Sin City- Film Analysis

Film: Sin City
Year: 2005
Director: Frank Miller

Sound: At the very beginning, there is non-diegetic sound of a low Saxophone which immediately sets the tense atmosphere and creates a mysterious urban setting. Ambient non-diegetic sound is also used such as footsteps, 'city' noises, gunshot, rain falling and thunder. All of these sounds are nicely spread out during the opening sequence, making the pace freakishly slow and this then adds to the suspense and adds a sinister effect by adding emotion to the sequence.

The first piece of dialogue we hear is a non-diegetic piece ( voice over/narrative) as the person who is talking is not yet in the scene, however a few seconds later the male figure appears. This adds to the tense atmosphere because the voice over/narrative is directed to the female that is already in the scene who looks slightly vulnerable (playing on that stereotype). The dialogue states... "She shivers in the wind, like the last leaf on a dying tree" not only does the dialogue create the meaning that the woman is vulnerable but "last leaf on a dying tree" gives connotations of death or an end to something and the audience can actually picture the last leaf on a dying tree. The dialogue is said by a man in a very deep and husky voice, this adds to the tension as it makes it seem as if the man who is talking has some power over the vulnerable women.

At the end of the sequence a piano piece which is quite dramatic and sad, maybe reflecting on the emotions in the sequence. Then a light drum beat is added to the sequence adding again the tense urban mystery back to the sequence.

Mise en Scene: The opening of this film reveals a centralised woman wearing a vivid red, elegant dress and as she is shown in the centre of the screen, it perhaps shows her importance in this film. The dress is also backless and shows quite a bit of skin, which could suggest that she is vulnerable target. This vulnerability is reinforced by colour of the dress as red has connotations with danger. When the man appears, he is hidden by the darkness for most of the sequence but he wears a formal black suit which portrays the man as a business type but also has a cold, dark emotion towards him.

Throughout the whole opening sequence, the colour of the film is black and white but there is slight glimpses of colour such as the red dress and lipstick. I think that the colour of this sequence definitely portrays danger, mystery and darkness because of the woman being defined by the colour makes her stand out with the first few seconds of the scene. At the beginning, the lighting is low because it is reflected from the windows that are seen a couple of seconds later then at 15 seconds in the camera angle changes to show where the light is coming from therefore making the light brighter. The low key lighting added to the mystery at the beginning and when the lighting changed it, I think it shifted the mystery and tension a little bit.

There are a minimal props used in this sequence, just a cigarette, a lighter and a silent pistol. The gun is used to shoot her but with the silencer, the sound fades in the city noise, which then again brings back the mystery.

Camera work: Firstly there's a long central shot of the woman walking elegantly towards the balcony where she looks out onto the city view, after the dialogue, the shot changes and a male silhouette walks behind but is situated nearer stage right, perhaps suggesting that he is not the most important in this moment as the woman is more central.

When they start to converse, there is a slight two shot between them both as they stand together side by side but the women has her arms crossed showing that she could be uncomfortable in the situation. A varied amount of camera angles and shots have been used to slow paced effect and shows the full emotions of both characters. The slow pace of the dialogue and camera movements also build the tension and suspense. A close up of the woman's face features including her eyes is used when the male offers a 'smoke' and from the shot we can see her facial expression changes to be much more fearful.

A two shot of the two passionately kissing before he shots her and she falls to the ground. This showed that the male did have feelings for the woman but maybe had to follow orders to kill her. At the end there is a long shot of the two on the floor as the man holds her and the camera spirals out into the shape of the city and this shape therefore makes the logo of the film 'Sin City'.

Editing: In this opening sequences, they use a lot of straight cuts used, this helps the audience understand what is happening without the distractions of fades and fancy effects ect. Even though the woman enters the sequence first, both male and female have the same amount of screen time. There is a quite a long shot that edits to a medium shot which then moves to a close up and then an extreme close up, these cuts shows the emotions well. Then there is a over head shot of the man holding onto the woman, then a cartoon effect is introduced, this is completely different to any other Thriller movies and making it an original opening sequence.

Titles: Weirdly there is no titles in this opening sequence.. only at the very very end but this is unusual for an opening sequence. Maybe this is because they wanted to make this opening sequence different or didn't want anything to take away to mystery or effect of the dialogue. Frank Miller had made this very different so that the audience don't tend to think firstly on who stars in the movie but what it is all about, making this quite unique.