The Bourne Ultimatum.
In this essay I will be analysing the opening of the 3rd movie in the Bourne trilogy; ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’.
The sound in the opening of the movie is what makes the opening so tense, urgent and gripping. The first music heard is over the ‘Universal’ sign builds up using orchestral music that leads into the ‘theme’ music for the Bourne trilogy, and is used in each of the films. It builds and opens into the movie where Bourne’s footsteps are heard as we walks through the snow and hears a train horn as he walks over a bridge and down into the train station. More train horns are heard along with sirens as Bourne moves onto the platform. Police radio talk is heard as Bourne escapes after jumping from the train. However as Bourne enters the hospital the sound changes and has a lot more distinctive beat to it creating more tension. All of the sound in the opening of the movie is a mix of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds that are layered together to create tension and realism. The director uses extensive ‘foley’ sounds that always make sure that the theme music (non-diegetic sound; diegetic sound is sound within the film world) isn’t the only sound heard. From footsteps to sirens and horns, screeching from the train and Bourne’s excessive breathing, creating many connotations within your head about what is going on without even having to see the previous movie in the trilogy. The director wants to create a strong sense of urgency and tension, while continuing the movie and setting more of the scene.
The lighting in the opening clip is naturalistic and isn’t lighting the scene fully, shadows are created and the darkness from the night sky and ‘dark blue’ coloured surroundings (connotation of blue is cold) give good effect and realism to the scene. As the movie opens the director uses naturalistic lighting to show the viewer the bridge he is walking on to quite a large extent, showing the snow and train station setting the scene. As he heads down the stairs and into the station the lighting changes, and the blue contrast is seen showing a blurry background with Bourne’s face mostly visible with lots of shadows. The director uses natural lighting to give a maximum sense of realism and shadowing to reveal as much of the scene as the director wants. The colour blue has the connotation of cold also, the snow, at night and the slightly blue tinge to the frame makes it look like a cold scene.
The editing in the opening of the movie is basically straight cuts other than the first cut which is a flash cut after the first title. The first title reveals a location, (part of the setting) and the director does this to set the very first piece of information on the setting. I think the director uses that cut to give effect and it fits the music as it reaches a slight climax. After that continuity editing is used to make sure that the audience doesn’t get confused and that the movie is easy to follow. The editing is fast also with all clips lasting for less than 2 seconds, as they flash fro object to person and slowly letting you understand what is going on always following the tempo of the sequence. Some shots also are out of focus. Often delaying the audiences reaction to understanding the surroundings. Only seen when using 1st person shots. This is representing Bourne’s vision as he limps down the street and into the station. The director lets the audience into the eyes of Bourne and shows the strain in his eyes so that we can see what’s going on and I think to confuse the audience slightly making sure that the audience have to think and wait to realise what an object of item is.
The surroundings are fully realistic and the time period is set in the present. The director uses the present to address current things in the time period, using things in the present that people can relate to without making the audience try to understand any type of gadget or complicated ‘algorithm’ for example. Using mise-en-scene that fits the genre and time period. Bourne is dressed in total black clothing throughout (connotation of black; evil, darkness) and I think the director uses the connotation to represent the attitude Bourne has to the law even though what he is doing is right and moral in his mind. The police are dressed realistically, full uniform, guns, radios and warm clothing (because its Russia).
The camerawork in the scene is full of mid-shots and over-the-shoulder shots all of which are hand held throughout. There is no use of tracking in this opening which is shown by the steadiness of the camera as it firstly follows his feet across the snow and down into the train station. There is a mix of different shots used in the opening sequence including mid-shots, long-shots, and close-ups all mixed in together to show the audience a movement, item or emotion. Long-shots and mid-shots are commonly used for a movement and close-ups for an item or emotion. For example, when he is looking in the mirror showing his emotion and when he picks up the item of medicine out of the fridge. Or when he attacks and disarms the Russian officer using mainly mid-shots. The director uses these in that way because he needs viewers to see certain things in the sequence, so that the audience knows what is going on to the extent that the director wants. Conventional thrillers are similar and none of them reveal everything in a scene or tell the audience what the storyline is, thrillers keep you thinking and the more you think, the better the thriller has to be. Often with many twists and turns along the way. The camerawork in the flashback sequence isn’t very different to camerawork used outside of the flashback. This is because the camerawork in the movie is very effective for the genre and is well done.
Influences for Our Own Thriller:
The main purpose of this analysation is to better understand the way famous and experienced directors use many connotations and themes to make a great opening sequence.
This piece is very interesting because the sound is brilliant. The director cleverly makes sure that sound is heard throughout the chase scene. This is an idea I think that we could use in the filming process. The director does this to make sure that the background music doesn’t make the tension and suspense using a preliminary train horn and police siren telling you what is going on without even having to view it. I think our group needs to cleverly get sound to fit in and fill in all the time, revealing things before you even see them.
In this essay I will be analysing the opening of the 3rd movie in the Bourne trilogy; ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’.
