Opening - No Country For Old Men (Ella)



Shows the sun rising over the mountains (morning)

Midday-ish, pan over to car showing off desolate landscape

Close up of important prop

Shows the killer in dark background, focus on police officer

Camera Work

• Long shots of empty, desolate landscapes which gives the feeling of isolation and seclusion.
• The close up of the oxygen tank, which are on the front seat of the car, suggest to the audience they could be significant in the rest of the film

Sound

• There is no soundtrack and only a narrator, which allows the audience to consentrate on what he is saying and focus on empty landscapes, and question whether they link together. It also makes the film more personal as it feels they are speaking to you, and sharing information with you, which may help understand the film. The sound bridge over the top also connects the settings together and trys to link it to what he is saying.

Mise en Scene

• Most of the long shots are low key lighting it emphasises their desolation. The lighting shows the rising of the sun over the mountains which again shows that even as time passes by not much happens until it is cut to the shot police office.
• The costume of the actor in the police station shows his profession - that he is a police officer, which is reinforced by the setting and props, such as when he is strangled by the handcuffs!

Editing

• The cuts are quite slow at the beginning and just cut to a new landscape with the change of the position of the sun. This creates suspense as having to wait for the action the narrator is talking about.
• As the action increases so does the speed of the parallel cuts - when the police officer is stangled it cuts to the expression of his face, to a long shot of him struggling and to the handcuffs tightening around his neck.