127 hours opening sequence analysis

127 hours

Camera:
- Mid-shot of man in the house, shows us how he lives.
- Close-up of the water and drinks, shows us that they are symbolic.
- Close-up of the pen knife being left behind, the camera focuses on it for a few seconds which indicates that it is something that the man needed.
- The long shot of the motorway makes us aware of his location and also tells us that he lives in a city area but he is getting further away from the city.
- Some of the filming goes into a documentary style of filming and we know that the film will follow this character.

Lighting:
- Low-key lighting, chiaroscuro, room only lit by lamps.
- Backlighting creates a silhouette of the man and the tap, we still don't know who he is yet.
- High-key lighting showing objects in the fridge, very unnatural white light which is common for a fridge.
- The motorway is lit by the car lights and it is clearly night.
- Half the man's face is lit up when he is in the car, you can clearly see he features now.
- The roads signs are lit emphasising how remote it is.

Sound:
- Non-diegetic music to start, rock/pop song, fast beat.
- Also diegetic sound of his actions, for example the tap running, fridge opening, phone ringing.
- Without the song in the background these actions would be dull and seem slower paced, so the music helps catch your attention.
- The music slows to a drum beat when he listens to the voicemails, but they aren't very clear and he doesn't listen to them carefully, suggesting that he isn't interested in them.
- Song speeds up again when he's in the car.

Editing:
- Starts with the screen split into 3 equal sections, showing a montage of a big crowd dancing, out of context to the next scene in the man's apartment.
- High-speed editing gives us a sense that he is rushing and is careless.
- Match on action opening fridge and shot reverse shot as he takes the items out.
- The screen splits into 3 sections again showing the dripping tap from 3 perspectives, suggesting it is symbolic.
- Still split in three, with a montage of the busy road and the man in the car.

Mise en scene:
- As I have seen the film before I noticed that this opening contains many symbols that link to the film as he is packing all the items and forgetting some items.
- He is packing very quickly showing us that he is in a rush but also that he isn't organised.
- The director foreshadows by using the pen knife as the man is so close to getting it but just misses it, the close up emphasises its importance.
- Water is something that the man doesn't have enough of during the film and the focus on the tap dripping symbolises that the water is a necessity.
- The remoteness of his location is shown by the drop in the number of cars on the road and the signs showing how far from the city he is travelling.