Casino Royale - Thriller Opening Analysis - By Sam Swinson

Casino Royale Analysis (Director; Martin Campbell, Date of Release; 2006) - By Sam Swinson

Key

• Camera
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise en Scene
• Key Terms

Analysis

Figure 1

• The sequence starts with a fade from black 
• The first shot is an establishing shot of a building at night time
• The opening sequence is in black and white
• There is ambient sound 
• An off-screen foley sound of a car can be heard and then as the car comes into the frame is becomes an on-screen sound
• Questions are already be asked by the audience like why is the start in black and white? 

Figure 2

• The next shot is a close-up of the man getting out of his car
• The man looks around to check if anyone is there and this suggests to the audience that he is not supposed to be at this building or that he is going to do somehting that he doesn't want anyone to know about
• His costume us a suit with a dark coloured coat
• This suggests that he is a bad character because of the dark clothing
• The fact that he is wearing a suit could indicate that he is an important character in the story
• His facial expression is very serious
• There is very quiet non-diegetic background music 

Figure 3

• After a match on action in the elevator as he goes up the floor there is a tracking shot (Figure 3)
• This is an extreme long shot
• It is unrestricted narrative because the audience is not just focus on one thing the can see lots of things
• It allows the audience to see that the building is empty
• This extreme long shot allows us to see all of the character's costume and we see that all of his costume is dark coloured which suggests that he is a bad character
• An enigma is created because the audience don't know who this character is and they don't know what his part is in the story of the film
• Also, this shot is very mysterious because it shows the character alone in this big building and we don't know what he is going to do
• The is diegetic foley footstep sounds are very loud to emphasise the how quiet it is in the building 

Figure 4

• Just before the man enters the room off-screen foley sounds of footsteps can be heard to tell the audience that he is approaching the door to enter the room
• As the man walks into an office which could be his the camera pans and tilts around the room to follow the man and it stops behind a chair
• This shot is an extreme long shot of the character
• This is a slight over the shoulder shot
• The audience can see that something is in the chair that they are behind
• Low-key lighting is used to keep the what's in the chair hidden

Figure 5 + 6

• Then the there is a cut transition to the other side of the room 
• This is a big close up on the characters face
• His facial expression shows that he is thinking about something, also, it shows that he is a very serious character
• Half of his face is lit from the desk light source and half of his face has a shadow this could suggest that this character is a good character, but, he has done some bad things
• Shallow depth of field is used so that the audience focus on his face because everything behind him is out of focus
• Then there is a cut to a POV shot (figure 6) of what the character is looking at
• At the same time, a loud foley heart beat sound can be heard which suggest something is about to happen because he is relaxed, but, the audience knows that someone else is in the room

Figure 7

• Then it switches back to the big close-up shot (like in figure 5) as a diegetic voice can be heard and is is off-screen sound because the audience can't see the source of the sound
• Shot reverse shot is used because there was the big close-up of the man's face then it cut to a POV shot then back to the big close-up
• The character is startled by the voice as are the audience because the character that is speaking can't be seen
• This builds suspense and adds to the enigma because the audience don't know what spoke
• As the character turns around to look at who spoke the focus changes so that the audience can see who spoke
• Low-key lighting is used to keep James hidden 
• Also, James is wearing all black costume to keep himself hidden
• The dark costume and low-key lighting make James seem very mysterious

Figure 8 + 9

• The camera cuts to a close-up of James (figure 8) as he speaks and he says the line "selling secrets"
• This tells the audience that the man is a bad person
• After James has said that line there is non-diegetic background music that is very quiet
• Then there is a cut to POV shot from Jame's perspective looking at the man (Figure 9)
• Shallow depth of is used so that the man is in focus, but, the lamp in the for ground is not in focus
• The man's facial expression shows that he is going to do something bad which could possibly be kill James
• Also, it shows that he is very serious
• Again half of his face is lit and the other half has a shadow
• This works together to help make this a thriller becuase of the suspense that is being built

