Research: Film Opening Analysis 1 (holiday homework 1))

‘The Taking of Pelham 123’ is a thriller which follows the conventions of a thriller film opening (could be classed in a sub-genre of action-thriller). The film is about four men who hijack a train – Pelham 123 – and want money.

A stylized title sequence is used for this film.

It starts off with the production and distribution company’s logo – Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Pictures.

Camera

The film starts off with an establishing shot of New York’s skyline city, with panning around the tallest buildings. It then moves to a high angle looking down on different streets of New York, with taxis and crowds of people, moving to a close up of the subway sign, showing the location of the movie.

A range of long, mid and close-up shots are used; especially the use of sudden close-up shots of the men which shows their importance in the film and making them stand out to us. Along with these shots, the opening has made use of the fast-forward technique, and fast cuts, to highlight the fast pace and energy of New York City; but a normal pace was used when zooming into the men’s faces so the audience can establish that they are the main characters. This is accompanied by fast paced and exciting music which helps emphasise the life and energy of New York. 

Sound

At the beginning there is only the sound of a train moving and then a long beep. This then suddenly changes to ambient sound with quiet train sounds in the background. When the film goes to the crowds of people the soundtrack suddenly starts. It has heavy base sounds and fast tempo with some rapping; there are still sounds of trains moving.  The use of train sound effects was effective because it reinforced the main theme within the film.

Editing

The film uses a variety of editing techniques – mainly fast cuts and fast forward in order to show the pace of the city and reflect how fast the men need to work. The use of many fast cuts helped increase the pace of the opening, establishing to the audience that the film will be full of action. The scenes change quickly with cut transactions, however when there is a close up on Ryder's face the footage is slowed down, making our attention focus on him.  When there is a change in location there is a very fast montage of images that blur together before settling on the office. All of this is in parallel editing. To end they have a simple black screen with block white writing say the time '1.58 pm'
Lots of the editing is done to link or fit with trains, they do this to show the importance of the trains and to show what the basis of the film in based on.

Mise-en-scene

The setting and costumes used in the opening all contrasted with one another which reinforce the differences in characters and locations. The opening is set in the busy city of New York and in an office. The costumes of the actors do stand out from the crowd as they are dressed in black – how hijackers are typically expected to dress. The lighting in the office is lighter with a blue tint to it, making it seem calm and technical. The subway is dark, grey and slightly dingy. This helps to show contrast between the two locations.

The technical use of camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene all work effectively in order to set the scene and atmosphere of a busy and catastrophic day/event which will take place.