The Da Vinci Code analysis opening scene (thriller and mystery genre)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AYADYAMoKs until 3:10

The Da Vinci Code was produced in May of 2009 and was written by Akiva Goldsman and Dan Brown. The film rights were purchased from Dan Brown for $6 million. The director was Ron Howard and the main actors were Tom Hanks who played Robert Langdon and Audrey Tautou who played Sophie Neveu. The budget for this film was 125 US dollars. The Da Vinci Code is both a mystery and thriller genre. This film is rated a 12 which suggests that the target audience is for 12 years plus this could imply that the film may contain violence. With Tom Hanks being the main character attracts more males resulting in males being the main target audience.

Within the opening sequence of the film you see a killing which immediately creates the idea of mystery film and also suggests that the film might be about the resolution of the crime. In addition this event creates the idea of the film being a thriller because the thriller genre has death and a murderer who is a main character.

A common convention of an introductory scene is the production companies names and advertisement. For example within the section of The Da Vinci Code you are made aware of the production companies by seeing their recognisable shots, Columbia Pictures and Skylark. With having the production companies at the start of the film creates the idea of what type of the film it might be because some people may associate a certain production companies to a specific film. The transitions between these shots involves a swiping effect like the shot is literally being moved out of the way of the audience. In addition there is a touch like light which is used in the transitions that creates the effect of looking for something and therefore the idea of the film being a mystery genre is being created because the touch light and touches can be associated with looking for something in the dark. Throughout this first sequence of shots a dark background is used which further relates to the idea of the touch looking for something in the dark it also highlights the effectiveness of the touches light. 

The title of the film is then shown on the screen by each individual letter being flipped around in the direction of the audience which makes it look like it is being uncovered which further implies it being a mystery genre. 

The next shot is a mid close up of what looks like paintings and the camera is moving which would suggest that the camera is at the point of view of the character. a point of view shot allows the audience to become personal with the character which makes the scene more intense and suspended. the camera then pans to create a long shot of several paintings which gives an idea of the location of the scene perhaps a museum of art in a major city like Paris or Italy. The camera is at eye level showing the paintings and then a character runs into the shot looking behind him which implies that he is running from something. Mystery is being created because when the man runs past the camera there is then a shadow which the camera focuses on, the use of a shadow is effective because you don’t actually see the persons face but you are still aware of someone being there.  Within this part of the scene there is hardly any light which would allow the audience to think that the scene is set in the evening or even night time which is a stereotypical time of the day for something bad to happen, this then allows the audience to predict something bad is going to happen. 

The next shot is a low angled shot which pans down to see that man running from behind him. The camera movement is fast to create confusion and with the darkness the audience has to concentrate even more to be able to see what is going on. With this effect tension is created because the audience isn’t quite sure what is happening within the scene because the camera is moving so quick. 

The shot after this is a long shot showing more of the scenery and location allowing the audience to guess where the film is going to be set. In addition the setting is massive compared to the man this could reflect what little power he has because of the difference in size. The man is also placed to the left of the shot which makes the audience uneasy because typically a person is placed in the centre of a shot therefore suggesting something is wrong. 

The camera is then placed at a low angle showing first his shadow and then him running past the camera. With him running in all of these shots makes the scene fast paced and intense which implies that the film is a thriller. Another shadow is shown on the wall which has a different shape it is almost like the person is wearing a hood. The differences in outfits highlights the difference in person and possibly actions.

A close up is then used in the shot of a painting on a woman’s face. I think the reason why the director wanted to do this is to possible suggest that the paintings literally have eyes and that they are witnessing what is about to happen in the scene. In addition the woman’s face has no expression which could reflect what the audience is feeling because they aren’t sure what is going on so they don’t actually know what to feel.

There is then a mid close up of the man’s face showing his emotion. It looks like he is terrified of what might happen in the near future. The camera following him while he is running which implies that he is a important character in the scene. The other person’s identity if unknown to the audience which creates mystery and suspense.

The next shot is of the faces in the paintings again this time showing a different emotion. The faces look sad which could suggest that something bad is going to happen in the next couple of shots. The repetition of the faces in the paintings highlight their importance within the film .

A close up is then used to show the emotion on the man’s face. This time he is placed in the centre of the shot. His emotions suggest to the audience that he is tired and possible ready to stop running. The camera doesn’t move but the man is moving in the frame because he is running. He is also sweating which conotates him being scared of something.

There is then another close up of a child’s face which is also in a painting but this time the camera focuses on the eye which could suggest that something bad is going to happen next because every time you see a shot of the paintings the camera gets closer and closer each time which slowly builds up suspense  and implies something is going to happen.

The next shot is a bird’s eye view shot from outside of the building looking in. This shot shows the outside of the building which is slowly being made aware to the audience that it is a art museum. With the audience knowing the location could allow then to try and guess what the film might be about. There is also a slow zoom being used in this shot which follows the person as run into the room. This room is slightly lit more than the others which could suggest to the audience something is going to happen here.

The camera is then placed at eye level following the man as he takes the painting off of the wall. The camera then pans to the other side of him showing where he came from which could imply that the other person is going to come in any moment.

Within the next scene the scene is shown what the mysterious man looks like which confirms something is going to happen because his identity isn’t a secret anymore and there is now no reason for it to be a secret. A long shot is used as he walks towards the camera. This shot is very short so the audience doesn’t learn to much about this hooded character.

A low angled shot is used to show the male character taking the painting off the wall which implies that his actions put him at an advantage because by taking the painting off of the wall he is setting an alarm off which is warning someone. A close up of the alarm is used to show this and shows its importance.

There is then a close up of a gun which is being held by this mysterious character. With him having a gun illustrates that he is the bad guy in this scene. This is because guns connote danger and death. The use of mise-en-scene in this shot demonstrates to the audience that this film is a thriller.

A low angle shot is used to to show the closing of the gates as a result of the alarm being triggered. The use of the low angled shot highlights the gates importance. Within this shot the audience is show the full identity of the mysterious person but mystery is still there because the gate still obstructs the audience from knowing his complete identity. This could show that the film could expand on the identity of this character. At this point he is pointing the gun in the direction of the other character.

The next shot shows the other guy on the floor which immediately puts him at a disadvantage because he is at a lower point.

The camera then focuses on the other man using an eye level shot as he takes off his hood revealing his complete identity. With him doing this emphasises that the other man is going to die because why would he expose himself.

The costume aspect of mise-en-scene creates mystery because he is dressed up in a brown robe type thing which is associated with monks whom aren’t supposed to be violent this therefore creates confusion. 

Another aspect of mise-en-scene is sound and both non diagetic and diagetic sound is used in this opening. There is music in the background which increases in pace as the shots become faster and the diagetic sound is the heavy breathing and the footsteps of the man which both creating suspense in the opening.