Camera Work:

All of the camera work used in the opening to Ocean’s Eleven is hand held. This is because the film is about gangsters and the camera wants the audience to feel as if it is unprofessional and unsteady. The scene begins with a mid-range shot focused onto a single chair within what looks like an empty room. This shot is carried on until the protagonist walks into the shot and sits on the chair in the frame. This allows the audience to be introduced to the character in a neutral and personal way as there are no distractions in the shot. This continued shot is then cut to a close up of the protagonists face as he answers questions asked by other characters. The close up shot makes the audience feel intimate with the protagonist as they begin to like the character and ‘bond’ with him so that they feel a connection to him and don’t want him to die. The scene then changes to some characters escorting the protagonist out of the prison using a long shot and blurring the surroundings of the protagonist. This makes the audience focus ono the protagonist walking and doesn’t distract them from the surroundings in the scene. This shot continues into a tracking shot following the protagonist, this again makes the audience feel connected to the protagonist as they feel as if they are walking with him.

Editing and Graphics:

Long cuts are used frequently to make the audience focus for long periods of time; it also makes them feel a little tense as the long cuts create tension because the audience feel mysterious towards the shot. A jump cut it also used to show the gap in time between the two shots and allows the audience to understand the situation on the protagonist. The credits appear in a white Serif font on top of the opening images in the order of: Production companies and title. The reason for little credits at the beginning of the scene is to not distract the audience from the images that start, which means that the film can begin its story line almost immediately. This keeps the audience interested in the film as it doesn’t lose their focus.

Sound:

Diegetic and non-diegetic sounds are used throughout the entire opening scenes. A piece of score plays in a minor key but fast tempo. The Score includes the use of base, symbols and a keyboard. These instruments played in this way to create tension within the audience which makes them feel unsure whether the character is an antagonist or protagonist – this makes them unsure and therefore unsettled. This score is played with the diegetic sound of dialogue. A females voice is interviewing the protagonist in the chair are the beginning of the scene. She asks ‘morning, please state your name’ which is a normal sentence and would usually make the audience feel fine, however, the woman cannot be seen on the screen therefore the audience feels uncomfortable as they do not fully know where this voice is coming from. In addition, we do know that the dialogue is a diegetic sound as the protagonist replies to the questions in the shots.

Mise en Scene:

Low key natural lighting is used all of the time that the protagonist is inside the building. This makes the audience undecided on whether the character is good or bad, this is because of the dark lighting played with the industrial style score. The reason of making the audience undecided is to make them more intrigued to find out and makes them more involved in the film. At first we see the protagonist in a white top and tan trousers which the audience assume is his clothes. The colours the protagonist is wearing are neutral and makes it very difficult for the audience to again make a decision on the type of character this is. The colours also contrast the colours in the shot which are greys and blacks and the lighting which is dull and low key –making him stand out. Later in the scene the audience can see that the clothes are those of a prison which makes them stop feeling confused and they then can make a decision on the characters nature (antagonist/protagonist).

I liked the way that the lighting and costumes made the audience unsure of who the antagonist and protagonist were. Usally the antagonist is shown in low key lighting, but i liked the way he was shown in natual lighting in the opening. However, i dont think we will use this because we want out opening to fit some of the conventions of a thriller and have chosen to make the lighting fit the conventions.