Opening Sequnce Of A Similar Product

In the opening sequence of ‘Law Abiding Citizen’ the camera angles are used in many different ways to emphasize the actions that take place. The opening shot of this sequence is a close up of bracelet beads; this signifies that the movie might be related to children and therefore it would be a happy film, however the next shot is contrasting the calm and relaxing shot with a close up of electronic machinery soldering; this confuses the audience as they are not able to predict what will happen next. Directors use these techniques to make the films interesting; this is because every film has to be unique to be successful and if the director has the power to keep the audience in their palm it means that the film is successful. The close up shots of these two objects indicates a higher importance to them as oppose to a long shot where these items would not even be notices at first by the human eye.

The next sequence of shots is number of close up shot reverse shots between a father and his daughter; these put emphasis on the relationship between the father and daughter as we are able to see the facial expressions which are displayed on their faces when they are having a conversation. Another occasion where we get loads of close ups is when the robbery scene occurs the close ups allow us to see the fear in the family’s faces as well as make the audience sympathetic towards them. 

During the robbery the camera angles change rapidly and the camera movement is very jagged, this creates lots of tension in the audience. The actions taking place in this part of the opening sequence are very fast paced as the action being carried out is a house burglary; these burglaries are carried out fast so that the thieves do not get caught by the police. The camera demonstrates the quickness of the whole scene.

By using the camera techniques in certain ways it allows the audience to get a greater understanding of the meaning that the director is implying. The camera is almost uncertain of what to do at some points is this clip; this might inflict on the outcome of this situation as the thieves cannot predict who is in the house at the time as well as what the house owners are capable of doing at the time.

The opening sequence of this film reflects on our idea of the task that we need to carry out. In my opinion the analysis of this opening sequence will help me understand the task in more depth and allow me to apply the techniques I learned from analyzing this clip to our project to achieve the highest grade possible.

By Maciek Dekert