Analysis of the opening title scene of Lucky number sleven.

Lucky Number Slevin - Analysis Of The Opening Scene

The opening scene begins with a shot of a white background on which lines are being formulated upon. This is a graphics affect to creating straight lines of blue and red like that of a notebook on which the credits are shown to the bottom left of the screen. The shot gives us a sense of movement across the white screen as it follows the lines. In the background non- diegetic music is played, a very soft and gentle melody that is emotionally parallel to the action of the scene. The extract cuts to a medium shot of a room that contains two beds either side of a bedside table on which lies an old telephone. The colour scheme of the room is brown, as well as the wallpaper that appears to be old fashioned. This establishes the era which the film is taken place, in that it is fairly modern but before the the 21st century, maybe 1970’s. This shot fades out into the next shot which is a cut to a long shot of a well dressed man walking to his car in a car park, holding a notebook. A crane shot is used to emphasis the notebook as it rises and zooms onto it. Special attention is given to this notebook thus creating enigma as we the audience want to know why the book is important. The crane shot also makes it seem as if there is somebody following the man and emphasises on the ambiguity of the scene. We then see a close up of the man being shot twice in the stomach then collapsing through his car window full of blood. This dramatic part of the opening title engages the audience and helps bring about a scene of internal excitement leading the audience to continue watching the rest of the film to see the outcome or motives of this gruesome and very violent attack. An unknown character picks up the notebook as the murdered man is left dead on the floor with blood all over his body. The use of a close up shot allows us to focus on the notebook and its importance. We can also see the dead man’s face as his eyes are bulging out and his body left lifeless. This emphasises the level of importance in taking the book, in that the killer will do whatever he can, even if its murder to get the notebook. Meanwhile as the scene goes on it continuously reveals the credits of the film in small white writing. In the background alongside the music, we also hear commentary of some sort. As this is an unusual contrast between the two non-diegetic sounds it creates enigma because it gives us mixed emotions and makes us want to understand what is occurring. The next shot begins with a medium shot of the lower bodies of three characters. It does not show us their faces till the end of this scene. The shot cuts to a long shot of the room to establish the location of the scene. A close up of a gun in the seated man’s hand is seen as this creates a build up to a climax. More gruesome violence is seen as the unknown man standing in the middle stabs both men in the neck. This is a medium shot and helps us focus on the facial features of the men and their body language. We can see the two men are brutally murdered with a small knife. The Use of a small knife emphasis the level of violence as a small knife is usually more painful and the fact that they were stabbed in the neck increases the brutality of the scene as this one of the worst places to be stabbed. Another close up shot of the seated man is used to bring the attention of the audience to the subject’s facial expressions and therefore emotions. This emphasis on the characters emotions creates a small climax in which we see a snooker ball being thrown at the characters eye causing blood to be sprayed over the screen. Finally a close up of another notebook is shown this further emphasis its importance. The scene cuts to a long shot of a waiting room where we see a man approaching the camera wearing a black over coat. The audience have no idea who this character is and what connection he has with the murders. It creates more enigmas and engages us further with the film. This in turn creates anticipation as the audience want to know what will happen next. It is also important to note that two characters were murdered and both were well dressed and looked like business men. We however do not know whether they were the antagonist or the protagonist in the film but this is another great way to create enigma.