And then there were none analysis
I have chosen to analyse this opening scene to a TV show
because it has a similar set up to our final movie idea. It’s a murder mystery
show like the movie we want to create. It also set on an isolated island where no
one can escape their fate, in our movie we want to have all the characters
involved with the murder stuck in the same room until someone confesses to
committing the murder.
The opening shot
intrigues the viewer as they see a bunch of characters on a boat and do not
know why they are on that boat or where they are going. The fact that they do
not all sit close together shows that they do not know each other but they all
have a connection as they are all on the same boat for a reason. The safety
boat behind shows that the sea can be dangerous and where they are going can be
equally so. It’s an extreme long establishing shot used to film with a Steadicam
as the movement of it is limited. The uninhabited sea shows isolation which is enhanced
by the grey blue green.
All changes in shots throughout the main opening sequence
are jump cuts to unsettle the viewer and make them jump. This is further enhanced
by the dramatic change in colour from shot to shot. The shot before was bright
and blue and this shot is dark grey with hints of red. This shows that the
characters before they reach the island are innocent but he woman in the house
is not. The lobsters start to represent the people in the boat, as she troughs
them into hot water it could be a metaphor for chaos or drama as we refer to
that as being in hot water.
The opening scene has
diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound and ambient sound. You can hear the howling
wind and the sound of the cooking pot clashing as the maid puts the lid on it. There is
an eerie classical track playing in the background that is slow and builds up
to help create tension and suspense, it’s mostly made up of violins. This shot
is a close up and we can see the characters looking confused, agitated and
suspicious. The colour of the woman’s clothing is purple which is a royal
colour which implies that she might be self-centred as royalty are often the centre
of attention. All of them are dressed in a 1940s style which is when the book
that inspired this show was written.
The man at the front of the boat like the woman is wearing
bright clothing showing that there could be a connection between them. Later we
realize that they become a love interest. The man's updated style shows his
status and youth as the older male characters are dressed in dull colours. The
older men are wearing long brown coats and jacket which were popular at the
time. The camera man decided to film the two half’s of the boat separately to
show how the characters take sides. Both shots where close ups.
In this shot you see them all together looking into the
distance which makes them look determined to get to the white house as there might
be something for them there. The house is white and almost is invisible in the fog,
this makes it scary as it represents how people who might go there disappear
too. Also white represents isolation and the concept of being trapped with no
escape is quite terrifying. The whole opening uses continuity editing with
cross cutting as one narrative is on the people on the boat and the other is the
woman getting food ready in the house. The opening scene also uses clever
parallel editing as we connect the two sorts of stories together. As this shot
takes place a dong sound to make the viewer jump plays, this is to make the
island look intimidating.
In this shot we see the maid cutting the lobster brutally
which could refer to an event that happens later on in the performance. Her
preparing the food is almost a sort of foreshadow of what might happen to the
characters. Also the variety of knives might unsettle the viewer as knives are
seen as dangerous as they can not only be used for cooking. The displacement of
the knife as the maid uses it is unnerving as the gap where the knife used to
be does no longer look aesthetic and could creep some people with OCD of
perfectionism out. Also the sound of the cracking of the lobster shells is very
sinister as it may represent how some of the characters will start to crack
under the pressure of certain strains put upon them later on in the show.
This shot is interesting as it is another close up like
before only this time we do not know what the character looks like and as he
has appeared later on in the opening it makes the viewer suspicious as we do
not know who he is. Also the character is very formally dressed unlike the
other characters which make him stand out. He looks as if he has a high status
which is backed up by his knowledge on how to lay a posh dinner table. Also his
slow precise movements make him even more suspicious.
In this shot we get to see how daunting the island is to the
characters visiting as the shot is filmed as a long shot from far away. The
characters look really small compared to the island which show how empowering and
possessive the island is. This shot is an extreme long shot.
In this shot we yet
again see the mysterious character, what he is carrying is made to look very
significant as the camera tracks the tray with figures on it and as it is put down
and the man steps backwards, the camera stays filming the statues. The man’s
black costume gives him a dark villainous feel as that what we associate with
the colour black. The jade statues look like abstract versions of humans this
could be another link to the characters we saw on the boat. This shot is a
close up and as it takes place the background music starts to ever so slightly
build in sound.
This shot is entertaining as it moves down to reveal what the
woman is doing which offers an interesting change from the camera moving to the
side to track something. As the lobsters represent the later misfortune of the
characters visiting on the boat, it shows that the island will just put them
through torment. Also she throws them away and deals with
each lobster one by one which reflect how the show later deals with the
storyline, it takes it step by step.
In this shot the audience gets further intrigued by who the
man in the black suit is as we see him, but his identity is still not yet
revealed. This shot moves upwards to reveal the meeting place of the character.
The effect that this filming technique creates is that you feel a god like presence
or you feel like a god as it is filmed above making it look as if you are
looking down on people. This makes the viewer question if there is another
person involved watching everything. Also the jewels on the chandelier are red
and green, this links to the variations of colour in the shots, for instance
the shots of the boat at sea had green tones and the red tones seen in the
kitchen. The green represents envy and the red bloodlust which are two themes
shown throughout the performance. Also this is a tilt shot.
In this shot we see why the woman was throwing the
lobsters. It’s a really dramatic shot done with a drone as it reveals the hole
in the island and the music intensifies to add dramatic tension. Also how small the
woman is now compared to the lobster’s shows how
the island is like a monster. Also the hole could represent how the characters
are like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. The island for them is an unknown
place which makes it even more interesting. This shot is an extreme long shot
and an aerial shot.
This is an extreme long shot of the island. This is to get
the viewer to finally see how big the island is and how isolating it is and how
claustrophobic the house is as it very small and with many people inside the
house with no other place to go it looks like it will almost trap the
characters. The music at this point fades quietly out and to get the viewer to
pay more attention to it. The shot is moving to create a scene of traveling and
there is also no sign of the boat which makes the audience assume that that
characters on the boat have got to the island.
I have not used the entire clip for my essay as I felt the rest of it was past the opening part and I liked how climatic the final shot of the island was.
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