Seven

At the start of the clip we see a mid shot of a man (Morgan freeman) in a small kitchen wearing a formal white shirt and black trousers, this allows us to see that he is obviously very professional and that due to the contrast in colours of his clothing there might be two sides to him (light and dark).
In the background we can hear the diegetic sound of people talking in the background- city life. So from the start we can see that the character more than likely has a busy lifestyle.


Morgan freeman's character then continues to put the rest of his suit on and then we see a close up of him picking up a police badge which leads us to believe that he is a New York or another major city police man. In these types of films this could either mean he is a good or bad character and the methodical way that the character picks up each item of clothing and each prop shows an air of mystery hinting that we do not know what kind of character he could be yet.


The scene then changes to a dead man lying of the floor, it is hard to distinguish what it is a first as the whole shot is very dark, as it has been throughout, this again adds danger and mystery, it is done to put the viewer on edge. The scene then changes again to the character walking down a corridor towards the camera. He is walking slowly, as if pacing himself and is wearing a hat and long cloak- the stereotyped image of an inspector. He continues to talk to another character out of shot, his voice is slow and he doesn't answer immediately showing that he wants to take in everything the other person is saying and doesn't need to be rushed. By wearing what he is he gives the viewer a sense of security as this is what a 'goodie' would look like.


He continues to say 'did the kid see it' which shows his caring side- he is unlike other 'cops' who may want to rush the job and don't seem to care, perhaps because he is older and has seen this type of thing a lot he doesn't understand why this sort of thing is happening. This idea is backed up when the other person replies saying 'we are all gonna be real glad when we get rid of you Summerset' and asks why he is always asking questions. This is contradictive as he has only asked one question, this shows the stereotype of American policemen.


Another man then half runs up some stairs in a mid shot, like Summerset he is wearing black and white, showing the link between them, he is a lot younger though so we can instantly see the difference between the two- the age difference and one is slow and methodical whereas the other is quick, as if rushed. The man is called 'mills' and is another detective-again putting them on the same level, mills has chewing gum in his mouth again showing his care free attitude.


The setting then changes and from a low angle shot we see the pair going outside. Although it is slightly lighter outside it is raining to emphasise the cold, down atmosphere. As they start walking Summerset almost pushes in front of Mills to show his dominance and power but in a subtle way.  As they continue to walk Mills bumps into a few people again showing that he is inexperienced and too rushed.


Summerset says to Mills 'I want you to look and I want you to listen' this is a command not a question so we can see who is in charge again, despite this they are both standing still and are at the same level showing that they are even/equal. Mills has his arms crossed which makes him look like a child who can't get his own way- he has a very childish nature and is probably to been like a boy in comparison to Summerset.


The scene changes again to Summerset lying in bed, the camera zooms in slightly so that we can see he was reading a newspaper- a sign of intellect and patience. The room is lit by a single lamp next to Summerset- which shines so that you can just see his face, this could connote that he is important - the light is shining on him. We then see a close up of him putting his glasses on the side and turning a metronome on. This could be to drown out the sounds of the city- it sounds calm and methodical like him and seems relaxing.


To begin the opening credits we can hear thunder and it immediately cuts into the music for the credits. Notebooks can be seen with writing all in them as wells as someone cutting of the top layer of skin on their finger. This seems to be the serial killer and from all of the snippets of video's we see that they are planning something meaning these aren't random murders but methodical giving a hint at what the plot could be. The main colours used are black and white but occasionally red to show blood or fear.

mission impossible

The clip opens with a fast tracking shot through mountains which seems to be the Grand Canyon. This allows the audience to see the surroundings so that they can make their own presumptions as to where the film is set. This also allows the viewer to see the potential danger as the mountains are vast and if anyone fell they would die, so from the start we can see danger showing what type of film it is.

 

The camera then zooms in on a man climbing up a mountain, by showing the size of the mountain vs the height of the man it gives us an indication as to how far the fall would be, again showing a hint of danger. Due to the fact that he is climbing a mountain we can summarize that the man is a thrill seeker, fitting into the idea that he is a spy. The fact that he is rock climbing in the Grand Canyon shows the characters capability.

