Opening sequence analysis: Zodiac (Fincher, 2007)
Genre: The sub genre of this film is a mystery thriller. The conventions of this are that a criminal has committed multiple crimes, often murders, and they are difficult to identify and track down. Another film which starts with a crime and the mastermind behind it is not shown is The Usual Suspects (Singer, 1995). Most films of this genre often establish the main protagonist in the opening scene and the crime happens later on.
The expectations of this being set in the 1960-70's is fulfilled by the title card reading the date and location. The time period can also be inferred by the houses, clothing and cars. Also since this is based on historical events, the exact date is given as well. If you just saw half of this opening scene, you couldn't tell that it was a mystery thriller, so it leads you into feeling secure, as the characters are in the scene. The mystery begins when the car pulls up and stops. The ending however clearly defines this as a mystery thriller as the shooter is not shown and the connection to the victims are only suggested. One victim survives and while this is shown, the killer calls a police station and reports the murder. So this confirms to the audience that it is a mystery of who this killer is. The expectations are challenged at the beginning and they are fulfilled in the end.
The text does conform to the characteristics of a mystery thriller as it features multiple red herrings and follows the detectives as they work on the case. But this film challenges it a little by also following a cartoonist from a newspaper who also follows the case and we are positioned with him for most of the film. The film has more stylized shots and sequences than most other films of the genre. For example, to indicate a passage of time, the screen goes black and a series of songs from the period play and transition into each other. The murder scenes are often without background music and so they create tension and suspense much better.
Film language:
Camera: Most of the shots are medium/long shots, and so they show a lot of the environment, I think this is so that it makes the audience feel comfortable and not claustrophobic. The focal length seems similar to the field of view of regular eyes, so it seems more natural. The camera moves very smoothly and slowly all throughout, a lot being locked off on a tripod. This puts the audience in an omniscient point of view but still centre around the main characters. The close-up is not used until near the end, where Darlene looks frightened at the sight of the car. I think this makes it more effective as all the other shots stay wide and then it intensifies the emotion of the scene by emphasizing the reaction. The camera is eye level for most of the scene, but only after the murders, is the camera positioned either at a low or a high angle. It's subtle but it helps convey the helplessness of the characters. When they are getting shot, the camera is at a low angle, which helps to denote who has the power in the scene. Then after the shooter has left, the angles are higher angles so give the point of view of the police officers arriving at the scene and looking over the bodies.
Editing: The editing is smooth and steady. The cutting rate is slower at the beginning, to convey the calmness of the situation, and then when they start getting shot, the rate increases, but not so fast that it is difficult to see what is going on. It cuts back and forth from the gun shooting to Darlene getting shot and screaming. Then right after this part, the shot lasts a little longer, when the shooter leaves the car and goes towards his car, but then realises that Michael is still alive, and then he returns. This is to create suspense for the audience as they just saw a fast paced sequence so the longer shot makes them feel safer but also get concerned as to why it hasn't cut yet when seemingly nothing is happening. It also allows the audience to take in the emotions of what just happened as it was an intense sequence.
Mis-en-scene: All the production design, costumes and props help to convey that this is the year of 1969. The cars would be the largest signifier as they are distinctly known for their shape and type for that time period. The lighting is low key and often side lit towards the end. The characters are evenly lit in the beginning, but are harshly side lit when they park. Since this is when the seemingly unknown shooter arrives and Darlene seems to know them, but is refusing to elaborate further, it helps to signify the mysterious nature of the situation. The face of the shooter is obscured only a little by the lighting, but mostly from editing, as it cuts right before they would appear. I think this was to show that the victims saw the murderer but the audience didn't.
Character: The dialogue is well written for this scene as it conveys the situation very efficiently, it describes the relationship between the two main characters and why they are doing what they are doing. We get some subtle character motivations, when Darlene mentions that she hasn't eaten in 24 hours, but then later when they can't find space, Michael says "I thought you were starving" and using body language and facial expressions, we can infer that this was a ploy in order to get him alone with her. She even gives a smile after she suggests going somewhere else.Also "starving" could also signify her desire to have intimate relations with someone. Later when Darlene, looks into the distance at the car, she appears to be very frightened but she tells Michael not to worry. This tells the audience that she wants to hide this from him and so it adds to the mystery.
