Thriller opening - Inception - Claire

Inception – 

Starts with waves crashing about, the lighting it bright, there’s minimal colour, very pastel. It’s an eye level CU shot. The very start there’s a loud, heave drop noise like a bell/ horn of some kind.  There’s the ambient sound of the waves in the background. I think they done this to create enigma and engage the audience more.

From this shot there is a pan across the water. And the lighting dims.

It then shifts to a shot of a man with his face down into the water. You can see he has a brown jacket, brown hair, the lighting is about average midday bright, and it’s quite a faded shot. It’s an eye level CU shot of him. This was done to make the audience question who he is, why he’s there, what happened, what’s going to happen, ect.

  

It goes to a shot of a little boy, building a sandcastle, the lighting is slightly brighter than the last few, it looks quite faded still, the colouring is dull, and you can see he is at a beach because of the sand around him, it’s a MS on a slightly low angle. I think this is done to create a happier atmosphere.

it goes back to the man with his face on the shore, he’s looking down, with a miserable expression on his face, the lighting goes back to neutral, the colours are still basic, it’s a BCU shot front eye level, as he lifts his head it goes back to the little boy and a girl runs over to him, the lighting goes back to bring bright, the colours are faded, this is usually the sign of a flash back. I think they put a flash back in it to show why his facial expressions show depressed thoughts and misery.

you can see the contrast between the colour and lighting here.

It’s back to him in the water, darker lighting and more defined colours, you can see more of his body now as he stares at the children, or where the children would be. His facial expression has changed and now he looks more shocked and scared then miserable. It’s a CU shot with an eye level angle. This is done to make the viewer’s question what is going on and what he is thinking, it creates enigma.