of the editing is important because it fits in more with the action genre. For example, cuts are frequently used as they are sharp, quick and easily build up tension. If a dissolve transition was to be edited in to the opening analysis then it would would dramatically reduce the tension, slowing it down and making it boring for the audience. When the audience watch the opening scene there is no clear cuts, and everything just flows - it is seamless. The editing manages to build the tension and build the action very well, which is what the directors needed to do to engage the audience's attention and maintain it.
Shot types vary throughout the opening scene of Spectre. The first shot we see (below) immediately sets the scene for the audience and lets them know that some sort of major, well populated event is taking place. This helps to build the tension because from the very start there is action and everything appears to be hectic.
The gun that Bond has hanging over his shoulder and uses to kill some people, cause an explosion and then create mass destruction is iconic to the theme of violence. This emphasises this experienced concept because somebody who has no clue about guns would definitely not be walking on a rooftop with a high-tech gun! The helicopter, and how it can just be called for quickly, is iconic to wealth and power. I have already discussed this iconography above. Basically, the antagonist's organisation is very wealthy and powerful.
At the start of the opening to about a quarter of the way through, there is a carnival style tune repetitively playing in the background. This diegetic sound fits in with the parade environment and gives the audience this sense of continuity. This carnival music is combined with one of the well known Bond theme tunes. This Bond theme tune is fast paced and therefore is able to increase tension levels and engage the audience. This tune is iconic to the James Bond brand as it is used regularly, in the latest films at least. It is non-diegetic because that music has been edited in to the scene - it is not natural as dialogue would be.
Throughout the opening scene the lighting is kept light, besides when the building collapses and dust/debris causes for it to slightly darken. The frequently seen bright light gives positive connotations to the audience, which when linked with the James Bond brand may represent an exciting and action-packed narrative. Alternatively, the audience may have an oppositional view of this choice of bright lighting and they might interpret it to be foreshadowing that the good will defeat the evil in the end. The darker parts of the scene highlight the destruction that has been caused and for the audience this is rather thrilling because it shows that destruction and action will be a major part within the narrative.
When the camera is filming outside there appears to be a dull, yellow coloured tint over the scene. This dull yellow colour is known to represent caution and decay. Caution is relevant because James Bond is about to put himself in to a dangerous and life threatening situation, and decay could be used to connote that the buildings and the location of where this scene is taking place is quite old and is being to look worn down.
James Bond's clothing is kept darkly coloured and dull. First we see him wearing a primarily black skeleton costume and then he switches to a smarter, dark grey suit. The dark colours look smarter, making James Bond look more official and responsible, however dark colours are a semantic code for darker and more evil concepts. The character, portrayed as an antagonist, is seen wearing a cream and bright suit, which contrasts with this idea of him being one of the bad characters within the film. These two contrasting costume colours clearly differentiate the two characters from each other and cause the audience to make the protagonist and antagonist connections, linking to the binary opposites theory by Levi Strauss. Looking back to the start of the opening scene when all the characters are wearing skeleton costumes, this is confusing for the audience because we have no background information, such as why is James Bond there and what the event is actually about. This event therefore becomes a hermeneutic code as it crafts mystery for the audience. This code is a great way to engage the audience as they will want to discover the answers to the questions they're raising.
The gun that James Bond uses to kill some of his targets and to blow up one of the buildings is one of the first props we see, after the skeleton masks. Guns and other weapons are conventional to the action film genre because they are iconic to violence, destruction and crime. With this being said, using the gun in the opening scene and so early on in the film will engage the audience further because action is being implemented and this probably foreshadows more to come. The antagonist does not have a weapon at all, whereas James Bond has the gun. For an audience that has never seen a James Bond film before this could possibly cause them to think that James Bond is the antagonist. It represents his character as being violent and dangerous. Another prop used in the opening scene is an earpiece. Bond inserts an earpiece in to his ear as he is approaching his targets and he is then able to listen in to the conversation happening in that building. Earpieces are associated with police and security, making it very easy for the audience to link Bond to some sort of security agency through the use of this prop. A more major prop is the helicopter that comes in to rescue the antagonist character. By using a helicopter, equipped with two pilots and another member, emphasises on wealth and power. That person, or the organisation he is working for, must have a lot of money and power in order to be able to afford a helicopter and to operate a rescue mission during a highly populated event.