Sound: The song that plays in the beginning, the first lyrics are "how can people be so heartless, how can people be so cruel". Seems very appropriate for the upcoming events in the scene. Setting the creepy and mysterious tone. It is non diegetic at first but when the car stops at the house, the sound converts from playing over top to being played on the radio at a reduced volume and so it has become diegetic. All the sounds are from the point of view of the characters, like the sounds of cars and people far away sound distant. The radio continues to play songs throughout the whole scene, but it intensifies at a few points. When they park, since they are alone, the only sounds are the ambiance, the radio and their voices. When the car arrives, and the shot lengths increase, creating tension, the radio plays as normal. The songs played are somewhat cheerful. This creates contrast to the events happening. Also it plays to make the audience feel like they should be comfortable, or it's trying to make the audience feel comfortable, it does the opposite as they can't help but feel scared by this mysterious car. When Michael gets shot, the music becomes louder and the ambience is gone. Only the bullets and screams are heard. The part in the song which plays during this time has a harsh electric guitar part which I think intensifies the moment. I'm not sure on how to describe how it makes you feel but it just makes it all the more horrifying.
Visual Techniques: When they are getting shot, the shots go into slow motion. This gives the audience a more intense experience as we see the terrified facial expressions for longer and so the effect lasts longer. The blood shown was not shot on location as the directer, David Fincher, likes to shoot many takes in order to get the best performance and the set up would be too long. So the blood was added in Post Production. This allowed him to get the look he wanted and be more precise. The final effect is truly terrifying.
Narrative:
Plot outline: Darlene and Michael are going out on the 4th of July in 1969 Vallejo, California. They originally decide to eat somewhere but then decide to drive to a roadside car park. Before anything begins, they see a car pull up behind them and stop. Then shortly after, it leaves. But only a few moments later, it returns and the driver leaves the vehicle and shines a flash light into the car and walks up to the window. He then proceeds to shoot both Michael and Darlene multiple times before getting in the car and leaving. A little while later, a bloody Michael is sitting outside the car and a voice-over plays revealing that the shooter called the police and reported the murder.
Organisation: It is structured linearly in order, with only a small time skip after the shooting when the police arrive. The audience are positioned with the main two characters in the scene. Since Darlene would be killed later in the scene and play a vital part in the connection to the shooter later in the story, they had to make the audience connect to her. Michael also plays a huge part especially towards the end of the film, so we had to identify with him from the very start, feeling his pain that he survived the event.
Theme: The main theme in the narrative is secrecy, as Darlene appears to look like she knows the shooter as she tells Michael to not leave the car and saying that "it's nothing" implying that she did know him and that it wasn't important. But her facial expression of fear shown when the car returns implies otherwise.
Tension: is created very well towards the second half with the length of shots. It lingers on the car and the reactions of the two. The background ambience is quiet, so make the audience tense up waiting for something to happen. A common film technique that audiences are used to I think, is that whenever it goes suddenly silent, they expect a loud noise from seemingly now where. But since that doesn't happen, they wait for longer and so get more tense. The increase in intensity both sound wise and visually occurs, with the reverse shot of Michael getting shot and the blood splatters over Darlene. The sound isn't exactly so loud that the audience is scared out of their seats but rather it scares them internally with the brutality and horror of the shootings. The face of the shooter is also not shown, only as much as a silhouette is shown in the wide shot. This makes it all the more frightening and so later in the film, you suspect anyone as it could be anyone. This is a good example of the enigma code in use. We don't know who the killer is but a connection has been suggested to the victim.
Representation and Ideology: Young adults/late teens are the social group shown in this opening. They are not around 16 as one of them is married so they must be at least a little older. Darlene is the one driving, this is ideologically opposite to the men being dominant and not letting women drive. But not only does she drive, but she refuses to let Michael drive when he asks. This challenges the stereotype that women are less aggressive and can't drive. They are celebrating and possibly getting intimate relations with each other on the 4th of July, this is a common stereotype for young people in general when celebrating holidays.
