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.