Analysing Film Openings - The Men Who Stare At Goats

Scene summary – The men who stare at goats –

The scene doesn’t begin with an establishing shot but a mid-shot of a man sitting in an office. The man’s facial expression can clearly be seen as well as his close surroundings so we get an idea where he is. His face shows strong concentration on something that is on the other side of the room, and the audience are drawn to this as the camera begins to move towards him. Additional information appears on screen as the shot cuts to a closer angle. The information tells us who he is, where he is and the date the scene is set in. Mise-en -scene is used to indicate to the audience this is an army barracks. The man is wearing an army uniform in the shot and in the background of the shot there is a U.S. flag on the wall. The next shot is further away but still on the man and the desk. As he gets up and moves from behind the desk to next to it, his concentration doesn’t break from what he is looking at across the room. The man speaks then the shot changes to a side view just in front of the wall looking across the width of the room. As it does this we see another man at a similar desk look up and answer the man. The angle stays the same as we see the figure of the army man run past the camera. As he passes it the angle cuts quickly to a shot of the man running into the wall on the other side of the room, and falling back down onto the floor.

This shot is at a lower angle so we see the man hit the wall and fall down to the cameras view. The shot then cuts to a view from the army mans knees as he lies on the floor. He then raises his head so the shot almost becomes a close up. We see the emotion on his face and the attention draws to the man’s bleeding nose. He says a line of dialogue and the scene changes. The scene at this point is of a large house and is a shot from across the road. It establishes where it is, as again additional information is used to fill in for a clearer establishing shot. As a car pulls up to the outside of the house someone gets out and walks towards the front door the shot and angle remain the same as he walks up to the door, which is the end of the two minute extract.

The titles and credits take up a lot of time at the beginning of the opening scene so there is not as much use of camera angles, mise en scene, etc. The opening is clear for the audience as they are aware of everything they need to without using an establishing shot, this could take more time because the audience has to take in and think about what is happening, rather than just reading it from the screen.

 

This opening shot is effective and a smart technique because it is different from the average film. Normally the shot would be at a distance and show the audience where the scene is set. This is different because it does the same but at the same time it gives extra information (who the characters are) in a shorter space of time.

This mid-shot is used so that you can see where the character is and also see his facial expression clearly. Here the army man looks extremely concentrated on something that he is yet to take his eyes off. This makes the audience want to know what exactly he is so focused on.

This angle is side view and is looking across the width of the room. This angle highlights the initial thoughts of the audience that this scene is set in an army barracks/office. The shot is composed so the audience can see the man in the background watch the other character run at the wall. This shot is very brief but we see a lot in it.

This shot creates a sense of sympathy for the character because the camera is positioned down at his level. We see that he is bleeding and hurt and even though it is funny the way in which it happened the audience can slightly feel his pain and disappointment, all because we can see his facial expression because of the cameras positioning.

The same effective shot is being used as before here. As the scene changes we get a sense of where it is but as the information fades onto the screen it becomes very clear. This is a long shot so the audience see the surrounding area, which helps the audience understand what is going on.

Use of sound – The men who stare at goats –

The use of sound in the first two minutes of this film is minimal. There is silence through the credits and also as the first scene starts. The use of silence shows the audience a serious element to the beginning of the film, which is not the films genre.  At this point the audience becomes engaged with what is going on onscreen. The character who is an army officer has not broken his concentration of what he is looking at. This is enhanced by the silence because it makes the audience pay close attention as well. This is a very effective use of silence (the easiest type of sound in films) because it creates an atmosphere of seriousness which is completely changed when the character runs into the wall. The next use of sound is when the setting changes to five years later and is in an establishing shot. The sound corresponds with the scene. The scene is of a suburban area with the centre of the frame there is a house. The non-diegetic music corresponds with this because it’s quite relaxing but upbeat music.

Overall

this opening sequence shows how much information you can give the audience fom the shots you choose and the way you edit them together. There is not much plot in this, but there is quite a variety of different shot types and angles, and as I have said above, i also think that sound has been sued very effectively. When we work out what we want to happen in our opening sequence, we need to think just as carefully about how we film it as what actually happens.