The name's Bond, James Bond.

Hi Guys!

So as you all know I’m a part of the independent film production company Jinjasnap, currently we at Jinjasnap are all working extremely hard to put together a new genre season. Therefore, in preparation for this series I have been asked to analyse a range of different film clips from different genres.

So, first up we have Casino Royale, now this is the first modernised Bond film so clearly I had to start with the first and best! The director Martin Campbell is no stranger to the world of Action movies, having directed films such as ‘The legend of Zorro’ and ‘No Escape’.

Ok so Casino Royale is an Action / Mystery film so in this blog were going to talk about how Martin Campbell used colour, sound, lighting, editing and mise-en-scene to make this film conform to this specific genre and helps tell the narrative.

Firstly, colour, we see colour being used is in the first scene. In this scene, we see an establishing shot of a large empty looking building in Prague, I know this due to the superimposition which is used to help set the scene and explain where it is located. A car pulls up and the audience wait eagerly for the character to step out. The colour has been saturated in the scene. The connotations of black are dark and mystery and the colour grey is widely stereotyped as an emotionless colour associated with sophistication and formality. This is effective in this film as Bond has to be emotionless to have the ability to kill. This creates mystery as you cannot see details about the setting that would give us a little more information as to what the why we’re there. Therefore, this conforms to the Action / Mystery genre as the use of black and grey gives the scene a sense of Mystery also this conforms to Barthes Enigma Theory as it leaves the audience asking questions.

Casino Royale also uses sound to create action and mystery within the film. The first  example of this is the non - diegetic, low pitch bass note that is played when there is a medium shot of the building and the mysterious car pulls up. This is a synchronous sound clip as the character in the film looks nervous and the sound clip builds tension so that you feel what the character is feeling. This is typical of action adventure movies as It creates suspense and makes the audience question what is going to happen next. It is stereotypical of action films as the bass note is used to build suspense and create tension. This conforms to the mystery genre as the synchronous sound creates a mysterious and suspenseful feel, this also expresses Barthes enigma theory because it leaves the audience asking questions.

Another example of the use of sound in Casino Royal diegetic dialogue when James says “two” in reply to the other man saying that he has never killed anyone. James’ voice has gravitas which means that it is very deep and serious, he has perfect pronunciation as speaks slowly this makes the audience pay attention and realise that he is serious. This conforms to the action genre as James is serious that he has once killed two men and following this statement there is a flash back to James killing the two men. Also, this conforms to Barthes Enigma theory because it leaves the audience questioning who the two men that he killed were and why he killed them. This then makes the audience want to continue watching the film in order to find out.

There is a use of ambient sound when James and one of the other character are fighting is used to show the brutality of the fight that they are having. This is effective as it further expresses the severity of the dangerous situations that Bond places himself in which then conforms to the action genre as it reflects the amount of violence that takes place throughout Bonds life.

The soundtrack to the film is the song “you know my name” by Chris Cornell. This song was effective as it is an alternative rock song which aids in building tension and excitement within the audience and conforms to the action genre as the song is at a fast pace much like the action that takes place within the film. Also, the song’s lyrics “you know my name” are also effective as everyone should know Bonds name as he is a force to be reckoned with, further hinting at the violence and action that will take place within the film.

There is a use of non-diegetic high pitched sound motif played when Le Chiffre comes on scene. The high-pitched sound builds tension and expresses that he is the villain which conforms to Props character typologies theory as there is a villain which is Le Chiffre and a hero which is James Bond. Also, this conforms to Levi Strauss’ binary theory as the narrative is based on conflict between Le Chiffre and Bond. This also conforms to the action genre as the conflict between the two men uses violence which creates action.

The final effective use of sound in my film clip is the diegetic dialogue during the medium shot of Le Chiffre where he says “I suppose our friend Mr white will have told you that I have provided reliable banking services for many other freedom fighters over the years” his foreign French accent makes the viewer uncomfortable and paired with his rugged and generally unapproachable appearance give the sense that he is a villainous character which conforms with Props character typologies as he is a villain and Bond is a hero. Also, Le Chiffre’s appearance and accent shows that he is a violent character conforming with the action genre.

Casino Royale also uses lighting in order to express the action genre. The first example of this is during the first scene where there is an establishing shot of a large building in Prague. There is a key light on the right hand side of the building and a fill light in the middle. The fill light makes the audience focus on the side of the building so that you can see how its empty and large. Then the fill light makes you focus on the car and notice that its important. This conforms with Barthes Enigma theory as it makes the audience ask themselves questions like: who is in the car? Why is he important? What’s the building? This conforms to the action mystery genre as it makes the scene feel very mysterious and ask themselves many questions about the scene.

The second use of light within the ten-minuet clip of Casino Royale is when there is a medium shot of the man that gets out of the car. There is a key light used that lights up the man’s face. This is used to make the audience concentrate on the man’s face to signify his importance he has a very nervous facial expression and looks from side to side to show that he thinks someone may be watching him. This also conforms with Barthes Enigma theory as it makes the audience ask themselves questions like: who is this man? What is his importance? This helps to create the mystery / action genre as it’s a mystery to the audience who the man is.

