Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Analyzing the Camera Work of 1st Scene - Coggle Diagram
Analyzing the Camera Work of 1st Scene
The POV shots
These are truly special. They let us see what the pilot is seeing and feel what he's feeling. The camera is speeding through the clowds
The frame is shaking to show that the plane is shaking. This
Analyzing the opening scene.
What is the significance that it's the opening scene?
Sets the tone for the rest of the movie
It's very startling / the scene has more effect because it's played right at the start. Usually you expect a slow or mellow start and then the tension builds as the story formulates. But here, we dive straight in to the nervousness, the (literally) shaking fear. It's truly captivating.
Show us the danger of test-piloting. Seeing one death already ensures the audience understands the risk.
Sets it apart as no ordinary movie
It's in black and white for most of the scene
We only see color when the plane explodes. The huge noise that comes from the explosion along with the new change in color adds shock value to the scene.
What is the effect of it being in black and white?
Adds a sullen feeling to the scene
May or may not be the black and white effect but I can't see anything in the part where they show the cockpit (02:11). Everything in this shot is a silhouette - including the pilots. It definitely adds to the mystery and tension in this scene.
That's "low key lighting"
As the test pilot reaches closer to MACH 1, the voice becomes more panicky. The music fades out and settles into a suspenseful beat. The beat is soft but it has a rapid rhythm, increasing the tension in the scene.
As this is happening the frame rotates rapidly- pretty much uncontrollably. This is very unusual camera work in a movie. Audience is not used to this camera work. Something is clearly very, very wrong. And so they panic, fearing for the pilots' life (also because the panicky voice and beat in the background).
Jump cut to woman, presumably the wife of the test pilot, gasping as she wakes up. It seems like she just had a nightmare.
Probably dreamt of her husband disintegrating in a plane explosion.
She ends up being right as an ominous man dressed in a black suit and black hat walks to her door. We can barely see his face. He is the angle of death
As the symbol of death walks closer to the house, he gets closer to the camera. In other words, he gets closer to us and the wife of the test pilot. As he moves closer to the camera our fears are confirmed. The pilot is dead.
Talk about emotional rollercoaster