The Bourne Identity

Opening scene to the Bourne Identity.

It starts with some tense music creating a sense of tension. You can see someone with tools perhaps performing a surgery but at this point it isn't clear. The film then cuts to a POV shot of the doctor taking the bullet out of Jason's back. This clears up what he is doing and gives the audience a sense that they're actually there. It then cuts again to an establishing but mid shot of the doctor holding up the bullet to his eye. The camera isn't still giving a sense that this isn't a real doctor's surgery and this isn't as professional as it would be if it were. You can see in the background they're in some sort of hut but you don't know where. The camera then cuts to a POV of him putting the bullet in a tin, if you weren't sure what the doctor was looking at before this clears it up. You then see various close shots of the doctor ripping/tearing something as you hear that sort of noise. Again there's a sense of uncertainty as you don't know exactly what he's doing. You also aren't told who these people are or how they got there or how the one with the wounds got shot. You then see the material being ripped and then it cuts to the doctor's face. It's a close shot of him to make the audience see what he's feeling. The lighting is very dark which also gives a sense that you don't know what's going on. You see him reach for some tools and then cut some skin. The length of these shots and the amount of them give a sense of urgency. Again you see the doctor's face, from a low angle giving the sense he's important. The doctor then turns away and you see him doing something. Out of focus in the front ground you see Jason laying there so it gives a sense something is about to happen as even though the action is away from him you can still see him in the front of shot. It then cuts so you can see what the doctor is doing, which is cleaning the bullet under a tap. You can hear the sound of the tap and throughout all of this tense music is still playing in the background. It cuts back to the doctor from Jason's POV and then for one short shot you see his face and then back to the previous shot of the doctor. You see a tool box be put down and the doctor gets out a magnifying glass. Then a high shot of him looking at the bullet. This is used to show actually the doctor isn't in power anymore, as what he thought were bullets actually aren't that ordinary. You then see the doctor exhale and he's in shock as he point the light at the wall and you see text appear. You see a shot of the writing on the wall from the doctor's shoulder and as he turns it off and looks at the top of the bullet the camera tracks from the writing to the doctor looking at the bullet. Then a 90 degree pan around the doctor and as he walks the camera follows him into a different room. The camera looks down at what he's looking at then back up to him. You see a hand on his back and hear Jason saying "What the hell are you doing to me?". The camera cuts to a front view of the doctor so you can see what's happening slightly more clearly. Jason then pushes him back into the wall. The camera goes from over the shoulder shot of the other person to the other, a two person shot. There is some dialogue and the camera is shacking to reflect the action and the camera flicks between the two of them very quickly to reflect how quickly they're talking. As Jason collapses the camera goes behind him, a mid shot, and the doctor walks him towards the camera. Then a two person shot again but from the side of more dialogue. Jason then collapses and that's were the opening scene ends.

Research on thriller openings

Taxi Driver
In the first 10 seconds we see the title of the film appear behind a taxi. The music is fast paced and draws your attention towards the film. You're introduced to the main character via an interview with him and an owner of a taxi company. The lighting used is natural and there is a bit of background noise but not so much that it would draw your attention away from the talking. Long distance mid distance and close up shots are all used as well as a few other basic shots.

Silence of the Lambs
In the first minute there's a woman running. The camera follows her for some of it and then stops to give you a long distance shot and tracks her. The lighting is natural as they're outside. The music is calm but there's a sense of edge and that something is about to happen. Not much happens but you can tell she's in a rush to get somewhere so you are eager to find out what's happening.

Panic Room
The opening part is different parts of a city, probably the one the majority of the film takes place in. This gives the audience a location so they know were everything is going to happen and they have a big of background information before the film starts. The music is slower and lighter until the title comes up at which point the music is very low and dark. This suggests that the panic room is an evil place, although by the name that could already be suggested. After this the music gets faster to hint that the action is about to happen and the film is about to start. There's a bit of dialogue at the end but most of it is just opening credits and an introduction to where it's taking place. The lighting is all natural as it takes place outside.

Collateral
A plane in the opening before you see it, sound bridge of the airport.
Diegetic sound of airport. Dropping of cases.
Non diegetic sound track on top of noise of the airport.
People talking and working, cars revving.
Sounds stops almost completely when door shuts.
Constant beat on the track. Footsteps enhanced.
Blurred vision of people. Woosh of bags dropping and bags hitting ground to bring attention to action.