As there is no text used or any significant codes shown we cannot identify a specific location. However we can deduce from the opening scene it is being set in a major city or town due to the major amount of money and effort that has been put in to this parade. This does not surprise me as it is an action film generic convention for films to be set in major cities. Bond walking on rooftops is tense for the audience because one false move and he will be dead, however his smooth and confident body language calms us. It also makes us feel tense because we are expecting action and this bizarre choice of getting from one point from another almost shouts out to us that this action is close. Inside the helicopter is another setting used within the opening scene and as I have previously mentioned it connotes wealth and power. In addition to these initial connotations, the crazy, hectic situation of the mid-air 3-1 fight between Bond and the antagonists puts the audience on edge as it is unlikely that Bond will win. Nevertheless he does win the fight and flies the helicopter away, showing another of James Bond's skills.
Previously in this analysis I have discussed Bond's confident and smooth body language as he walks along the rooftops. He manages to convey his confident and smooth body language throughout the opening, even when he is fighting in the middle of the sky!!! As an audience, we identify Bond as someone who knows what they're doing and are experienced in their field of work. As we watch the film we relate to it because we visualise that this happens in real life (uses and gratifications - personal relationships), and we hope that all government agents are as good as he is as then we know we will be safe.
Spectre falls in to several different genres: action, thriller, crime and adventure. As an audience we can identify these different genres because of the conventions associated with them. Despite these multiple genres, the main one is action and this is the one I will be exploring in this analysis. Action film generic conventions that apply to Spectre's opening scene are weapons, big city, good vs bad, mass destruction, killings, a chase, explosions and fights. James Bond uses a gun to kill the antagonist characters and cause an explosion, which in turn creates mass destruction. As I have already stated in this analysis I am not aware of the location of where this film is set, however I can deduce that it is quite a big city because of the money and effort that has been put in to that event. The good vs bad (binary opposites) concept is implemented as Bond is seen fighting against people, who are portrayed as antagonists. Bond chases the main antagonist character through the parade, where they eventually end up on the helicopter and fighting.
The standard of editing is very good because it comes across as smooth, continuous and sharp. The sharp part of the editing is important because it fits in more with the action genre. For example, cuts are frequently used as they are sharp, quick and easily build up tension. If a dissolve transition was to be edited in to the opening analysis then it would would dramatically reduce the tension, slowing it down and making it boring for the audience. When the audience watch the opening scene there is no clear cuts, and everything just flows - it is seamless. The editing manages to build the tension and build the action very well, which is what the directors needed to do to engage the audience's attention and maintain it.
Shot types vary throughout the opening scene of Spectre. The first shot we see (below) immediately sets the scene for the audience and lets them know that some sort of major, well populated event is taking place. This helps to build the tension because from the very start there is action and everything appears to be hectic.
This long shot of Bond walking on the rooftops also helps to build up tension and now excitement for the audience. The level of danger is very high and therefore causes for the audience to be on edge as one wrong step would result in Bond dying or becoming extremely injured. Here he can be seen putting in his earpiece and having a gun hanging over this shoulder. Both of these props aid the audience with identifying the action genre and they also convey this concept of Bond being a spy, if they did not already know from the cultural code. Having the parade also in the long shot emphasises on how high up James Bond is and reinforces this idea of a high level of danger. In addition, having Bond in the foreground, forces the audience to focus on him and what he is doing. You can also see vaguely how his body language comes across as confident and experienced.
The gun that Bond has hanging over his shoulder and uses to kill some people, cause an explosion and then create mass destruction is iconic to the theme of violence. This emphasises this experienced concept because somebody who has no clue about guns would definitely not be walking on a rooftop with a high-tech gun! The helicopter, and how it can just be called for quickly, is iconic to wealth and power. I have already discussed this iconography above. Basically, the antagonist's organisation is very wealthy and powerful.
At the start of the opening to about a quarter of the way through, there is a carnival style tune repetitively playing in the background. This diegetic sound fits in with the parade environment and gives the audience this sense of continuity. This carnival music is combined with one of the well known Bond theme tunes. This Bond theme tune is fast paced and therefore is able to increase tension levels and engage the audience. This tune is iconic to the James Bond brand as it is used regularly, in the latest films at least. It is non-diegetic because that music has been edited in to the scene - it is not natural as dialogue would be.
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