A key light is also used in a medium shot of James Bond when he is sitting down awaiting the other character. This is used so that we focus on James’ face and understand his importance and this then conforms to Levi Strauss’ Binary theory which says that the narrative is told through conflict between two opposing forces and in this case the narrative is being told through the conflict between Bond and the other 007 agent who has gone rouge. This also helps create the mystery / action genre as the conflict between the two men will use violence which will create action which conforms to the action genre.

There is a back light used in a medium shot of the door. This is used to show the importance of the door and that a key character is about to walk through it so the audience focus on the door. Also, the back light is used to make it seem like the room is empty to lead the audience into a false sense of security that there is no danger within the room. This conforms to the mystery / action genre because it is a mystery to the audience what’s in the room and why the character is going into the room.

Casino Royale also uses a Flashback to show that Bond has killed before and isn’t afraid. The flash back to the fight scene is very over lit in contrast to the dim lighting used in the present. The use of the over lighting shows every detail of the fight to express its brutality and it also shows the contrast from the mystery to the conflict. This conforms to the action genre as it shows a fight which is action.

The editing within Casino Royale also helps to explain the narrative of the film. One example of this is the use of superimposition which says “PRAUGE, CZECH REPUBLIC” to show the location within the establishing shot of the first scene. The superimposition is used to show that the large building is in Prague the name of the city comes on screen using a fade. The letters are bold and in capitals and this stereotypically means that the words are important, making the audience pay attention. Using this specific code links to Aristotle’s unities theory as the film starts in Prague and moves from country to country as the action takes place. The impact that this has on the audience is that it makes them want to keep watching to find out where bond will go next.  

There is the use of a straight cut between the establishing shot of the outside of the building and the low angle shot of the inside of the building. This is used to show that the character is moving quickly and this paired with the medium shot of the man looking very nervous helps to build tension. The characters costume is a suit and furry hat which shows that it is cold and he is important as the stereotypes of people wearing suits are that they are sophisticated and important. Medium shot of the character is saturated and by using the colour grey which has connotations of mystery the director helped to create a mysterious feel. Therefore, this helps to create the action / mystery genre as it makes the audience question why the character question why the man is nervous which conforms to Barthes enigma theory.

Just following the man walking into the dimly lit room there is a close up of his face and he looks nervous. Following this there is a straight cut to the point of view shot so that the audience can see what the character can see which is just an empty room. However there is a low pich bass note played when there is the point of view shot which is synchronous sound due it mirroring the characters fear and nervousness. This builds tension as the point of view shot shows that there is nothing there but the man gets increasingly nervous. Also, this conforms with Barthes Enigma theory because it makes the audience question why the man is nervous and who is in the room with him.

The final clever use of editing within my ten-minuet clip of Casino Royale is a match cut. This is used to seamlessly transfer to the flash back of James in a fight scene. This gives the audience a window into James’ thoughts as the conversation with the rouge 007 agent continues on. This conforms with the action genre as the match cut is used to immediately show us a brutal fight in James’ past and expresses the violent and dangerous life that Bond leads.

Finally, Mise-en-scene is used within this film to express the films action genre. One example of this would be the use of costume within the first scene when there is a medium shot of the rouge 007 agent. When he steps out of the car we see a medium shot of him and see that he is wearing a Russian looking hat. This hat makes us think that he is Russian and gives connotations of the mob, spies and villains and the saturation in the scene means that the character is shown in grey and black. The grey colour has connotations of mystery makes the audience wonder who he is which then links to Barthes enigma theory. The colour black has connotations of danger which makes the audience weary of this character. Therefore, this conforms to the action genre as the connotations from the hat are all violent and violence creates action.

The use of props is also an excellent way of expressing the genre of Casino Royale. For example, there is a close-up of a gun in the rouge 007 agent’s drawer. The close- up of the gun gives of connotations and idealisations of violence. Therefore, this conforms and expresses the action genre of the film as villains tend to have guns they tend to have violent lives and violence creates action which expresses the action genre. This links to Props theory of character typologies because the rouge 007 is a villain as he has a gun and wants to shoot bond.

The setting of this scene  is in a dark abandoned looking building which is shown in the establishing shot at the beginning of the film. The dark building has connotations of mystery and dark events taking place within. This conforms to the action genre as it appears violence would take place there and violence creates action.

Another example of the use of costume within the film to help express the genre is shown within the medium show of an African man wearing gold chains. The gold chains have connotations of gangs and mobs which conform to the action genre as those groups of people are very violent which would create action. This also conforms to Props character typologies theory which says that there should be a villain and a hero within a film and the man with the gold chains appears to be a villain and Bond is a hero.

There are also army trucks used as props within Casino Royale and they are shown in a head on shot. The army trucks have connotations of war and fighting which are violent events. Therefore, this conforms to the action genre of the film as tanks are typialy used in dangerous situations.

Another aspect  that is used within Casino Royale makeup; it is shown in a close up of Le Chiffre which shows that he has an eye injury. This eye injury and his generally unapproachable look helps to express the action genre of the film as Le Chiffre’s injury makes him look like a villain conforming to Props character typologies and villains normally conflict with heroes with plots to defeat them which usually involves violence.

So, there you go guys, that’s how Casino Royale uses a multitude of different media techniques to express the action / mystery genre of the film.

Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Holly x