Face
off
The use of blue filters in
the opening scene at the fairground where John Travolta and his son are on the
carousel washes out the bright greens of the trees and the grass, and the blues
and the reds of the balloons, and also makes the horses look sombre, not colorful or happy. It makes the scene seems cold, dull and sinister, which is
contrasted to the usual assumption that it should be colorful and happy filled
with children. The picture below shows an example of the blue filter dulling the colors and setting the atmosphere.
At the fairground; the use of slow motion, music, lighting, and
lack of people give it a very ominous feel. Carousels are often featured in
horrors and crimes in this genre, as they involve innocent children as opposed
to dangerous criminals who make the film more serious and interesting,
establishing the genre further.
Then an overlay screen text says 6 years later,
and a big police department in the city where John Travolta is a high ranking
detective is shown. This represents the thriller genre as most crime thrillers
are set in the city where there are tall buildings and busy roads; also the
main character fits the thriller hero character type as he’s a middle aged man
who is the good reflection of the villain.
There’s then a cut to Nicholas Cage
in slightly chiaroscuro lighting as he is committing a crime at a bug
convention center in the city. This establishes Nicholas Cage as the villain as
he is not only committing a crime, but he is doing so in a place filled with
innocent, good, happy people, and showing no mercy.
John Travolta is a chief
detective, who is the typical age and gender of the hero. We see that he had a
loving and close relationship with his son, and that the death of his son has
impacted his life massively by putting strain on his marriage, and giving him a
personal motive of revenge to catch the villain. Nicholas Cage is all dressed
in black with religious connotations which could either show he commits crime
through extreme religion, or he is just trying to blend in at the convention
centre. His actions are over the top and appear to be a little manic. He seems
more like an action movie villain.
Non-diegetic music is played
as we watch John Travolta and his son together at the carousel. This music is
melodic and quite pleasant but sombre. As Nicholas Cage appears on screen it
becomes darker and more dramatic with deep bass sound effects. At the bullet is
shot the music stops and the extremely emphasised partially diegetic sound
effect of the bullet flying through the air is heard, and echoes. Then we hear
the pained cry of the carousel horse, and then sounds of crying and disbelief
as John Travolta learns his son is dead.
The music then takes us to a sound
bridge where six years later appears on screen, and more conventional thriller,
orchestral music is played. At first, the choir noise is non-diegetic as it is
seen and not heard, however it acts as a sound bridge to the diegetic noise
when the choir appears on screen. As there is a medium close up of John
Travolta the opening music is reprised which shows us he’s still thinking of
his son.
The use of slow motion is to
establish a close relationship with his son, while also making it slightly
eerie/disturbing/mysterious. There is an extreme close up of the gun sight to
show impending violence. There’s then a close up on the horse with blood on it,
which emphasizes the fact that the bullet has in fact gone straight through the
man and the child. There is then a long shot of the balloons floating away,
which represents the loss of life. After the fade to six years later, there’s a
close up of John Travolta still emotional and angry, grieving for his son. We
then see all of his plaques and awards.
The titles start with a
classic sans serif font, on a black background. They fade in from a blur, and
then out again back to a blur. This signifies mystery, and then things from the
mystery becoming clearer, and resolved.
The names of John Travolta,
Nicolas Cage, and the title of the film ‘Face Off’ are over laid in bold. The
first word of the two comes forward and enlarges as the second word of the two
reduces. For example, ‘John’ would come forward and enlarge whilst ‘Travolta’
would reduce in size and appear to go back. The aim of this is to signify and
emphasize the films main themes, which is swapping identities, and the binary
oppositions of good vs evil.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNOvfuybPao
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