Die Hard
The opening of 'Die Hard' starts out with the opening titles stating who the producers of the film are with some aeroplane backing noise being played behind this. This already implies the opening scene so the audience can expect what is coming next. This then cuts straight into a clip of an aeroplane landing with more titles in bold text in the top right hand corner of the screen. The bold block text then follows some of the storyline and themes as it connotes the idea of being brave and bold ( which the protagonist surely is as he saves the day) and links to the idea of being hard and tough which links to the title of the and the protagonists events within the film.
The next shot which is seen is a close up shot of a hand which is grasping the seats arm rests tightly and then a tilt shot to a close up of the mans face. The effect of this is to present initial emotion such as fear or nervousness which is seen here which is good as the audience can already start collecting an interpretation of the character before they have even said anything.
A shot using the rule of thirds rule is then shown with a close up of the main character Johns face and the view of the rest of the inside of the plane in the background however out of focus. This is a good shot as without anything said the editors want the audience to pay attention to John and the focus on his face increases the importance of his character in the scene which is an initial indication of him being the main character. It is also good as the surrounding can still be seen so the audience is still aware of where he is.
A cutaway shot is then used to focus on the passengers face, then cut to Johns gun and then back to the mans face. I like this shot as it presents the characters initial and final expressions when seeing the gun and is a good editing technique to show peoples reactions within film.
Speech 'Its ok Im a cop' is then good to the opening as the audience can gather more information on his character and can gauge that he is good as opposed to bad which is vital in a thriller film as they often include good and bad people. A play on words of the passenger is used by John as the passenger says 'Ive been doing it for 9 years' and John says ' Its ok I've been doing it for 11' which adds humour to the introduction so that the whole film isn't tense and that the tension can build up as the film progresses.
A scene once John is off the plane is then seen where he is sparking a cigarette in a dark area which quickly cuts to another completely different scene. The effect of this adds initial tension as it is a sudden change which follows the idea of the film being a thriller as a typical convention would be for sudden events or things to happen within thriller films. When John is smoking in the first of the two scenes, the ringing of bells is played in a creepy tone and the actually film title 'Die Hard' appears. This follows the idea of it being Christmas time in the film using bells but with a slight twist in its tone to add a sense of something is going to happen that is bad which is literally what happens in the film.
(Matthew Hersey)
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