Casino Royale essay- Shakir

1. Casino Royale essay- Shakir
Narrative:
The opening of casino royal gives us good impressions of the movie, it tells us that it will be action
packed and very interesting. We have not been given much information on the back story, however
we did get some. The opening shows a fight scene in black and white, because it is in black and white
indicates this happened in the past. The opening also shows James bond and another character
talking in a room. They both talked very confidently and the way the scene carried out shows they
have history and that they know each other. The impressions I get from the opening scene is that the
guy in the trench coat is a villain and he plays a big part to James bonds mission.
Title sequence:
The title sequence is animated, this is different from normal title sequence. Normal title sequences
have non animated clips relating to the movie. This one is very animated and shows action/fight
scenes that does not relate to the movie. The title sequence has a cards theme, there are a lot of
aces and different types of cards floating around the title sequence. The opening scene has credits
and the names are written in block capitals. This may be to catch the audience’s attention to give
credit to the people who worked hard to make the movie.
Character types:
In the opening scene James bond and the villain were dressed smartly. I think this is because the
producers want to assert their powers and show they both have high status but are just as equal. The
atmosphere is also smart, neat and looks rich. They both talk very confidently which show that they
are both just as powerful as each other. Both of the characters use guns which shows that they are
both violent and experienced in fighting and crime.
Cinematography:
In the opening scene there are a range of different camera angles and shots used to help the
audience identify the type of genre the film will fall into. The Opening scene uses two shots to show
both the villain and James bond talking. This is to show both of their status, the two angle shot shows
the audience that they are on equal grounds and they both have as much status as each other. Low
angle shots are also used in the opening scene, in the beginning it shows the villain coming out of his
car and the shot used on him was low angle. This is to make him look bigger and makes him look like
a bad powerful person. This also shows status.
Sound and lighting:
Different sound and lighting techniques are used to bring out an affect that helps identify genre. For
example, the lighting in the opening scene was dark and the sound was very quiet, all you can hear is
their talking. This gives the audience a tense feel and allows things to happen by surprise, this relates
to the thriller genre.
Themes:
Action – I think that the film is action packed because the opening scene showed a lot of action and
fighting in the flashback and the title sequence.
Spy - I think that the film is very spy related as James Bond is known for a spy. In the film he will most
likely be on a mission as a spy.
Violence - There will definitely be a lot of violence, I can tell because it showed a lot of fighting scenes
in the opening and the title graphics was full of action.
Status - As James bond is a spy that tells me that the spy is government related, and when it comes
to the government being involved there is lot to do with status. Even the villains will have a high
status, maybe even equal to the higher ups in the government in relation to power and status.
Corruption - If James Bond is on a spy mission it tells me that there is corruption, the corruption in this
film could be organised crime or hidden villains in the government. I am assuming that James bond is
on a mission to stop the corruption.