Textual Analysis of Scene Two

7/31/2019 Textual Analysis of Scene Two

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Le Chiffre is threatened


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This establishing shot of the scene sets the location which is a hallway of some sort of hotel.There are lots of uses of gold in the furniture, paintings, lift and even the lights as this connotesthe richness of the hotel and reflects onto Le Chiffre. The position of the camera is at a low angle

however therefore connoting that this success may come at a price and representing it in anegative way. This may also be the use of voyeurism (looking in on someone else's life) as itmeets the spy genre and style.

The camera also panns to the right following Le Chiffre into his room as if the camera/ audience ispeering into his life.


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We have aconflict of lightin this scene. Thecontrast reflectsboth in his

personality butalso in the scenethat is about tohappen.

Our character has entered and hisbody language suggest that hewalks in darkness, this is through hisclothing and the direction he isabout to walk into.

The wide angle establishing shot lets the audience view aluxury suite. This is shown to emphasis his money, greed andstatus. There are scattered pieces of furniture which reflecthis life style and his state of mind.

Levi-Struass theory of binaryoppositions reflects the storyline,in this case the lights reflect good

vs. evil within Le Chiffres fate.


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The next shot is of Valenka. The long shot createsa distance between the audience and thecharacter whilst the netting gives theconnotation of mystery as we cannot fully seeher and therefore do not trust her. There is also abreeze blowing creating an unease about her which is a convention of the spy genre becausethe audience is always on edge with continuoustwists and turns in the storyline as alliances

change and the line between friend and foe blur.

The camera then pans to the left following LeChiffres movement onto the balcony. The

audience can now also see that he hasmoved away from the lights into thedarkness therefore choosing his fate.


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The camera then rapidly tracks into aclose up of Valenka and Le Chiffre as theyembrace and kiss. There are clear conventions of a spy/ mystery genre aswe see Le Chiffre in a silhouette and thedramatic action on screen is emphasisedby the atmospheric music.

The silhouette is one of the mostfamous conventions of the spy/mysterygenre. The imagery suggests that wedo not know this person and that weshall be entering a world where thereare lurking shadows and therefore wemust look out for every character.Therefore when the director used it inthis shot we are reminded of the genreand the likelihood of what mighthappen.


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Le Chiffre is then grabbed from behind bysomeone out of shot, this is done so theaudience is shocked and is taken off guard. He is

pulled away out of shot, the enigma code (cliff-hangers) makes the audience worried about hisfate.

The next shot is from within the hotel room.

We see Le Chiffre dragged through andlifted up as the camera rapidly tracks into aclose up again just like we previously sawoutside with Valenka. This is repeated toshow the contrast in situation like anequilibrium.

Beginning Equilibrium

Problem/ Disequilibrium

Resolution

New Equilibrium


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Here we cut to another scene with Bond and Vesper approaching the front desk, the camera tracks in andto the right as they round the corner and walk to the desk. There is a two shot to represent their close

friendship and the irrelevance of the woman at the desk as she is out of focus in the depth of field. Thecontrast in light from the previous scene emphasises how in the dark Le Chiffre is into his situation asthey are well lit. However the use of palm trees behind them reminds the audience that both couples are inthe same location and therefore suggesting that they could walk in on the danger.The reason behind the cut to theopposing couple is so that suspenseis building as the audiences focus is

on Le Chiffre. The pace resembles aspy layout as there are two sceneshappening at once and the audienceis trying to connect them together some how.


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The camera quickly pans across in mid action of Valenka being whipped around, this adds speed and tensionto the scene and the situation. The camera then settles on Le Chiffre and the Villain threatening him. Theposition of the men is in the centre third so is the main action and also central to the scene and the reasonbehind the ambush. The direction that Valenka has been turned away from is the light and into the dark justlike there is little light facing Le Chiffre, this connotes a negative representation of their future and thereforethe audience will presume there will be a disastrous end for them both.


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This low angle of the couple reinstates thatthey are the power couple in this situation.The proximity between the two charactersrepresents how attached they now are toeach other which shows a massive contrastto the previous couple.

The close up shot here of Vesper is used for her reaction as it should reflect what theaudience looks like and feels as Bond replaceshis earpiece and pulls out a gun.The gun is out of focus whilst in the same shotof Vesper. The director has chosen to do thisas violence and crime are forever featured inBond films and play an underlying tone to thefilm and the audience as well the charactersmust get used to it.


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Here the use of a high angle shot connotesthe little power that he possesses. Even theaudience is looking down upon Le Chiffre asif he should be ashamed of himself.

There is then a series of close ups for reactionshots. This is done to slow down the action andcreate suspense just like a spy/mystery ought todo. This is a convention as it lets the audience takein what already has happened and let them formtheir own decisions of the situation.


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There are a series of close up used in the next scene with Vesper and Bond. The first focuses on the

technology and gadgets that he uses. The use of special effects on the screen lead to a location andthis is then acknowledged by Bond pressing number 4 on the lift panel. This sequences is used sothe audience know that they are aiming for a location and sets in the enigma code; where are theygoing? What are they doing? The use of cliff-hangers and encouraged questions makes theaudience active rather than passive. Which is exactly what the audience should be doing watchingthis genre of a film.


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When referring to Le Chiffre the director choseto continue to use this high angle shot as hehas no influence anymore. This is a contrast tothe beginning of the scene when he walked in.The director is letting the audience know thatthe outcome is already decided and he will justhave to sit and wait for it.

In the rule of thirds, the knife is pulling focusby being whipped across the screen into thecentre third. This foreshadows what willhappen as we can see her in the backgroundas the knife goes across her.The camera then pans around him so we canwitness what he will do with the knife.


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The mise-en-scene is the same hallway in the beginning of the scene to reinstate the situation. Bond andVesper then walk out of the lift and enter the same location as where Le Chiffre is. The repetition of the shotis another convention of the spy genre as location is key in order to solve the missions however the camerais now positioned in a high angle in the camera like CCTV.

This time we are made aware of the stairway sign as if the audience need to know escape roots, this isemphasised by the fact that the mise-en-scene is all in focus. This is once again foreshadowing what mayhappen to the characters.


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Vesper is positioned far behind Bond asif he is protecting her. After he realisesthat something is wrong he turns andthe cameras depth of field goes deepand is pulled focus upon her. In thecentre third we can also see that the liftis still open therefore an escape root.This is another convention as we nowcan see where someone can go andwhat they should do.

This close up of Bond is used for areaction shot, he is the hero andeven he is alarmed. This then makesthe audience feel the same way andlets them know that they are in closeproximity of Le Chiffre and Valenka.


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The wide shot puts everything into proportion, every character within the room can be seen even LeChiffre on the floor. This is so there is a big dramatic build up to him swinging backwards and strikingdown upon her arm whilst the atmospheric music builds. The camera then cuts to a close up of theknife hovering above her arm as the music also cuts and all that is heard is her breathing irregularlyas she realises that he has not cut off her arm.


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Bond is positioned so that his reflection is onthe sign Presidential Suite connoting that he isthe president in this situation or in other wordshe is top in the hierarchy.

Once again the wide angle establishing shot is repeated and now there is even more focus on the stairwaysign as both characters are looking at it. The colour green is also associated with the action of GO andsuddenly they lunge to go towards the stairway. The design in the carpet also encourages this action as itleads towards the camera and out of the situation.

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Textual Analysis of Scene Two