Analysis of the opening scene to Inception

By Michael Rumble

Frames 1-2

Inception starts with a extreme close up on the main characters face as he washes up ashore on a beach looking confused and tired.This confusing opening is common with thrillers as it creates many questions among the audience as to how the main character got on the beach and why he is there.

A eyeline match is then used to show the main character looking towards 2 children who are playing on a beach, this is obviously the main character hallucinating however this adds to the feeling of the drama as already we are introduced to these children who are part of the main characters life however we are still left with many questions.

Frames 3-4

The main character is then approached by a man who pokes him with the end of his gun and through a medium close up we see that he is wearing a military uniform and a cap. In this picture we can see that the man is on a large beach but is actually close to land and it also creates tension as the man appears to be quite hostile towards the main character.

The man then notices something on the main character and he uses the end of his gun to lift the back of his shirt and this reveals that he has a gun. This also confirms that the main character was hallucinating when he seen the two children and this means that the children are important to him and could quite possible be involved with him waking up on a beach with a gun.

Frames 5-6The man is then taken to a room with some men standing around and an older man sat at a table. One of the men who are assumed to be bodyguards to the older man then places 2 objects on the table. Through a close up we see the gun that the main character has as well as some small token that the old man seems to recognise. This is important as it suggests that the old and seemingly powerful man has placed some importance in this small token.

The main character is then dragged to a room by two other men and through a medium close up we can see that the room is surrounded by bodyguards working for the older man at the table. As the men is being dragged, we can see that the older man doesn’t think much of the main character.

Frames 7-8

A close up is used to show the older man placing his hand on the gun and moving it to the small trinket while the main character eats soup at the other end of the table. This is contradictory to the attitude that the older man was showing before as he now appears to be less hostile to the main character however he still seems to be placing a large amount of importance in the small trinket.

A medium shot is used to show the older man picking up the trinket and spinning it across the table staring intently into it.This is very important to a thriller as the small object is now confirmed to be of large importance to more than one character and this feeling of mystery makes the opening very intriguing.

Frame 9

The final scene to the opening is a close up of the older man watching the trinket spin, this final scene signifies how important the small trinket is but doesn’t specify why it is important and leaves the rest of the film to answer that question.