By Thomas Coatsworth

The Bourne Identity

You hear the sound before the film starts. The sound is off wind, this suggests darkness and trouble. In the first shot you see the dark and murky water suggesting danger. The lighting is very dark again suggesting there’s something bad that has happened. The image shows a man’s body floating in water, this connotates that the man has been left in the water to die looking at the way he is floating and being overwhelmed by the water.

There are lightning strikes all around him, this suggests again trouble or the light from the lightning suggests something good. The character is positioned in the corner of the shot, this suggests he is not the main focus and the water is. This is saying that the water is more powerful than the character, it is overwhelming him.

You then see a boat, now you can see the rain and the rough sea which is backed up by the sound to create a really dark setting. This is an establishing shot. The image of the boat connotates safety and a source of rescue for the character in the water. The shot is quite a long shot as it shows the boat moving along, this is suggesting it is a very important part of the scene. The lighting again is very dark suggesting again of the dark mood.

The next shot the camera pans down into a room with a group of people playing cards. This is a cut in/ cut away shot which makes you realise that these people are in the boat you see earlier. The characters are roughly dressed, this connotates that they have been out on the boat for a long time. The lighting is light which contrasts to the darkness outside suggesting again that safety is in the boat. The camera is shaking around to give the idea of the boat swaying around on the sea.

You then see another establishing shot of the open sea. There is titles at the bottom stating the location of which the scene is set. This is the first clue given about what might have happened and may be helpful later on in the film. The shot itself is a very long shot of the sea so again it is suggesting that the sea is the most powerful and once again the lighting is very dark.

You then get a closer up view of the character as the camera is zooming in. the zooming in can suggest something is coming towards him or something is going to happen creating tension. Also for the first time you can clearly see a flashing item on the character which now puts in the idea that the character may be alive as the flashing represents hope and life.

In the next shot you can see a man stumbling around the boat, the camera is moving side to side to emphasise the swinging of the boat. This is a body-mid shot and puts the emphasis on the legs struggling to keep him up straight. There is the non-diegetic sound which creates a tense feeling and diegetic sound emphasises the weather and the conditions. You can also now see from the clothing the man is wearing that the boat is a fishing boat, again giving a clue about the location and what might have happened.

You then get a medium close up of the man on the boat and the expression on his face is of intriugment. This connotates that the man may have seen something in the water and most likely the character we saw earlier in the film. You can now see the rain on his jacket showing the rain and again the lighting is extremely dark.

You then have a shot reverse shot, shot reverse shot. There is eyeline match up between the guy on the boat and the character floating in the water. The diegetic sound is of the lighting and there still is the non-diegetic sound which is getting louder and faster connotating that something is going to happen. It is close up shots of the man to show how he is reacting to seeing the guys body in the water.

In the last shot you now get a real close up shot of the man in the water and you can identify slightly that by the clothes you can now see he is from a military background. The non-diegetic sound has now got louder and faster as if it is reaching a peak. The position of the character is right in the middle of the shot emphasising he is now the main focus.

When the titles roll in they all come in mixed up, this could be representing the film as it is all unclear at this moment in time. The colour of the titles is blue, representing the sea and the blackness in the background representing the dark mood. The font of the titles as well is very military.