 

There is diegetic sound of wind and birds which links in with the shot- a birds eye shot, the shot pans around the character which makes the viewer feel like he is being watched- this has been used to make it look like an eagle or another bird that you would find in this area is circling round him like he is the birds prey.

 

At this point a contrapuntal sound comes in- a very quick up beat piece of music that does not fit with the film opening because from what we have seen so far the film is very heavy and the character is in danger. The music gives the viewer a false sense of security and is used to give us an insight in the characters personality- fearless, upbeat and doesn’t see the danger in what he is doing.

 

The camera continues to pan around him until it finally comes to a stop when a close up shot of his whole body is shown, and then the camera zooms out, at this point the character is kneeling between two rocks and has his hands behind his back- making what he is doing look effortless, his clothing is brown and black making him fit in with the setting, this shows that he does this quite a lot and fits in well with his job.

 

The shot then changes to a close up of his feet on the rocks allowing the viewer to see again danger but also how easy it is for him to move about. The more into the scene we get. The more the tempo of the music increases making the viewer feel on edge and giving a foreboding feeling of what is going to happen.

 

As he I climbing even further up the rock the camera then zooms out showing the scale of the character against the rocks again, this also adds to the foreboding feeling as we begin to feel less at ease than before because we can see the drop again and we are reminded of the danger.

 

The music quietens as if about to stop when the character jumps from one rock to another in slow motion, this is a good representation of how the viewer and perhaps the character is feeling- like his/our hearts are about to stop in fear. After this there is a close up shot of the character sliding down the rock, this is shown at different angles and allows the viewer to see it from different perspectives. He then falls and is dangling from the rock with only one arm, this is near impossible so we link this to the fact that only he could do such a thing.

 

We get a close up of the determination on his face and then a mid shot as he turns his body to face the camera, his arms are spread out and he is in a position like Jesus on the cross showing that he is like a saviour in the film and we get an idea of what his character will be like in the films. We then see a close up of his face which again shows determination and we see that nothing fazes him. He then swings round and continues to go up the mountain and the camera follows him until he stands at the top and we see a 360 degree shot of him which shows that he has conquered the mountain and can conquer anything, he has a look of power and ownership.

 

After this we hear and then see a helicopter, we get a close up of a man standing in it, in black, which allows us to connect it to men in black.  He then holds up what looks like a gun and an object comes out of it, it looks like a bullet aimed for the character but instead of hitting it hits the rock. The music then changes to a slower more fitting sound so we can see that the main plot is beginning rather than the light hearted start of the film. The character then walks towards the ‘bullet’ and we see a close up of his face which is in disbelief and he is smiling showing that the helicopter and everything else is normal for him.

 

There is then a close up of the ‘bullet’ and a pair of glasses comes out of it, which the viewer is not expecting but the character evidently is, showing that this film is full of surprises and the character will more than likely know more than he lets on throughout the film. The glasses are not what you would expect this character to wear as they look to smart for what he is wearing but  when he does out them on he doesn’t look out of place in them, showing he can fit may characters.

 

Once he is wearing the glasses we see a point of view shot and a lot of shot reverse shots are used to show the characters reaction- he doesn’t have much of a reaction to what is being said as he seems to be concentrating. The dialogue used is in an English accent, because stereotypically English people are related to films such as these as they are seen to be in control and the idea of James Bond is in most spy films. When we see the character on his own with vast amount of land surrounding him he seems very isolated but his persona shows that he doesn’t care. Once the message is over the character speaks for the first time and his voice seems controlled and there is a hint of arrogance in what he saying, showing that he believes in himself, which is seen as good in films like this.

 

The music then goes into the theme tune and as he throws the glasses the opening sequence starts. Most of the shots in this are close ups of pictures of things like dragons. Everything is mainly red, black and gold colours showing danger, fear, and defiance. It looks as though a bomb is about to go off perhaps signifying that whatever his mission is he has little time to do it. The images of dragons and symbols like it show what the plot might be and it gives the viewer a chance to see weather they will like the film or not.