Figure 10

• As the man walks over to his chair to sit down he opens his drawer to reveal a weapon
• This shot is match on action to show him opening the drawer
• Weaponry is an icon of thrillers which helps make this a thriller film
• Becuase the weapon is the focus of the frame it suggests to the audience that he is going to kill James
• The non-diegetic background music gets louder as the gun is revealed this is used to build suspense and is makes the audience question if the man is going to kill James
• The background music has a small crescendo as he takes his hand away from the drawer
• Shallow depth of field is used so that only the gun is in focus

Figure 11 +12

• Then there is another POV shot from James perspective looking at the man
• In this shot, he takes off his gloves
• The non-diegetic background music is building up as the man speaks which builds suspense because the audience knows that the man has access to his gun, but, they don't know what he is going to do with it
• There is dialogue between the two characters 
• In the dialogue, the audience finds out that this is before James Bond was 007 so this could suggest to the audience that the black and white is used to show the past
• The man's body language is relaxed and his facial expression shows that he will kill Bond if he gets in his way
• Through the dialogue, his facial expression starts to show that he is confident because he knows that he has a gun which gives him an advantage over James
• There is a cut to a 2 shots from the side that shows both characters in the room (Figure 12)
• This long shot shows that James is in the dark and that the man is in the light which suggests to the audience that the man has an advantage of James
• The non-diegetic background music continues to build up which adds suspense and it adds tension

Figure 13 + 14

• Then there is a cut to a flashback of a fight sequence between James Bond and someone that was speaking to the man
• To show that it is a flashback the picture is overexposed and slightly more pixelated
•  There is non-diegetic background music that is parallel sound because it matches what is happening on screen so as the James punches the music will peek as the punch is made
• The fast paced action means that the editing is faster paced than the previous sequence
• There are more cuts to different angles 
• The fast paced action appeals well to the target audience of young adult males
• The setting for the fight is in a bathroom
• Most of the props like bins and sinks get destroyed by the fight
• The fight adds tension because both characters are punching and James will beat down the man, but, then the man will beat down James
• This is used to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and they feel like they are in the action

Figure 15

• As the character in the flashback is about to hit James there are two quick cuts back to James and the man
• This confused the audience becauase of the quick transitions
• As the non-diegetic background music crescendos the man pulls out his gun at points it a James
• The man's facial expression is still very serious and his body language shows that he wants to kill James
• The shot is a mid-shot with a low angle 
• The fast-paced editing matches the background music so it is parallel sound
• This builds suspense because the audience is not sure if the man is going to shoot James

Figure 16 + 17 + 18

• There is a cut to a close-up on James as he looks straight at the man (Figure 16) and then there is another cut to a close-up on the man as he is about to pull the trigger (Figure 17)
• The shot of the man shows his facial expression and it suggests to the audience that he is going to kill James
• Shallow depth of field is used so that the gun is out of focus, but, is his face is in focus as he smiles
• The non-diegetic background music crescendos as he pulls the trigger, but, there are no bullets in the gun which confuses the audience because they thought that James was going to get killed
• The crescendo as he pulls the trigger (Figure 18) builds lots of suspense and it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats even though this is not a fast paced action sequence
• The facial expression of the man when his gun doesn't shoot shows that he is confused and so is the audience.

Conclusion

• There is a mixture of fast paced editing and slower paced editing
• Cut is the main transition used, but, there is a fade from black at the start of the sequence
• This opening appeals to the target audience of young adults mostly males because there is fast paced action and there is mystery that keeps the audience involved in the sequence 
• There is restricted and unrestricted narrative with a mix of long shots and close-up shots 
• Mise en scene is used to confuse the audience so they don't know which character is good or bad
• This is good thriller opening because it shows the main conventions of a thriller like weaponry being iconic for thrillers, also, and enigma is created which keeps the audience questioning what is happening
• The audience are given information through the sequence and it keeps them questioning what is going to happen next 
• Finally, suspense is used well to keep the audience on the edge of their seats throughout the sequence