Directer: Phillip Noyce
Camera/editing
The clip starts with a zoom out of the ‘Columbia’ logo, then cuts straight to a black backdrop, and bold, capital, white writing appears and disappears. Followed by the words ‘NORTH KOREA/ TWO YEARS AGO’ which lets the audience know the film is going into the past. Noyce uses a P.O.V. (point of view) shot of Evelyn to bring us straight into the diegesis and see to men open a door. The audience then sees a close up of Evelyn’s face which shows lots of blood and bruising. Noyce uses a shot along the floor to show her being dragged out of a small, enclosed room. We see she is covered in blood and wearing only grey, lace underwear. This connotes femininity and weakness. A medium shot is used to show her being dragged and dropped onto the floor, then a P.O.V. of Evelyn to show 3 men crowded round her head. We then see a close up of her face, feet, and finally her hands, each tied together with ropes. We see a long shot of her stretched out on the floor, tied up with rope which connotes restriction. We hear dialog of her pleading to go home which connotes weakness, then we see a P.O.V. of Evelyn to show a close up of one of the soldiers facial expression of anger and frustration. Noyce then uses a close up of a hand grabbing Evelyn’s face, and attempting to place a plastic pipe into her mouth. He uses another P.O.V. of Evelyn, then a medium shot of a man pouring water into a bucket which plunges down the tube into her mouth. A man kicks her face, and then a long shot is used to show her rolling around on the floor in pain with the three men still surrounding her head. The first scene fades into a black backdrop and then slowly fades back into the second scene. The second scene starts with a P.O.V of Evelyn to show two soldiers, followed by a metal gate, with her colleague stood on the other side. We see a close up shot of her face to highlight her facial expression which shows a swollen, black eye, and a cut lip representing her on going torture. Noyce uses another P.O.V. of Evelyn to show a long drive and people in the distance. A medium shot is used of the man opening the barrier which connotes her freedom. We then see a medium shot of the back of her and her colleague heads which may connote how she’s turning her back on the past. We are shown another close up of her face showing us her black eye, and cuts, highlighting the damage caused from this imprisonment. We see an E.L.S (extreme long shot) and deep space is used whereby the barrier is close to the camera and she is in the distance, representing the long process of her release. There is then a succession of long shots and close ups of Evelyn and her husband as she is walking to him. We see an S.R.S (shot, reverse, shot) of when her husband sees her. He shows no reaction which means he may be hiding the pain he feels and acting strong for her. The scene then fades into the title.
Sound/music
Quiet, tense music plays at the start of the clip, and we hear a Korean man speaking whilst the screen is still black. Through this scene we hear a number of diegetic sounds such as, keys, Evelyn being dragged and falling on the floor, ropes being tightened, footsteps, and the water flowing down the tube into her mouth. As the scene fades you hear her saying ‘I’m not a spy, I am not a spy’ making the audience sympathise for her. All this diegetic sound creates a sense of reality bringing the audience into the diegesis. In the second scene we hear the gate and the barrier opening, each presenting her freedom. When Evelyn is released a man clearly says ‘exchange’ ensuring the audience understands why she has been released. The non-diegetic music builds up as she walks towards her husband, then fades as the title appears.
Mise-en-scene
Setting/lighting:
At the beginning of the clip we see a dark room, and soldiers all in identical, dark green uniforms. We see rope ties which may connote a form of slavery and barred doors which denote imprisonment. There are dark brick walls, and a small amount of light shining through a small window. This may represent a small amount of hope of her being released. The darkness of the room connotes danger. In the second scene, there’s natural light as she walks out, concrete buildings and army trucks, this connotes the power the Koreans hold. We see a black and yellow barrier which connotes danger, as well as fences either side of her highlighting the security of the place she has been kept in. There’s a second barrier near to the cars she will escape in, this is coloured red and white. Red and white may connote a hospital and therefore help.
Costume:
We see that Evelyn has blonde hair which may connote a lack of intelligence leading to how she got arrested in the first place. Furthermore she is wearing only grey, laced underwear highlighting her femininity and vulnerability. In the second scene Evelyn is wearing a white top, the colour white connotes innocence and purity, making it seem as though she is not guilty. The cars are also coloured white, this connotes purity and reinforces the idea that she in innocent.
Titles:
The clip starts with a black backdrop, words appear in bold, white, capital letters which contrast with the background. The words fade in quickly, appear for 3 seconds, then disappear quickly increasing pace and making the opening tense. Words such as ‘presents’ are smaller compared to big company names which stand out due to their larger size. Three minutes 37 seconds into the film shapes appear from the edges of the scene into the middle to create the word ‘salt’. The font is very angular, bold and masculine compared to the vulnerability we’ve seen so far of Evelyn. We can still see the scene through the letters until it fades into a bold, bright red colour. Red connotes danger and the word ‘salt’ appears again over the top of the other, this time in white. White connotes innocence, therefore the red and white together may connote an innocent person in danger. In addition the fact that the word salt appears twice may be because Evelyn is a spy and therefore has more than one identity. Furthermore, no names of actors, directors, or produces are shown in the opening which relates to the theme of the film being about not knowing anyone’s true identity.
What I've Learnt
One of the things that I learnt is that who colour in the title sequence can connote emotions. The use of font can also impact this. The use of POV shots also appear to come up a lot in this extract, and it can be seen that the use of them are a good way to input what it would be like for that character in the select situation.
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