Thriller genre film opening analysis #2

The second film opening of the Thriller genre I chose to analyse was S.W.A.T.

 

(00:00 - 02:00 of this clip)

Director: Clark Johnson

Release date (UK): 5 December 2003

S.W.A.T. opens with titles saying the title of the film, with diegetic police radio playing as well, this then fades in to an establishing helicopter shot of the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles which the helicopter moves towards. this then cuts to a documentary style shot of a news helicopter flying above the city, this is followed by many short length shots from what seems to be a handheld camera, shot in documentary style. There is then a close up shot of the criminals face wearing a balaclava brandishing an AK-47, there is continuous diegetic police radio, this adds to the tension within the scene and adds realism as well. The camera then transitions to a shot within the bank where the hostages are with a close up of the criminals face as he shouts commands to the hostages, this is followed by a jump cut to a long shot of a police truck coming round the corner of a street, as this is happening non-diegetic soundtrack starts, followed by a cut to the truck driving past which then cuts back to show a convoy of unmarked police vehicles following the truck, followed by an overhead shot to reveal SWAT on top of the truck. There is then a jump cut to a close up of Colin Farrell and Jeremy Renner inside a helicopter, this is followed by a few more shots of inside the helicopter before an overhead locked down shot of the top of the bank where the helicopter comes into shot, this is then followed by a slow motion, low angle shot as two SWAT officers rappel down. There is then a cut to an even lower angle shot where the two SWAT officers reach the top of the bank, followed by an overhead shot from the helicopter of them rappelling down, which then cuts to a shot looking up to the helicopter in slow motion to show the final two officers rappelling out of the helicopter, followed by an overhead shot, then by a medium shot of the front of the helicopter. As this happens the music becomes quieter, this implies that the characters within the scene need to be stealthy, this then cuts to an overhead shot of the helicopter flying away, followed by a POV shot of one of the SWAT team making a hand gesture to the rest of the team. this id then followed by an extreme overhead long shot, then by a close up tracking shot of Colin Farrell walking towards the entrance the camera then goes into an arc shot to show the rest of the SWAT team converging on his location, there is a transition to an overhead shot as the team shoot the lock on the roof entrance to gain entry. There is a quick transition to a close up of the lock and then by an overhead shot as they enter, this is then followed by a low angled shot of inside the dark room in which they enter, this adds effect as the room is dark adding tension to the scene.

Synopsis:

Hondo Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson) recruits Jim Street (Colin Farrell) to join an elite unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. Together they seek out more members, including tough Deke Kay (LL Cool J) and single mom Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez). The team's first big assignment is to escort crime boss Alex Montel (Olivier Martinez) to prison. It seems routine, but when Montel offers a huge reward to anyone who can break him free, criminals of various stripes step up for the prize.

Mise-En-Scene:

The lighting in this scene seems to be natural, the setting is Los Angeles and the iconography in this scene is the SWAT uniforms and police vehicles as this instantly makes it clear that it is a police-based film, the main characters are Colin Farrell and the rest of his SWAT team. The costumes are the LAPD SWAT uniforms, the setting is in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas.

Target audience:

The target audience is 12+ people who are interested in police style film and good thrillers.

Institutional Information:

Budget- $80,000,000 (estimated)

Sales- $207,725,639 (worldwide)

Genre conventions:

This film is typical of the thriller genre conventions as it follows the basic plot of a thriller and is shot in a standard thriller way, this film I believe does not brake any genre conventions and stays true to the thriller genre.

Reflection:

I chose this film opening as this film is one of my favourites as i always enjoy watching it and the plot of the story is great, also there is a lot of action, as i am a fan of films with a lot of action in so this film appealed to me.