Inception - Alicia

Camerawork
• Firstly, the camera pans across the ocean to show the context of the opening at an extreme long shot of the horizon.
• When the central character is found on the beach, another character stands over him who is shot from a low angle to show the status of this new character and to show authority.
• When the main character is brought to a different location, a focus pull is used in a shot reverse shot sequence to change the centre of focus.

Mise en scene
• The out-to-sea shot at the beginning shows big, heavy waves crashing against large rocks. This sets an initial mood of danger as the waves look dangerous in comparison to a normal looking calm sea.
• The character, who finds the main character on the beach, uses a gun prop to show authority. It also creates a sense of characterisation and makes an initial reaction to think the main character is in the wrong place which could cause him to be in peril.
• As the characters enter a different location, low key lighting is used to create a sense of richness and wealth for a newly introduced character.
• Also the pristine condition of the table, in a shot where there is a close up of the central character’s hand gun, shows how the character in that shot has high status and wealth.

Editing
• The slow moving effect of the waves reinforces the strength of the sea and how dangerous and heavy they are.
• Continuity editing is used when we see a wave crash in one shot, and then in the next shot we see the main character washed up on a beach where a wave has obviously just crashed.
• Another slowed down shot is when the spectator sees two children playing on a beach. This is used to allow the spectator to savour the innocence portrayed by the children, and also contrast to the emotion portrayed by the central character.
• Eye line match is used here also as the main character looks up and then the camera cuts to another shot where two children are playing, and then cuts back to the main character which shows that he was looking at what we saw in the previous shot.

Sound
• The non-diegetic soundtrack played over the opening production credits is deep and loud which give a chilling vibe for the spectator. The negative pitched tune ascends into a climax which creates suspense for the spectator as a build-up is made for the opening scene. The sound then fades as the beginning shot of the waves starts the narrative.

• The diegetic sound of the waves crashing is at a loud volume to represent the impact they make when they crash into rocks and the shore. This makes an effective thriller opening as the spectator wants to know the location and the scenario as pathetic fallacy is already created.

• When we see the first shot of the central character some light, delicate, non-diegetic music is playing as he looks up at the children playing on the beach. The music is parallel with the shot of the children because the soft pitch of the music represents the children as they play innocently.