V for Vendetta - Max

The first shot is of blackness, with a narration being played, the blackness is used to focus the audience in on the narration, and possibly to also hide who is speaking.

We then hear a door being opened (a sound effect) which has probably been made to sound louder for added effect.

As we hear the door being opened, we see a light illuminate part of the blacked out screen, which the audience will now realise was a dark room. This effect of the door being opened and the blacked out screen has been used as a transition.

The lighting is non existent in the room, but the lighting that is coming through the door is very bright and golden, which creates a sort of warm glow coming into the room, this could be a metaphor for the inside of the room being dangerous or scary, and the outside world being safer and nicer.

In this shot you can see when the film is set by the costume that the man is wearing, and also by his facial hair style. Although the colour seems to be slightly saturated and blurred, which could suggest that this is a flash back or something of the like.

The lighting seems very natural, meaning that, it seems to be coming from the lamp that is attached to his cart; this is another implication that this piece of the film is not set in the present day.

There is a tilt up from the wheels of the cart, past the barrels, past the lamp and then to the mans face, this is used to show that the man is carrying gunpowder. Seeing as Guy Fawkes has just been mentioned by the narrator, the audience may guess that this man could be Guy Fawkes.

As well as the narration (from the still unknown person) there is another non-diegetic sound, which is the soundtrack; there is quite tense music playing, which is parallel to what is happening in the scene, seeing as the character is supposedly attempting to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

The soundtrack then increases in volume as we are shown the outline of another door, but when the men and the dog come crashing through the door, the soundtracks volume escalates hugely and the music becomes less tense and instead becomes more exciting. You also hear a new diegetic noise which is the dogs barking, which you hear before you actually see them, which builds suspense, because you don't know where the dogs are coming from. You also here shouting from the men, which again creates suspense as you wonder how the man is going to escape.

In this fight scene, you get more of a sense that this may be a flashback, because you can see more clearly that the colour is desaturated, and also the sounds are very echoey and faint, except for the dogs barking which seems clearer than all the rest of the diegetic sounds, this could suggest that the dogs barking may be important or could be used to create fear.

The costume of the guards reinforce the idea that this is set a long time ago, due to them all being dressed similarly to Guy Fawkes, and also that they are using swords and spears to fight, whereas in present day they would likely be using guns. Due to the guards carrying torches, the room is illuminated far more which gives you a chance to see where they are; which seems to be a cellar type place, which seems very narrow which gives a feeling of claustrophobia which makes the audience feel that he has no escape.

The cuts in this scene are very fast and short, which gives a feeling of pace to the scene, which makes it more exciting, which also adds some confusion to the fight as you don't quite know who's winning, which makes the audience wonder if the man can win.

This scene then shows that there is a crowd booing Guy Fawkes suggesting that, as a character, he is hated, this makes the audience pity Guy Fawkes. This then also makes the audience think what is going to happen next.

There seems to be a slight yellow filter used in this scene, which implies that this is still a flashback of some sort.

Despite the blurry sound of the last scene, in this scene the sounds are very clear, which may contradict that this could be a flashback, although i believe this is used to create a feeling that the mob is everywhere; also being that the diegetic sound effects of the crowd shouting are very loud and seem to drown out all other sounds, even the soundtrack seems quietened by the shouts. Which makes the audience feel like they are in the midst of the crowds.

The facial expression of one person in the crowd is different to the rest, which makes the audience focus in on her, this raises questions as to why is she not shouting with the crowd?

She also seems to be very slightly more illuminated than the other people in the crowd, which again makes her stand out.

Because our focus is pulled onto this woman, it makes the audience wonder if she is important, and why she is important.

The audience can then see that there is an eyeline match between the two characters, which makes you wonder if there is some sort of emotional connection between the two, which again makes you feel pity for Guy Fawkes and now the woman too.

There is a very clear use of diegetic sound in this shot; when man is hanged you can hear the mechanism drop the trap door, you then hear him fall and finally you hear the rope tighten and go taut. This is all done for dramatic effect, as all of these sound effects have been increased in volume to make them stand out from the other sounds. Also when he is hanged, the soundtracks volume is escalated to such an extent that you cannot hear the crowd, which completely takes the focus away from the crowd, and gives it all to the man being hanged.

Overall in this opening, i believe sound is used very much to build tension, and to create the required atmosphere, due to the foley sounds being used, the soundtrack constantly changing and also the fact that throughout the whole opening, there is a narrated monologue running the whole time, which is always very loud, so it is clearly heard, which implies that it is very important.