Black Hawk Down; historical thriller

i have anaylsed the first five minutes of this movie.

Mise-en-scene: the opening of this we see a number of dead bodies which are being explained to be through starvation which makes the audience automatically feel against the person who does this who is the villain of the film, we also see the helicopter which is not allowed to return fire and the man pretends to shoot at them this may be to show they have the power over them in the city and they know what they are doing, this may also reinforce the idea of supporting the soldiers as they are seen as heroes and should be supported.

Themes: the main theme in this scene is that of starvation and fear among the people who are in the country because they are so hungry and we see these dead bodies we feel sorry for them making us support whoever tries to protect them. Another is that of danger; we see shooting of innocent people which makes the audience support the Americans further. The dark clothing of the people also suggests they are dangerous so they are seen as villainess people showing another theme which is good against evil.

Camera movements and angles: we see a pan across the bodies in the opening scenes which gives an idea of how many people are starving and struggling in this place we also see a number of close ups on the dead people which creates a feel of sadness for the audience because they don’t want to see this pain, we also have close ups on the soldiers faces when the shootings take place which shows there emotions towards what is happening which makes the audience support them because they will have similar beliefs. We see a long shot from the helicopter which shows how close they are which makes you feel like they will help but they have been told not to do so which makes the audience have another opinion that of which being they should help no matter what they have been told.

Editing: there are a number of jump cuts from the helicopter to the situation on the ground which gives a sense of closeness and that they are there to help until the shots are fired, then we see more straight cuts to show the panic of these people about what is happening, we also see the straight cuts when they are trying to take the food which may show the inpatients of the people because they are so hungry and need food.

Sound: in the opening we hear slow music which gives the scene a sad feel because there are dead bodies and slow camera movements which support the sound and what it is trying to represent. Then when it cuts to the food area the music changes to be more upbeat which can show that something is about to happen which may be dangerous because we see the guns which reinforce this dangerous situation the audience may be expecting, when the gun is fired it is very loud making the audience focus on it so they understand the harm it is causing.

Narrative: the narrative is shown very clearly through the text in the opening because it gives information on what has happened in the recent months and gives an idea of the genre of this movie, the bodies used also give an idea as it follows the conventions of a thriller by keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.