No Country For Old Men Analyses

No Country for Old Men analysing – Setting, Camera work, Editing, Characters / costumes, Sequence of events

The opening scene of‘No Country For Old Men’ begins with an establishing shot of the setting, showing the location of the scene to be deserted and far from civilisation. This evokes the feeling, adds that a victim would be helpless, therefore creating vulnerability as there are helpless when under threat of the antagonist as there is nowhere to hide or no one to help. This is conventional within the thriller genre as this creates an enigma for the audience as to how the victims will escape and therefore builds tension.

When the villain has been caught by the police, the camera zooms into police officer. The use of cinematography is suggestive of something happening to the police officer as this shot isolates him from the rest of the frame and therefore makes him vulnerable. As the victim is getting closer to the audience, this makes them feel on edge and builds tension. Also the use of the over the sholder shot which slowly turn into a high angle shot. Suggest that the antagonist is slowly gaining power in the scene as he gets closer.

 

When the antagonist is killing the police officer, there are many straight cuts that have been edited to create quick transitions between them. This creates a chaotic atmosphere and is representative of the antagonist’s mind set as being out of control. Also, his facial expressions show his lack of sanity making the audience feel uncomfortable and threatened by him.

 

The antagonist is wearing a black costume, a conventional aspect of the thriller genre. This is because the colour black connotes evil and darkness, representing the character he is. However his identity isn't hidden, opposing the convention of thrillers as this creates an enigma as to who the villain is.

 

By analysing the scene from ‘No Country for Old Men’ I have gained research that will benefit the planning of my own thriller opening. I feel this opening reveals the antagonist’s identity too early within the film and will therefore plan to create an enigma for the audience as to who the villain is when creating my own thriller this could be done though the use of a mask. This is a convention of the thriller genre and I feel it will be effective in engaging the audience to my opening as it builds suspense.