The Departed is director Martin Scorcese’s first Oscar win, produced by Warner Bro’s and released on October 6th 2006 the film made £2,298,313 on opening weekend in the UK. The film won Oscars for Best Director , Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Mark Wahlberg). The film is highly acclaimed by critics and is number 47 on IMDB’s top 250 films list.
The film has a very unique opening as it focuses around one character Frank Costello. The film instantly connects to the audience with codes and conventions of thriller films, one of the first shots is of people fighting in the street, fighting and violence are connotations of the thriller genre. It shows old shots of Boston, this set’s the scene, again relating to a crime thriller audience as they expect a built up area to be the source of a conspiracy or a crime. The shots are in a shaky and old footage, connoting that the film will not take place within this time period. Establishing shots are used to show the area.
The character is introduced slowly, the first showing of the character is a silhouette, there is exceptionally low key lighting which creates mystery and tension for the viewer, which is what audiences expect to see out of a crime thriller. The character is further seen in a shop, his face is not seen and he is in a position of power as his body language is more relaxed than the shop owners, the convention of a discreet transaction is a convention of crime thriller.
There is a non-diegetic soundtrack (Gimme Shelter-Rolling Stones) this upbeat sound creates a sense of important and almost immortality to the character being introduced, As well as this there in a non-diegetic voiceover this helps the audience relate to the character as things are being seen from their perspective. Several sound bridges are used within the opening, to show the linear and chronological story line. The soundtrack quietens down when dialogue is being exchanged and then bought back up when there is not, this helps the scene work and give an importance to the characters.
Mise-en-scene in the scene shows several guns, cigarettes and violence, all fitting the stereotypical exceptions from the audiences. The murder of two people in a derelict location is symbolic of a gangster film, a type of crime thriller, the sadistic laugh from the killer connotes that the antagonist is being introduced. The locations are stereotypical of a gangster film, working from small businesses as a cafe and motor shop are seen.
The make up of the main character seen is rather wealthy, smart shirts are seen, a fancy watch and sunglasses and is seen smoking all the time, the smoking connotes arrogance and confidence. When the character delivers the line “What’s the difference?” there is a low angle shot along side low key lighting, creating a sense of darkness around the character and importance from the shot.
The editing is simple within this opening, there are several moments when the speeds of the cuts are sped up to connote a faster pace, a diverse pace in expectant if audiences in the thriller genre. Filters are not used as the lighting is used so effectively, match on action shots are also used frequently to show understanding of dialogue between characters.
Unconventionally no credits are seen within this opening, this does not reach the expectations of not just thriller films, but films in their own right,
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