TH: Technical Analysis

Technical Analysis: Inception (Nolan, 2010)

Shot	Duration	Camera Technique	Mise en Scene
1	12 seconds	Long Shot (LS) of the sea and waves, panning towards the shore.	Good lighting, the crashing of the wave’s only thing in the shot.
2	7 seconds	Close Up (CU) of the protagonist (Leonardo DiCaprio), a slight high angle.	He is wet and dirty, in a daze.
3	2 seconds	Mid Shot (MS) of a child on the beach. POV shot.	A child, playing in the sand. Despite not being able to see the face of the child we can tell he is enjoying himself.
4	3 seconds	Close Up (CU) again of the protagonist. A shot, reverse shot to show his reaction.	Clearly the child is related to the protagonist in some way. Still very wet and lying as if he is weak.
5	3 seconds	Long Shot (LS) of one child running toward the child in the original shot. Again POV Shot.	A girl running towards a boy, possibly her child. They are both clean and well dressed, juxtaposing the protagonist’s state.
6	4 seconds	Close Up (CU), however it’s a slightly different angle. But again seeing the reaction.	Same as shot 4.
7	2 seconds	Long Shot (LS) of the two children, again a POV shot.	Both start to run away out of sight.
8	5 seconds	Close Up (CU) same as shot 6.	Seeing his reaction. However he falls unconscious as they run away.
9	2 Seconds	Mid Shot (MS) of someone poking him (DiCaprio) with a gun, but no response.	The fact he has a gun shows authority, and he’s poking DiCaprio as if he could be a danger.
10	2 seconds	Mid Shot (MS) showing the guard and that he is suspicious.	He is dressed as a police officer/ guard again highlighting his authority.
11	2 seconds	Mid Shot (MS) the guard is again poking, however pushes up his jacket showing that he’s carrying a gun.	From this angle we can see how dirty DiCaprio actually is, and when we see his gun it shows he is there for a reason, not just washed up on the shore.
12	2 seconds	Same as shot 10.	The guard is speaking to someone else, in a different language.
13	5 seconds	An extreme long shot (XLS) showing the response of another guard. A pan shows us a huge house.	The guard is dressed in the same clothing showing the owner of the house is powerful. The house is decorated as if it’s from Asia.
14	9 Seconds	A cross cut to inside the house, a long shot (LS) where people are talking in another language. It zooms slowly onto the table in the centre of the room.	It is decorated very expensively, and there are guards, both these showing the owners power.
15	5 seconds	Zooms further into (a mid shot) the table where someone is sitting at the table (possibly the owner).	He looks old and fragile, however is dressed in a suit and tie showing his wealth and authority.
16	3 seconds	Close Up (CU) showing what DiCaprio was holding: a gun and a spinning item.	The gun makes the owner feel endangered; however the other item makes him seem intrigued as if he’s seen it before.
17	5 seconds	Mid shot (MS) showing the old man, slowly turning going to talk to some of his guards.	Same as shot 15.
18	6 seconds	Long shot (LS) showing the guards burst through the doors bringing in DiCaprio, who still looks weak.	DiCaprio is still as dirty and as weak, shown through the guards dragging him.
19	4 seconds	Motivated cut, into close up (CU), showing DiCaprio eating the camera is panning up towards his face.	He is eating incredibly quickly as if he hasn’t eaten for days.
20	3 seconds	Over-the-shoulder shot, an unfocused long shot showing the wealthy owner, and an in focus shot of DiCaprio who is dirty.	There is a clear juxtaposition between the classes.

 

Soundtrack:

•          Starts off with heavy music, progressively getting louder.
•          However as the first shot occurs, there is a sound mix where two layers are formed. The music fades out and the sound of the waves breaking takes over.
•          At shot 2, the sound of the waves breaking fades out slightly, this is so we can hear the sounds of the children’s laughter; presumably in the mind of the protagonist.
•          Another sound mix occurs during shots 4-6, with music becoming louder over the sound of the crashing waves.
•         At shot 10, dialogue is introduced; however it is in a foreign language but there are no subtitles creating a sense of mystery.
•          At shot 14 when we’re taken into the house more dialogue occurs, and this time there are subtitles to translate. However there is also non-diegetic sound which is getting faster and to a higher pitch creating tension.

Evaluation of Technical Analysis:

•          I believe watching the clips shot by shot, and seeing how they integrate into one another, have allowed me to see the micro details used in order to create verisimilitude.
•          I have learnt that the rule of thirds is needed in order to keep the audience interested and can now see the extent of how much it is used from studying the clip.
•          As well as this I can now interpret the sound mixing and how they link to the visuals more effectively to create tension or mystery.