Sin City- Movie Analysis
The first thing the audience is able to see is just a black scene. This connotes to show that death is an element of this film due to in action films when someone dies it usually fades to black and so by having the first scene as just black it shows black is imminent. The ambient sounds of traffic is heard during this scene which establishes the setting- the movie is in an urban setting (a city).
Old jazz music is part of the background sound, which also connotes to set the scene, as the first real scene is an establishing shot which shows that the movie is in black and white and a real life urban location is shown. Then a woman in red (one of the only colours shown in the movie) walks into the middle of the shot. The colour red is an obvious denotation and this could connote to the idea of danger and threat. A mans voice (a voice over) is heard as the woman walks to the balcony. This adds a hint of mystery to the scene. When the man walks towards the woman during a long shot, bright lights are shown behind him which suggests life and brightness, however the two characters have dark shadows cast over half of their faces (a convention of film noir movies) which connotes to suggest that they are in a "grey" area. They are stuck between good (light) and bad (dark) and adds mystery to the characters.
Over the shoulder shots are used to show that the characters are having a conversation with each other and close up shots are used to show that they are the most important people in this scene. Not even the setting is as important as they are at this moment in time. A match on action is used when the man offers her a cigarette. Cigarettes are another convention of film noirs as smoking/smoke is often used to create an intense atmosphere which appears relaxed but it isn't really for the characters in the scene.
A close up of the woman's face is used when her eyes suddenly flash green. The colour green connotes to suggest envy and even wealth. This could show what this character is like, she's a wealthy woman but is envious of other people .A slow zoom in towards the man and woman's face is shown and adds to the tense atmosphere being created. Suddenly it starts to rain over the couple. This could connote to suggest that the rain is washing away the fears they have and that a new beginning is going to happen but it could also connote to the idea of foreshadowing a disastrous event later on in the movie and despair and hopelessness. While is rains the next scene shown is a white silhouette of the couple. This would lead to the audience believing that everything is going to be okay.
However the voice over continues talking and as the couple embrace a flash of white light suddenly flashes on scene. The man had shot the woman. The flash is very bright and would shock the audience as it is very sudden. The rain continues to pour down on the couple and then a high angle shot is shown of the man and woman on the floor. The added voice over still suggests that they are no longer the dominant ones in the scene and that the rain is falling on them as there is no longer any hope for her. 
This movie is a very good influence on my own work because it is a Neo-Noir style which gives it a unique selling point. The effect of black and white with only a few certain colours being shown is a great idea to use in my own work because it gives a mysterious effect to the movie and makes it much more interesting. The voice over element is another good idea that I could use in my own movie opening because it creates an atmosphere filled with mystery. However this movie isn't a good influence because changing the scenes I film to black and white when I edit my opening would be quite difficult to get right and only having one colour being shown is also fairly complex.
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