Analysing the opening scene of ‘Now You See Me’

Analysing the opening scene of ‘Now You See Me’:

(Analysis starting from 1:11)

In the opening scene of ‘Now You See Me’, the three of the main characters are introduced. The first character introduced, is introduced with an extreme close up shot, with bright lighting on his face, however shadows are formed because of his facial features. These shadows symbolise mystery and shadiness, which then makes the audience feel curious about the character and his personality. The mise-en-scene used is a deck of cards. The deck of cards implies simplicity to an extravagant and astonishing magic trick. Throughout this scene, there are diegetic sounds such as dialogue, chatter within the crowd and the flick of the cards. The flick of the cards is exaggerated to show the important of this prop, as it has lots of meaning.

When the trick finishes, the camera uses a medium shot to show the crowd and the magician, however it is still clear to see the facial expression of the magician, he is very concentrated and serious. The magician then throws the cards up in the air and this is shown from the medium shot which then pans to a low angled shot of a building. The building represents the setting of a big city from which you can infer is an iconic location, this is later on proved within another scene as another character is on a taxi boat on the Hudson as you can see iconic buildings surrounding.

During the card trick, and throughout the whole of the opening scenes, non-diegetic sound is used. This non-diegetic sound used is in the form of music/film score. The film score is parallel to the scenes as it is quick up beat with a medium tempo, the tempo then increases as the action begins.

When the second character is introduced, the scene begins with the character’s face of a board, the camera shot is an extreme close up which then zooms out to a medium shot. In the medium shot you can see the action and characters, however you can also see the setting around. The setting shows a lobby of a hotel or a building which is very busy, the scene camera however focuses on the three characters acting.

Throughout this scene there are different camera angles used such as close ups, over the shoulder shots and medium shots. The over the shoulder shots put the audience in the position of one of the character, therefore this makes them feel as if they’re in the scene with the characters. There is also diegetic sounds, the diegetic sounds are dialogue but also the sound of rain as it seems to be raining outside the building. The rain sound is exaggerated as it opposes what is being said by the character about Sunshine, cocktails and Florida.

The narrative events are magic tricks to different audiences, making them confused and then conning them, for example taking their money. The magicians do this through blackmail and stealthy actions. In the opening scene it is very hard to tell what genre the film is, however it becomes apparent through the action which takes place and their ‘conning’ that is it a crime adventure film.