Analysis of The Cinematic Techniques That Are Used To Capture The Audience's Interest In The Opening Sequence Of The Film Of Mice And Men

Analysis of The Cinematic Techniques That Are Used To Capture The Audience's Interest In The Opening Sequence Of The Film Of Mice And Men

In the first moments of a film, the director will attempt to capture

the audience's imagination. He does this so that the audience

maintains its interest. The Director will use a number of cinematic

techniques to create a sense of urgency, suspense and dramatic

tension. These techniques are often shown by fusing picture and sound.

An example of a technique is mis-en-scene. This is described as the

'clues' in the frame of each shot such as the setting, props, use of

colour, light contrast and body language. All these elements play a

huge role in creating an atmosphere for the audience. In the case of

'Of Mice And Men', Gary Simise (The Director) uses many of the

techiniques.

In the opening sequence of the film 'Of Mice And Men' we begin with

music. This music is non-diagetic because we cannot see what is making

the sound. The music is very slow, sparse and poignant. The gentle

melody of the piano is very spaced out and sombre. This music creates

a sad or serious mood in the audience's minds. We then see a black

screen with very traditional, plain white writing. This fusion of

music and an ordinary looking background and text creates a sad and

serious atmosphere amongst the audience. It also creates a mystery in

the audience's mind as to what is going to happen next.

Then we see light flicking through boards and hear the subtle sound of

a train. The effect of this is that the audience starts to actively

piece things together. This also makes the audience try to predict

what is going to happen.

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...little sequence makes

it seem that George is fathering Lennie and Lennie is completely

dependent on George. There is also a bit of speech where George tells

Lennie to sleep and Lennie says "I am sleeping George" This shows yet

again that Lennie is child-like.

The scene concludes with George "watching over" Lennie and then you

see George in deep thought. The last image we see is of the train

trailing off in the distance.

Overall I think that by the end of this sequence the audience is left

with several questions in their minds as to what will happen next?

However they have learnt a small amount about the characters and

background of the film which plays a crucial role in how the audience

will react to the rest of the film. By the end of this sequence I was

left intrigued and excited as to what would happen next.