Saturday, 4 October 2014

Casino Royale Analysis


Casino Royale Opening Macro Analysis




From the opening sequence of Casino Royale, we are able to build up an expectation of what the film maybe about and how the rest of the story may turn out. The opening sequence shows that the character that James Bond kills wears a suit and tie and has a very impressive office. This implies that the movie will consist of a corrupt business, which the spy James Bond, will challenge. This is an easy link to the genre: Thriller as Corruption is one of its themes.  The opening sequence of the film also shows a flash back of James Bond’s past of which consists of a fight scene in a restroom. This shows that the film is action packed and filled with violence and fighting.


At the end of the opening section of the film is the Title sequence. The sequence is animated and has bright colours. The whole of the titles had references to Casinos which links to the title of the film one example is that Instead of bullets the gun fired spades. There are also pictures of figures fighting each other which link to the concept of the genre: Thriller. This is because one theme of a Thriller is violence and by showing a fight scene in the title sequence, creates a link to the genre: Thriller. However, not everything in the title sequence link to the genre: Thriller. The music played over the title sequence is not something you except to come across in a thriller movie instead you expect to hear it from a more cheerful genre such as a RomCom or a Comedy. This is because the song is upbeat and happy which differs from a more typical song for a thriller which is slow, tension building.


The only character that we can clearly identify from the opening sequence is James Bond.  It is easy to identify James Bond as he wears a tuxedo which is an iconic costume for the James Bond character. The Character that plays James Bond: Daniel Craig is physically fit and strong which makes him ideal for portraying James Bond as he is what most people imagine the character James Bond would look like.  Another character in the opening sequence is the villain. He wears a suite and tie which shows Authority and power this contrasts to another character, James Bond’s enemy in the fight scene, where he wears a more casual attire. There is very little dialogue in the opening scene especially in the fight scene where there is no dialogue used. This is significant as it creates tension due to the fact that having very little dialogue creates mystery as you would know less about what is happening. There are also no female characters introduced in the opening sequence of the film which is interesting as one of the main characters of all James Bond films are the James Bond girls.


The director uses clever cinematography, sounds and lighting to indicate that the genre of the film is Thriller.  There are Close up shots of James Bond’s face to show his emotion of seriousness.  This helps the audience identify that the genre is Thriller as it shows that the film is not cheerful nor humorous but serious and action packed, which are features of thriller movies.  The opening sequence is in black and white this made everything very dark which is important as it creates mystery because you don’t quite see everything clearly; this creates suspense which is essential in Thriller movies.  Furthermore, Dark has connotations of evil and violence which are themes of thrillers.  The use of sounds is used to create tension and suspense In the opening sequence.  Sounds of footsteps are enhanced to suggest that everything is very silent and slow tempo music is added to imitate the heartbeat.  This effect is important as it creates fear and tension for the audience. 
By Darwin Serrano 

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