Collateral opening title
sequence
Analysis
Mise – en –scene
Location and setting – At the beginning of the opening title sequence the character seems like
he is walking through an airport which is a busy urban setting , this is typical of thrillers
because it has ordinary place with extra extraordinary events. This shows that the
character wealthy and is well paid professional who seems as if he is going on a business
trip. This is typical of the genre because it seems as something is going to happen in an
ordinary place , which is very typical of a thriller film, because it makes people feel like they
are not safe in their own homes , or the city there in is very unsafe and they are not safe
anywhere.
Taxi Rank– after the airport the scene cuts to the taxi rank , this is a lower classed job and
could make the viewers think that the driver is from a lower background. This is where the
hero and villain (antagonist & protagonist ) may meet in an ordinary place with busy and
bustling settings where unusual events happen.
A man walking through the airport this suggest that the character is of a higher class and is a
professional businessman, we also know this by the fact that he carry's a briefcase , that
looks high of wealth. The taxi rank suggests that the character in the car is is working class
and trying as hard as he can to earn more money. Usually in thriller convention films the
poor character that is less wealthy becomes the protagonist and the wealthy character is
the antagonist or the antagonist has resources to assist him , this is because if the character
is not wealthy , they may need to do bad things in order to survive
Lighting and Colors
At the beginning of Collateral in the airport scene, the lighting is very basic and
bright ,this is because it is an airport , there are bright lights everywhere so
that everyone knows where to go. The light also can show a place which is a
busy, bustling setting and a place of safety, whereas an airport is not calm
due to people boarding planes.
The taxi rank scene has dark lighting and looks like it was filmed in dark muggy
rainy place , it gives an eerie feel to the scene.
Black sunglasses – black in thriller films has conventions of darkness, murder,
evil and death. It also hides the identity of the character , this suggest that
this could have been done on purpose so that the people surrounding didn't
know what the characters eyes looked like. Eyes could be also seen as the
windows to the soul.
Yellow and red taxi – The fact that the taxi’s are these colors, it tells us that this
is set in America and possibly New York. It shows that the character could be
a happy person due to the color yellow , but the red could suggest otherwise
, it could show that the character has a bad side however the cab driver is a
protagonist, which isn't often seen, This is because red has the connation's
of blood, death, murder etc.
Costume and appearance of
characters
The airport scene – there is a man wearing a grey suit , he also has grey hair and wearing black
glasses which could be compared to a shark so meaning he could be a predator. He is
carrying a briefcase what can show that he is a rich man with a professional business
background, the grey hair could also suggest that the man is a little bit older than mid aged
, so he could be in his 30/40s.The character could suggest that he has a hidden identity and
doesn't want anyone to see him e.g. because of the sunglasses , briefcase and suit .
Because the character has a concealed identity it makes the opening title sequence seem a
lot more mysterious.
The taxi driver is wearing usual clothes for a lower classed person , he doesn't need to look rich
or a higher class as he is only a taxi driver. his appearance connotes that he is not wealthy
compared to the other character , so they're are to different kind of opposite characters.
The ordinary taxi driver is a average man who we may empathies with, opposed to the man
in the suit, the suit suggests he has resources.
Props
• Sunglasses
• Taxi
• Briefcase
• Drivers license
• Photo of a country/place he may want to go
• newspaper
The sunglasses show that the character has a hidden identity , which is often used in
thriller films to build suspense to the audience so that they keep on guessing
who that character is and why are they trying to hide their identity.
The taxi drivers license shows that the taxi driver is legit , and shows that he hasn’t
got a very ‘special’ life.
The briefcase is a mysterious object in this because no one knows what is in it and
leaves the audience thinking ,this is a typical trait of a thriller film; This creates an
enigma to hook us in making the audience want to find out more.
The photo shows that the taxi driver has an ambition , and would really like to travel
to the country that he has a photo of. It could also show that he is going there or
would like to go there in the future, the audience can empathies with this dream.
The newspaper shows that its just an ordinary city and people read newspapers , this
is typical of the genre because it shows real city's and real people
…props
The hidden identity , from the glasses could suggest that the character is
the antagonist and the villain; it seems as he is trying to hide his identity
, and doesn't want anyone to know what he looks like , this could make
him seem like a hazard to the other members of the public surrounding
him.
The brief case could suggest that he has lots of important information in it
and that it is very secured and secretive , this could also suggest that the
information is bad considering it is locked away. the information the
brief case gives to us about the character us that he could be wealthy
The photo could make the people watching it think that he is going there or
something could of happened there. The photo shows that he want to
maybe get out of where he is and move somewhere else.
The Taxi shows that the character is working class
Actors performance
Jamie Foxx appears to be very to himself and isolated from the chaos around him, it gives us the impression
that he is waiting to start his shift , this is because he wanted to clean out his taxi and be by himself ,
and also make sure everything is in the right place. Suggesting he is a very organized person.
Jamie Foxx’s character is working class and has ended up working in a taxi rank . Whereas Tom Cruise’s
character suggests he is well educated/professional and has been brought up that way , due to his
posture etc.
Jamie’s character seems very laid back and not really looking forward to anything in his life , he seems a little
bit depressed . It also gives me the impression that he is a very organized man and likes to get things
done, this is because of the cleaning of an already clean taxi.
•
Tom Cruise appears to be very cautious of what's around him and also seems well spoken. He walks very
proud and seems like he knows what he is doing and he is doing what has been planned.
Tom’s character seems polite , very calm and knows what he’s doing.
Cinematography
Wide shot – this wide shot shows the importance of this character because the
character is positioned in the middle and is the only character not blurred out ,
this shows the importance of the character. The location that this character is in
seems to be a busy , and only it only seems to be him who is in focus
Point of view – of tom cruise’s character Vincent this is so that the
audience can feel like they are either with him or following him to
where he is going e.g. a meeting, to meet someone , to get on a
plane.
Medium close up – this shows the emotions of the character ,
enabling the audience to see what the characters expressions are
like. This shows that the characters face hasn’t changed and is still
the same and has no doubt about what he is going to do .s
Sound
Diegetic Sound– in the scene there is some diegetic sounds , these
include sound of the airport e.g. people talking and other common
airport sounds , when the scene cuts to the taxi rank ,the sound
changes to sound of mechanical things like tools , cars and radios.
Diegetic sound makes the whole scene seem a lot more realistic and
makes it seem like a real like event (as if it wasn’t being filmed).
Non – Diegetic Sound – There is a tension building soundtrack in the
background of the opening title sequence. This is so that the scenes
are made dramatic and so that it pulls the audience in. the
soundtrack represents the sounds in the airport and the busy settings
that the character is in , when Jamie fox's character shuts the door ,
the soundtrack then stop , this could show a sense of being in his
comfort zone as soon as he enters his taxi.