Directer: Phillip Noyce
Camera/editing
The clip
starts with a zoom out of the ‘Columbia’ logo, then cuts straight to a black
backdrop, and bold, capital, white writing appears and disappears. Followed by
the words ‘NORTH KOREA/ TWO YEARS AGO’ which lets the audience know the film is going into the
past. Noyce uses a P.O.V. (point of view) shot of Evelyn to bring us straight
into the diegesis and see to men open a door. The audience then sees a close up
of Evelyn’s face which shows lots of blood and bruising. Noyce uses a shot
along the floor to show her being dragged out of a small, enclosed room. We see
she is covered in blood and wearing only grey, lace underwear. This connotes
femininity and weakness. A medium shot is used to show her being dragged and
dropped onto the floor, then a P.O.V. of Evelyn to show 3 men crowded round her
head. We then see a close up of her face, feet, and finally her hands, each
tied together with ropes. We see a long shot of her stretched out on the floor,
tied up with rope which connotes restriction. We hear dialog of her pleading to
go home which connotes weakness, then we see a P.O.V. of Evelyn to show a close
up of one of the soldiers facial expression of anger and frustration. Noyce
then uses a close up of a hand grabbing Evelyn’s face, and attempting to place
a plastic pipe into her mouth. He uses another P.O.V. of Evelyn, then a medium
shot of a man pouring water into a bucket which plunges down the tube into her
mouth. A man kicks her face, and then a long shot is used to show her rolling
around on the floor in pain with the three men still surrounding her head. The
first scene fades into a black backdrop and then slowly fades back into the
second scene. The second scene starts with a P.O.V of Evelyn to show two
soldiers, followed by a metal gate, with her colleague stood on the other side.
We see a close up shot of her face to highlight her facial expression which
shows a swollen, black eye, and a cut lip representing her on going torture. Noyce
uses another P.O.V. of Evelyn to show a long drive and people in the distance.
A medium shot is used of the man opening the barrier which connotes her
freedom. We then see a medium shot of the back of her and her colleague heads
which may connote how she’s turning her back on the past. We are shown another
close up of her face showing us her black eye, and cuts, highlighting the damage
caused from this imprisonment. We see an E.L.S (extreme long shot) and deep
space is used whereby the barrier is close to the camera and she is in the
distance, representing the long process of her release. There is then a
succession of long shots and close ups of Evelyn and her husband as she is
walking to him. We see an S.R.S (shot, reverse, shot) of when her husband sees
her. He shows no reaction which means he may be hiding the pain he feels and
acting strong for her. The scene then fades into the title.
Sound/music
Quiet, tense
music plays at the start of the clip, and we hear a Korean man speaking whilst
the screen is still black. Through this scene we hear a number of diegetic
sounds such as, keys, Evelyn being dragged and falling on the floor, ropes
being tightened, footsteps, and the water flowing down the tube into her mouth.
As the scene fades you hear her saying ‘I’m not a spy, I am not a spy’ making
the audience sympathise for her. All
this diegetic sound creates a sense of reality bringing the audience into the
diegesis. In the second scene we hear the gate and the barrier opening, each presenting
her freedom. When Evelyn is released a man clearly says ‘exchange’ ensuring the
audience understands why she has been released. The non-diegetic music builds
up as she walks towards her husband, then fades as the title appears.
Mise-en-scene
Setting/lighting:
At the
beginning of the clip we see a dark room, and soldiers all in identical, dark
green uniforms. We see rope ties which may connote a form of slavery and barred
doors which denote imprisonment. There are dark brick walls, and a small amount
of light shining through a small window. This may represent a small amount of
hope of her being released. The darkness of the room connotes danger. In the
second scene, there’s natural light as she walks out, concrete buildings and
army trucks, this connotes the power the Koreans hold. We see a black and
yellow barrier which connotes danger, as well as fences either side of her highlighting
the security of the place she has been kept in. There’s a second barrier near
to the cars she will escape in, this is coloured red and white. Red and white
may connote a hospital and therefore help.
Costume:
We see that
Evelyn has blonde hair which may connote a lack of intelligence leading to how
she got arrested in the first place. Furthermore she is wearing only grey,
laced underwear highlighting her femininity and vulnerability. In the second
scene Evelyn is wearing a white top, the colour white connotes innocence and
purity, making it seem as though she is not guilty. The cars are also coloured
white, this connotes purity and reinforces the idea that she in innocent.
Titles:
The clip
starts with a black backdrop, words appear in bold, white, capital letters
which contrast with the background. The words fade in quickly, appear for 3
seconds, then disappear quickly increasing pace and making the opening tense.
Words such as ‘presents’ are smaller compared to big company names which stand
out due to their larger size. Three minutes 37 seconds into the film shapes
appear from the edges of the scene into the middle to create the word ‘salt’.
The font is very angular, bold and masculine compared to the vulnerability we’ve
seen so far of Evelyn. We can still see the scene through the letters until it
fades into a bold, bright red colour. Red connotes danger and the word ‘salt’
appears again over the top of the other, this time in white. White connotes
innocence, therefore the red and white together may connote an innocent person
in danger. In addition the fact that the word salt appears twice may be because
Evelyn is a spy and therefore has more than one identity. Furthermore, no names
of actors, directors, or produces are shown in the opening which relates to the
theme of the film being about not knowing anyone’s true identity.
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