Media Audiences: The target audience for the film are mature teenagers and adults as it involves a crime mystery. Since there are some disturbing sequences in the film, it is not aimed for too young viewers. The audience readings of the text would be a serial killer murder mystery, following the detectives along the investigation. It's like a "whodunit" except based on real events. It might also appeal to people who read about the murders when they actually happened all those years ago. I think western audiences will enjoy the film the most as it features definitive icons of the time periods culture, such as restaurants, TV shows, newspapers and just the locations set in the USA. The image of two young adults parking alone in a car is familiar to most western audiences and so being a British Teenager doesn't change that. Although I was not born when the murders happened, the film made me want to read up on the story, similarly as if I had been there to hear about it on the news, I would have done the same (this is also the motivation of the cartoonist in the film played by Jake Gyllenhaal).
Institutional context: The film was produced by Phoenix Pictures and Rebel Road and distributed by Warner Bros and Paramount.Phoenix Pictures produce mainly thrillers and comedies. Warner Bros and Paramount distribute A LOT. Although this is an industrial film as it was distributed by a big studio, the budget was low compared to other film, being onlu $65 million. The A listers featured in the film are Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. This was before Iron Man (Favreau, 2008) and The Avengers (Whedon, 2012) so Ruffalo and Downey Jr. were not as popular as they are now.
Organisation: It is structured linearly in order, with only a small time skip after the shooting when the police arrive. The audience are positioned with the main two characters in the scene. Since Darlene would be killed later in the scene and play a vital part in the connection to the shooter later in the story, they had to make the audience connect to her. Michael also plays a huge part especially towards the end of the film, so we had to identify with him from the very start, feeling his pain that he survived the event.
Theme: The main theme in the narrative is secrecy, as Darlene appears to look like she knows the shooter as she tells Michael to not leave the car and saying that "it's nothing" implying that she did know him and that it wasn't important. But her facial expression of fear shown when the car returns implies otherwise.
Tension: is created very well towards the second half with the length of shots. It lingers on the car and the reactions of the two. The background ambience is quiet, so make the audience tense up waiting for something to happen. A common film technique that audiences are used to I think, is that whenever it goes suddenly silent, they expect a loud noise from seemingly now where. But since that doesn't happen, they wait for longer and so get more tense. The increase in intensity both sound wise and visually occurs, with the reverse shot of Michael getting shot and the blood splatters over Darlene. The sound isn't exactly so loud that the audience is scared out of their seats but rather it scares them internally with the brutality and horror of the shootings. The face of the shooter is also not shown, only as much as a silhouette is shown in the wide shot. This makes it all the more frightening and so later in the film, you suspect anyone as it could be anyone. This is a good example of the enigma code in use. We don't know who the killer is but a connection has been suggested to the victim.
Representation and Ideology: Young adults/late teens are the social group shown in this opening. They are not around 16 as one of them is married so they must be at least a little older. Darlene is the one driving, this is ideologically opposite to the men being dominant and not letting women drive. But not only does she drive, but she refuses to let Michael drive when he asks. This challenges the stereotype that women are less aggressive and can't drive. They are celebrating and possibly getting intimate relations with each other on the 4th of July, this is a common stereotype for young people in general when celebrating holidays.
Media Audiences: The target audience for the film are mature teenagers and adults as it involves a crime mystery. Since there are some disturbing sequences in the film, it is not aimed for too young viewers. The audience readings of the text would be a serial killer murder mystery, following the detectives along the investigation. It's like a "whodunit" except based on real events. It might also appeal to people who read about the murders when they actually happened all those years ago. I think western audiences will enjoy the film the most as it features definitive icons of the time periods culture, such as restaurants, TV shows, newspapers and just the locations set in the USA. The image of two young adults parking alone in a car is familiar to most western audiences and so being a British Teenager doesn't change that. Although I was not born when the murders happened, the film made me want to read up on the story, similarly as if I had been there to hear about it on the news, I would have done the same (this is also the motivation of the cartoonist in the film played by Jake Gyllenhaal).
Institutional context: The film was produced by Phoenix Pictures and Rebel Road and distributed by Warner Bros and Paramount.Phoenix Pictures produce mainly thrillers and comedies. Warner Bros and Paramount distribute A LOT. Although this is an industrial film as it was distributed by a big studio, the budget was low compared to other film, being onlu $65 million. The A listers featured in the film are Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. This was before Iron Man (Favreau, 2008) and The Avengers (Whedon, 2012) so Ruffalo and Downey Jr. were not as popular as they are now.
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