No
country for old men starts with an establishing shot of the setting and a
narrator. This narrator and shot helps us to get an overview of the setting and
sets the scene. There is a montage of several still shots during this scene
allowing us to see the baron and deserted environment and making us start to
ask questions such as how they are ever going to solve a crime here as there is
no help or witnesses. The narrator is making us confused by asking these
questions and making us want to go deeper into the detail in order to
understand. The various panning shots that are in this scene help to back up
this image that it is a very open and baron place which shows that whoever is
there could be very vulnerable and left without any help. It ultimately comes down
to it being a very difficult landscape to make anything of and to work with.
As
some characters start to appear in the shot we can start to see the size of the
landscape. It really helps to put it into perspective and shows that the
characters are a long way from help. We can also see the road which looks like
it is going to nowhere. We can’t see the characters very well in this shot and
they are mainly shadows which helps add to the mystery and matches the setting.
It continues to ask us questions, mainly what has he done? As the characters
approach the car the police officer put a strange tank in the car. This turns
out to be an oxygen tank and there is a close up of this which shows that it is
an object of great significance and makes us wonder why he is carrying an
oxygen tank. This adds to the mystery of the opening and makes us think that
the police officer may potentially be in danger.
As
the police officer gets in the car and begins to drive off the person that he
has stopped is in shadow and the police officer in clear sunlight. This adds to
the mystery of the villain as we still cannot see him but also gives us a sense
that the police officer is very vulnerable. As they drive off we get a long
shot of the car disappearing along a seemingly never ending road. This makes us
ask where they are going and makes us wonder what significance this baron,
deserted environment has in the long term.
When
the two characters have arrived at the police station one of the first shots
that we see is a mid-shot showing the dark, shadowing villain in the background
behind the police officer. Again he is in darkness while the police officer is
in the light, showing vulnerability. Not only this, but the police officer has
his back turned from the villain making him completely unaware of what is going
on. This helps to build the tension in the scene and before we know it the
villain has struck and proceeds to kill the police officer. During the struggle
there is a lot of focus on sound and close ups of the legs, showing panic. Top
down views help show the expression on the faces here and how creepy looking
the villain is.
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