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The film starts with the classic Sony logo and Columbia pictures introduction (a well known media company) to establish quality of the film. The film begins with a j-cut, starting before the master shot is revealed. During the film's introduction, we can hear the ticking of a clock and a faint, muffled thud in the background. As soon as the master shot fades into frame we see a fireplace and can hear ambient sound as fire cackling is audible. From a medium shot of the room focusing on a chess board the camera pulls back to a master shot in which the room is entirely visible establishing the setting for the opening scene.
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The low key yellow lighting gives an impression of warmth and coziness ,alongside the huge chandelier adds to the grandeur of the place. The chess board represents a literal game that requires a great deal of mental strength to practice and master, and the flooring of the room is also black and white which may represent a literal huge chess board foreshadowing that this room is related to a game. The entire room is made entirely from wood painted dark brown which makes it very dull and boring. With rolled up parchment papers, antique chairs, huge leather arm chairs, multiple grand frames displaying artwork and a collection of rare blue butterflies it is well established that it is a study room for a very important person who is probably very rich to afford such luxury.
As the camera stops at the master shot for a moment everything looks so perfect. The room is architecturally symmetrical as the paintings, pillars and wall lamps are placed precisely on the same level and distance opposite to each. Everything is in equilibrium but with each ‘tick’ of the clock it feels as if we are anticipating something getting closer and closer to a breaking point which is exactly what happens when a person falls through the roof.
As the camera stops at the master shot for a moment everything looks so perfect. The room is architecturally symmetrical as the paintings, pillars and wall lamps are placed precisely on the same level and distance opposite to each. Everything is in equilibrium but with each ‘tick’ of the clock it feels as if we are anticipating something getting closer and closer to a breaking point which is exactly what happens when a person falls through the roof.
As the person falls the scene cuts on action for a total of three angles. Match on action technique is used to link these clips together. The camera then directly follows the eyeline of the person by a fluid movement using a pan towards right and a close up dolly shot of the opposite side of the wall which was not previously revealed. This close up emphasizes the puzzle structure on the wall which has a glowing center which also draws quick attention of the viewer's eye.
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“10 numbers. 4 spots. I need a 4 digit code."
This makes us certain that this room is part of an elaborate game. We see a close up of number one as it is pulled down and so we can hear gears changing in the background. It creates anticipation in the audience about what is happening. The zoom in from mid shot of the person back emphasizes upon the reaction of the guy who is scared from what he might have triggered. |
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As he turns to look an eyeline match cut is used and so we see the opposite wall moving inwards. Bird’s view and side view of the globe are shown as it falls down due to the force of the wall. This focus on the globe falling connotes that there is disequilibrium and there is no chance of going back. Inevitably it depicts the destruction of mankind. |
As the lamp falls off due to the wall we can hear the spark noise and so far non-diegetic sound isn’t used, only by a combination of diegetic sounds the editor has created a sequence of chaos. As the person fumbles through the stuff on the table in search of clues, a sound bridge of background noise is used to link the shot of the wall moving in and the one from inside the glass jar full of butterflies.
The butterflies stand out from this room since they are bright and blue in comparison to its dull brown surroundings. Blue connotes freedom and hope however in this scene it is ironic since the butterflies are trapped just like the guy. |
The paper with clues is focused on with a close up shot and more quick shots are used to show that the wall is moving quickly. The close up shot of the mechanics of how the wall is being pushed in shows that someone deliberately constructed this set and so it also creates enigma as to why would a person design such a place and obviously no one in their right mind would want to kill someone in a game or would they?
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The zoom mid shot of the guy and the green book lit up by the light of the lamp, also the way he reacts makes it evident that it is an important part of the puzzle. A close up of the ladder wheels and an extreme close up of the ladder hook onto the wall is shown as it detaches which build up anticipation for action. The sequence of clips following it show the destruction of the room as stuff starts to collapse on each other and so it's getting cluttered.
The camera moves in a circle while reading the book, causing the audience's head to spin which also depicts the character's mental state during this scene as he’s constantly moving around in a circle looking for clues. A low angle close up of his face is used with a handheld camera to emphasize the chaos of his thoughts and his frantic movements. The camera shows a glimpse of his POV as well which is so quick that we can’t comprehend anything of meaning followed by his dialogue that he can’t find the clock. This dialogue shows that the POV shot deliberately shows the audience the way he sees everything. It's not so stable if a simple static shot was used it wouldn’t have such an impact.
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The sound of furniture squeaking as everything is pushed further in. This frame also has negative space, all of it is cluttered. It's a contrast to the starting where everything so perfectly spaces out in its place. The camera zooms in from a medium long shot to medium shot as the characters expression changes. There is relief on his face as if he had a revelation or the puzzle finally fits as the camera does a 180 degree rotation.
A close up of the book throwing away is also added to mislead the audience into believing the guy’s confidence that he’ll make it out alive and he has got it all figured out. The camera tilts down from one painting to another so maybe the clues are hidden in these paintings. 4 match on action. Vignette and shaky zoom in focuses on the hands.
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With each number we see the wall moving in.
The chair gets squished leather squeaking noise. Panting noise increases and clips show . As the character falls down once more and reacts desperately, it truly grips the audience, leaving them with questions: Is this actually happening? Will he survive?
The overhead crab shot adds to the thrill with vivid screams from the character. The sound in these last few seconds make your heart race with screams and the gears moving quicker and getting louder. Non-diegetic sound is also added during the last shot of a charging up defibrillator which is used during CPR. This connotes a near death experience but still leaves us to question does the person make it out alive. We can see nothing in the last scene except the person's face full of terror with harsh lighting due to such extreme circumstances. |
This film opening can be categorized as a standalone short thriller which sets the mood for the audience and a certain standard for the movie to follow. This film opening uses enigmatic codes which keep the audience hooked to the last second!