Analysis of introduction to movies

Collateral 

-The film begins with an open frame, showing Tom Cruise amidst a crowd of regular people with the camera focus on Cruise. This already signifies that the audience should be paying attention to him, as he walks through the crowd in slow motion which builds the suspension. The camera then changes to show Jason Statham, like Cruise, walking through a crowd of people in regular speed however the camera pulls in and out of focus which blends Statham in with the crowd. The camera then goes to a close up of Cruises face as he slowly walks towards the camera to create a sense of mystery around his character. The camera then goes to a close up of Statham's brief case as he drops it on the ground, so that the audience knows the brief case will be an important theme in the movie. The sound of the case is also edited to sound louder to further draw attention. The camera then goes to an extreme close up of the side of Cruise's face, to make it feel as though the audience is walking right behind him. The scene changes to a montage of a taxi station, which establishes the flavour of the environment. Jamie Foxx is then introduced as the camera tilts over him, doing a crossword, he is shown to be an anomaly in his environment filled with people fixing cars and chatting. He then steps into his taxi and the setting becomes a closed frame, as the camera changes to an extreme close up to establish intimacy with Foxx's character. 

The Dark Knight

-The scene opens with a crane dolly to show the environment. A man is shown standing with a clown face, the camera pans to a close up of the mask, showing this clown is more important than the others. As the 2 clowns set up for their zipline onto the banks roof, the key light is from the outdoors, making them appear as silhouettes, building suspension around their role in the robbery. The camera is constantly changing from clown to clown to show each robbers role in the robbery, which makes it feel fast paced and tense. The camera is unsteady as it follows the robbers into the bank with a point of view shot, making it feel as though the audience is part of the robbery. The constant camera reverse shows the type of  relationships between the robbers. Meanwhile on the roof, the camera focuses on the clown in front of the other, which adds to the shock when the clown behind him shoots him in the back.

Drive

-The scene begins with an aerial shot of a dark city lit by lights. Ryan Gosling's name then appears on the screen in pink, 80's disco themed writing, the song in the background also has an 80's vibe to it. The camera then cuts to a shot of Ryan Gosling sitting in his car from below, with low key lighting, only showing the front section of his face and nothing else. The camera then changes to a close up of the side of Gosling's face as he drives, the only lighting coming from the street lights, but with a blue tint to establish a mellow mood. As the camera switches around the car, only portions of Gosling's face is shown which adds a sense of mystery to the character. The setting is a closed frame, inside Gosling's car, very stylised. The camera then changes to an aerial shot and zooms out as we lose Gosling's car amongst the many others on the road. As Gosling steps out the car, the camera follows him into the elevator, only showing the back of his white jacket with a gold scorpion on the back. This raises questions about his character. Was he in a bikers gang? What is the significance of the scorpion? The door opens to his apartment, the back lighting making him appear as a silhouette, again adding to this characters mystery.