9 Frame Analysis ‘Donnie Brasco’

The first scene we see is just a black screen with tense music playing in a minor key, unlike most noir films there is no narrative over the top. There is also some white writing in a block capital font which says ‘MANDALAY ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS’ this immediately lets us see who has produced this film.

We then skip to black and white extreme close up of someone’s eyes, this person appears to be concentrating on something or someone elsewhere. We can assume this person is ‘Donnie Brasco’ because a name appears as soon as this characters face appears.

We then skip to another black and white image of a group of men all of which are wearing similar attire. This frame is interesting because it makes it look like we are looking at images from a camera film.

From this frame we skip to another frame which is a close up of a mans face, immediately we think that this man is an important figure due to the persona of the people around him. He also has a very stern face and this is our stereotypical Mafia Boss.

We then skip to an average close up of the same characters face and we get to see more of his face, we can imply that he is looking at the group of men. We see some more names appear on the screen we can assume that these people are other main roles in the film.

In this frame we see the same character looking down as if to be pondering a situation. This suggests to us that this character is always working and he doesn’t have a chance to stop possibly due to his job. This shot is still black and white and has the same sounds running throughout the sequence.

This frame shows the first bit of color and we see a car on fire, which is most likely the scene of a crime as there is no damage to the chassis of the car so potentially a mafia attack. The main color in this scene and it is red which is often associated with anger.

The sequence then skips to a frame who appears to be the mafia leader and possibly the person who organized the crime. As the colors have returned to black and white we are back with the cold theme and the cold hearted killers.

The last shot of the sequence is a new setting in which we have not seen before however the lead characters are still focusing and concentrating, this suggests that no matter where or what time this character is present he is always focused and on the job.

The sequence then skips to a frame who appears to be the mafia leader and possibly the person who organized the crime. As the colors have returned to black and white we are back with the cold theme and the cold hearted killers.