Film Opening Analysis

Iron Man (2008)Josh Pyne

Scene 1Lighting : Natural light, very bright. There is no dark parts meaning nothing sinister or evil.

Editing : Editing is mid paced. It starts off with a simple pan across the desert. This is an establishing shot.

Sound : There is both diegetic sound and non diegetic sound. We can hear the wind rustle and we can hear in the background AC/DC’s Back in Black, playing. This is definitely setting the stage for iron man as a “Bad Ass”.

Scene 2Sound : We can now just hear non diegetic sound. AC/DC’s Back In Black is paying as the primary audio.

Lighting : Natural light, very bright. There is no dark parts meaning nothing sinister or evil.

Editing : Nothing too fancy we are still establishing the environment. The camera is placed in front of the camera and coming towards it, giving it a aggressor like role.

Scene 3Lighting : Is still quite bright, but now there is more darkness as we are in the interior of the hum vee.

Editing : The editing becomes much faster, as most of the shots are medium close ups. This is for the purpose of conversation.

Sound : There is just diegetic sound, the background music is being played of the CD player which is positioned in the centre of the vehicle, and the actors are talking amongst each other.

Scene 4Lighting : Starts to get dark, indicating something bad is happening, or sinister work is at play.

Editing : Editing becomes fast paced, as the actors are engaged in a fire fight. Quick cuts, medium close ups, close ups and POV shots are used.

Sound : Both diegetic and non diegetic sound is present. We can hear and see the actors talking, but the bullets being fired and the mortars are not visible.

Scene 5

Lighting : Bright lighting, but it seems a bit darker than it was outside in scenes one and two.

Sound : We can hear Robert Downey Jr. struggle as he is hit by a explosion. This is diegetic sound, but we also hear non diegetic sound such as guns firing, explosions in the background and shouting.

Editing : Is fast paced up till here, then it slows down. When Robert Downey Jr. Is hit, this is similar to the rush of adrenaline. And signifies that the action scene is finished.