The sound in the opening of the movie is what makes the opening so tense, urgent and gripping. The first music heard is over the ‘Universal’ sign builds up using orchestral music that leads into the ‘theme’ music for the Bourne trilogy, and is used in each of the films. It builds and opens into the movie where Bourne’s footsteps are heard as we walks through the snow and hears a train horn as he walks over a bridge and down into the train station. More train horns are heard along with sirens as Bourne moves onto the platform. Police radio talk is heard as Bourne escapes after jumping from the train. However as Bourne enters the hospital the sound changes and has a lot more distinctive beat to it creating more tension. All of the sound in the opening of the movie is a mix of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds that are layered together to create tension and realism. The director uses extensive ‘foley’ sounds that always make sure that the theme music (non-diegetic sound; diegetic sound is sound within the film world) isn’t the only sound heard. From footsteps to sirens and horns, screeching from the train and Bourne’s excessive breathing, creating many connotations within your head about what is going on without even having to see the previous movie in the trilogy. The director wants to create a strong sense of urgency and tension, while continuing the movie and setting more of the scene.
The lighting in the opening clip is naturalistic and isn’t lighting the scene fully, shadows are created and the darkness from the night sky and ‘dark blue’ coloured surroundings (connotation of blue is cold) give good effect and realism to the scene. As the movie opens the director uses naturalistic lighting to show the viewer the bridge he is walking on to quite a large extent, showing the snow and train station setting the scene. As he heads down the stairs and into the station the lighting changes, and the blue contrast is seen showing a blurry background with Bourne’s face mostly visible with lots of shadows. The director uses natural lighting to give a maximum sense of realism and shadowing to reveal as much of the scene as the director wants. The colour blue has the connotation of cold also, the snow, at night and the slightly blue tinge to the frame makes it look like a cold scene.
The editing in the opening of the movie is basically straight cuts other than the first cut which is a flash cut after the first title. The first title reveals a location, (part of the setting) and the director does this to set the very first piece of information on the setting. I think the director uses that cut to give effect and it fits the music as it reaches a slight climax. After that continuity editing is used to make sure that the audience doesn’t get confused and that the movie is easy to follow. The editing is fast also with all clips lasting for less than 2 seconds, as they flash fro object to person and slowly letting you understand what is going on always following the tempo of the sequence. Some shots also are out of focus. Often delaying the audiences reaction to understanding the surroundings. Only seen when using 1st person shots. This is representing Bourne’s vision as he limps down the street and into the station. The director lets the audience into the eyes of Bourne and shows the strain in his eyes so that we can see what’s going on and I think to confuse the audience slightly making sure that the audience have to think and wait to realise what an object of item is.
The surroundings are fully realistic and the time period is set in the present. The director uses the present to address current things in the time period, using things in the present that people can relate to without making the audience try to understand any type of gadget or complicated ‘algorithm’ for example. Using mise-en-scene that fits the genre and time period. Bourne is dressed in total black clothing throughout (connotation of black; evil, darkness) and I think the director uses the connotation to represent the attitude Bourne has to the law even though what he is doing is right and moral in his mind. The police are dressed realistically, full uniform, guns, radios and warm clothing (because its Russia).
The camerawork in the scene is full of mid-shots and over-the-shoulder shots all of which are hand held throughout. There is no use of tracking in this opening which is shown by the steadiness of the camera as it firstly follows his feet across the snow and down into the train station. There is a mix of different shots used in the opening sequence including mid-shots, long-shots, and close-ups all mixed in together to show the audience a movement, item or emotion. Long-shots and mid-shots are commonly used for a movement and close-ups for an item or emotion. For example, when he is looking in the mirror showing his emotion and when he picks up the item of medicine out of the fridge. Or when he attacks and disarms the Russian officer using mainly mid-shots. The director uses these in that way because he needs viewers to see certain things in the sequence, so that the audience knows what is going on to the extent that the director wants. Conventional thrillers are similar and none of them reveal everything in a scene or tell the audience what the storyline is, thrillers keep you thinking and the more you think, the better the thriller has to be. Often with many twists and turns along the way. The camerawork in the flashback sequence isn’t very different to camerawork used outside of the flashback. This is because the camerawork in the movie is very effective for the genre and is well done.
Influences for Our Own Thriller:
The main purpose of this analysation is to better understand the way famous and experienced directors use many connotations and themes to make a great opening sequence.
This piece is very interesting because the sound is brilliant. The director cleverly makes sure that sound is heard throughout the chase scene. This is an idea I think that we could use in the filming process. The director does this to make sure that the background music doesn’t make the tension and suspense using a preliminary train horn and police siren telling you what is going on without even having to view it. I think our group needs to cleverly get sound to fit in and fill in all the time, revealing things before you even see them.
The editing is clever also, he uses fast cuts and orchestral music to emphasise the tension also. We are hoping to use 2 second shots regularily and try to create effect using shadowing and many different camera angles.
