War Genre post

The narrative of the opening scene is a veteran visiting the grave of another fallen soldier, accompanied by what is assumed to be his friends and family  We can assume that the rest of the film’s narrative will be to do with the story of how this man fought in the war, and who the soldier is that has passed away.The target audience for this film will probably be young adults/ adults, seeing as war films are often violent and have unsettling themes.

We know that the genre is war because of mise-en-scene mainly. For example, the opening scene is also set in a war graveyard. You can tell it is the graveyard of Allies because of the American and French flag.

 Also, all the graves are identical and have names of the fallen soldiers and the war they died fighting in. One soldier died in 1944 so you can tell it was the second world war. Also, at the very end of the scene there is a clip of the ocean shore and the title: ‘JUNE 6, 1944.’ You can tell it isn’t set in the war at the beginning because of the costume. It is clear the time period is the 80s because of the bright colours and bomber jackets.   

There are around 8 characters introduced in the film, however it is clear that the main character is the elderly man who went to visit the grave, as most of the screen time is on him in the first three minutes. 

We can tell that he has been through a lot as he breaks down in the clip when he sees the name on the tombstone. There are multiple tracking shots of him, therefore the camera follows him showing he is important and is the subject of this scene. The scene also ends with a slow zoom in of his eye, once again putting emphasis on his character. 

One key moment Is the opening clip. It is of the American flag blowing in the wind. It is a close up of the flag which shadows the camera from the sun showing the flag is very significant in the storyline. People usually associate the American flag with pride and independence. However, this flag seems drained of colour which implies that this is not a happy time like Independence Day, but in fact a time of grief. The music is played by a trumpet and the use of long held notes and a slow tempo makes the music seem quite solemn. Therefore, it creates a solemn atmosphere. We can assume this is war music as trumpets were used often in war for example, ‘the last post.’ This once again proves that this is a war film. The fade in from black also establishes a tense atmosphere, seeing as the music has been playing through the opening credits.

Another key moment is when the elderly man is walking through the graveyard slowly. The camera uses a slow tracking shot which follows the man. It also goes behind the gravestones to show that he is walking towards a specific grave.  This shot is arguably the longest in the whole scene and it slowly moves up into a high angle, showing that the man is feeling vulnerable. 

It also builds up anticipation to see where he is walking to. It also establishes location by showing how many graves there are. This impacts the audience as it shows how many people have died due to the war. The sound in the track has added some drums and string instruments to create a crescendo. This shows something important is about to happen. This also builds anticipation.

Finally, there is a close up on the mans face and a slow zoom into his eye, as this happens the war music fades, and the diegetic sound of the ocean slowly gets louder. This implies that there will be a change of scene in the film as they are not near the ocean. 

When the camera is at an extreme close up, there music has completely changed creating tension and implying there will be a flash back as there is major emphasis on the eyes. This is further emphasised when there is a cut to a beach. This cut is sudden and cuts the tension as we now know where the man was thinking of. 

However, the image does not look positive, as it is dark and lacking colour. Also, there were tank traps positioned on the sea line. This further supports the idea that this was a flash back to war. There is also text at the bottom saying ‘JUNE 6, 1944.'

In conclusion, I think this was a very successful opening scene because it creates anticipation as we want to find out what happened and who has passed away. It also establishes genre very effectively and emotionally hooks the reader through the use of soundtrack.