Drive
Under lighting, up beat, low key, city shots, natural, establish retro geel, back lighting, top lighting, city in night is beautiful so no effort needed, in the car no light needed, mysterious reflected by lighting, dominance of character low angle shot, Chiascuro working nights.

The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight starts with an establishing shot of buildings to tell us where we are. The camera zooms into the building where we see some glass break. The shot then switches to inside the building and we see who broke the glass and why. There is a ticking sound in the background which is non diegetic but could represent a bomb or time going by, hinting that time is important. The camera pans around the person inside the building until you can see both him and what he's trying to do which is shoot a grappling hook outside onto a roof of a building opposite them. The camera then cuts to a man in the street, it's a long shot of him as you see his entire body and is zooming in on the mask in his hand. A car then pulls up and he gets in. All the while a faced pace sound track is playing in the background. The camera cuts back to the building were two masked villains zipwire onto a roof. The camera follows them out of the building and pans down to show how high up they are. There's then an establishing or an extra wide shot of them on the zipwire and it pans to show them going onto the roof. Camera then cuts to them landing on the roof. Cuts then to inside the car and we see all three of them. There is some dialogue as they ready weapons and drive through the city. The camera pans inside the car to the same guy who was standing on the road again showing his importance. The camera cuts again back to the roof where two guys are getting into a fuse box. Lighting is all natural.

Children of Men
At the start you hear news reporters talking about something. This is a sound bridge to what is about to happen because there is a black screen so you can only hear what's going on. You then see a high shot of lots of people looking worried. The high shot gives the sense that they are vulnerable. You see in the background a TV which is obvious that's what they are all looking at. No one is moving except one person in this shot which gives the sense he is someone important. It cuts and you see what they see, the TV and the news story which is being broadcasted. You see that someone has been murdered and you can hear a woman crying. You follow the man out of the shop and then you see where they are.  There's a 180 pan of the city where he is. The camera then follows the man again and when you get to him there's another 180 pan of him. You can see the cafe in the background and you see a bomb go off. The man spills his coffee and backs off. You can hear the bomb exploding. The lighting is natural.

My Media

Hello, i am Joshua Bailey.

I watch a fair amount of TV. I watch The Big Bang Theory, How I met your mother, New Girl and recently starting watching The Walking Dead. However I do not follow any of these series except from The Walking Dead, I will just watch the above TV programs if they are on TV. I would recommend The Walking Dead, which is a US drama about a zombie apocalypse, it's very exciting and has lots of twists, I wont give anything away but trust you will not get bored!
I go to the cinema fairly regularly, sometimes every week depending on how much money I have. The films I have recently watched are Ted, The Dark Knight Rises and my favourite film, or film series of all time is Lord of The Rings or Star Wars, both incredible series and i recommend them strongly. I also recommend Ted as it is absolutely hilarious and also The Dark Knight Rises because even though it is fairly long it's exciting and action packed.
I don't usually listen to the Radio unless I am in the car with my mum and she puts it on. We listen to Select UK or XFM. The type of music is either house or techno and on XFM rock. I enjoy both stations but I wouldn't listen to them unless I didn't have access to the internet because on the internet I can choose what I listen to.
I do listen to a lot of Music. I use either Spotify or YouTube. I don't really have a favourite genre of music but I do dislike some types such as Pop or Classical. My favourite bands at the moment are Bon Iver, Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Panic! At the disco. However I do have many more bands I like.
I use a lot of websites. When my browser starts up it opens Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Tumblr on start up. I use all four of these every day, using YouTube the most. I recommend all of these websites as they are fun good social networking sites. I also visit websites that have funny pictures of cats on. Such as icanhazcheezburger.com.
I don't read very many newspapers or magazines. I sometimes read the Metro on the train to school however.
I play a lot of games. Currently I play Minecraft, SWKOTOR, SWTOR, WoW, Perfect World, LoL, Battlefield 3, Skyrim, Fifa 12, COD Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed series, Halo, Portal 1+2, Counterstrike, Amnesia, Left 4 Dead 2, Facade, Slender and many more. The game I enjoy the most is Minecraft at the moment however I recommend all of these games because they are all very good. I'm also currently saving up to buy a few new games, Guild Wars 2, Assassin's Creed 3 and Fifa 13 along with some others.

Thank you for your time.