textual analysis of thriller opening 'the usual suspects'.

Textual analysis of ' the usual suspects'
- camerawork 
-editing
- sound
- mise en scene
-media terms

figure 1 (establishing shot)

The opening scene to the thriller, 'The usual suspects', the establishing a close up shot of hands lighting  a handful of matches, The frame is in low key light with an orange glow. The lighting of a large amount of matches implies to the audience that their not being used to light the usual few candles. This already makes the audience ask questions as to what is going on.The sound is diegetic sound of lighting matches and fire. (figure 1)

figure 2

 We are shown a mid shot of what looks to be a man holding something on fire in his hand. This stands out to the audience because his costume is dark and his face hasn't yet be revealed to us. This creates mystery because the audience doesn't know who the antagonist and protagonists are.  (figure 2)

figure 3

The camera tilts upward slightly to show us the persons face, The mans hair and makeup looks dirty and old before his time, His hair looks messy, Like it hasn't been washed for a while, a hostage perhaps? The lighting is Low key behind the character, this implies that the character is bad and mysterious. (figure 3)


 setting of the scene looks like a factory cellar or chamber of some kind this creates a feeling of mystery and worry, We wonder why he is being keep down there in a place with barrels that could be explosive?

figure 4

The character drops the matches on the floor which set a rope on fire. The fire catches on very fast setting past a dead body this is diegetic sound from the character, The pace of the lit fire creates the feeling of suspense because we wonder where the fire will end up and why did he set a rope that is very close to him on fire? The lighting is still low key lighting with golden hues which usually creates a feeling or romance and intimacy however in this thriller scene they use the fire as a fear factor to create suspense. (figure 4)

figure 5

The fire is ended by a man on a higher level by urinating on the fire, This implies that the man on the floor is the protagonist because the man is standing above him (antagonist) and ended the characters bid to kill himself. (figure 5)

The room is very quiet until the diegetic sound of the  fire lights the rope and we can hear diegetic the slow burning on the rope in the background however there is sound being created by foley artists in the background, e.g the male urinating is a sound created by foleys, the effect of using foley sounds is that it gives the scene a real life affect which also helps create suspense and worry if the audience truly believe the sounds. The non diegetic sound is an eerie sound to begin with then fades out into what sounds like very quiet church bells this implies happiness or death however with the ambience of the setting it implies the meaning of church bells is not good.

figure 6

The camera tilts upward in a pan to reveal a man whos costume is black however both our main characters are wearing black clothing,  there is a difference in costumes, The protagonist is in scruffier looking clothing and the antagonist is wearing a jet black smart mac this shows us the hierachy and who is in trouble. (figure 6)
           
The camera editing fades out the antagonist as he stands closely to the protagonist, This shows us that the protagonist is scared, He looks up toward the antagonist this is a worms eye view shot as we are seeing the protagonist look up, The shot is also a p.o.v shot however it is at a lower angle  than usual to make the protagonist look vulnerable.
           

figure 7

The antagonist is still not been revealed, This keeps the audience wondering who is this man and why is he keeping the protagonist a hostage?
The antagonist lights up a cigarette slowly and steadily the pace of this makes the audience relax however suspect something is going to happen. The lighting of a cigarette usually is done between friends however these two characters are against eachother yet they smoke together. The protagonist is relaxed as if he knows that this is it so he may aswell die peacefully and not in a struggle with the antagonist. Both characters speak in this scene, The antagonist saying 'ready?' he says this in a slow and quiet tone which suggests he is relaxed with the situation perhaps hes done this many times before? the protagonist is also in a relaxed state and his voice is slow and calm suggesting that he is relaxed. (figure 7)

figure 8

There is a natural high key lighting on the protagonists face and body however the antagonist is in low key  light, This creates the feeling that the protagonist is innocent and good and the antagonist is the bad one that hasn't done anything wrong. (figure 8)

The narrative in this thriller is linear however at some points subjective and the plot is in non-chronological order as we see the ending before we see the start, this makes the audience pay attention because they want to know the enigma, why was he there? what did he do? does he get killed? in the first 2 mins we don't see if anything happens to him, this part of the plot is not revealed to us to create suspense.