The film starts in black and white and then the colour ‘bleeds’ in about ten seconds later. This is a very effective way of starting the film because of the time period the film is set in. In the 1930’s they would have had black and white films, so the audience already has a clue to when the film is set.
When the credits start to roll there is noise of rocks being smashed. The slave songs are heard before the audience can see the picture. The slaves are singing the blues. (Blues are songs that are full of sorrow) This could be effective because the audience could grasp even before the picture emerged that the people who were singing were made to do hard labour. The picture then merges in to show a black and white long shot of a landscape. The camera pans rounds and the audience see a shot of two lines of prisoners doing hard labour, then a low angle shot shows them chained together. This could explain to the audience why none of the prisoners are trying escape.
When the audience has seen the prisoners the camera goes into a wide-angle shot and shows three men running across a field and then jumping down. This can be quite comical as they are being very obvious and could easily be seen but never do. There is a non-diegetic sound, which is used at the start when they are escaping. This is ‘Bluegrass’ or country and western music. The song talks about an imaginary place, a land of dreams. There is a parallel here with Everett and his companions. As they were all chained together, in order to persuade them to agree to escape with him, he tells them that he has stolen $1.2 million and that they can have a share in the treasure. The trouble is that they only have four days to get it. However, this is not quite true. The ‘treasure’ refers to his wife because she is remarrying in four days’ time and he needs to stop her.
The song can also be taken in an amusing way and can be related to the characters’ behaviour. For instance, after their escape you see a long shot of them trying to capture a chicken. You can see their personalities beginning to emerge; they can’t even catch a chicken so this shows they are a bit disorganised and haven’t got a clue.
The opening credits interspersing clips of the action resemble the black and white silent movie credits used in the 1930’s. This gives a period feel to the film and immediately the audience feels that they could be in a cinema in the 1930’s. There is a little picture in each corner of the slide used for the credits and each time the slide changes the little pictures, which relate to some aspect of the film, change.
After the opening credits have finished you see an extreme long shot of the three escaped convicts running across a field to a train. The camera shows a close up of three men’s chained feet as they run across the field. Then the camera is craned up, almost getting an overhead shot of the three men running to the train. When the three men reach the train a tracking shot is used and the camera is inside the train. This makes the audience feel that they are sitting on the train watching the three men trying to climb into the compartment. Everett manages to climb aboard quickly and soon is talking to the hobos on the train. (Hobos are a characteristic of the South in this time period).
The comedy of this shot is that the third man, Pete, trips and falls as he chases the train, thus pulling Everett and Delmar off the train. Now they have to decide what to do next. Everett suggests putting it to the vote. The camera moves in to a close up of each in turn as they argue. The first impression the audience gets of Everett McGill and his associates is that Everett is blessed with the gift of the gab, Pete is argumentative and Delmar is not very bright. Everett wants to be the leader but Pete disagrees and votes for himself. As for Delmar he just replies, ‘I’m with you fellas.’
Before they can decide what to do they hear dogs barking in the distance. I think that they think no one has noticed that they have escaped but when they hear the dogs they look shocked and scared as the camera shows close-up shots of their facial expressions. The dogs’ barking is then overlaid with a loud squeaking noise; the men turn around and a long shot shows an old man travelling down the line towards them working a pump-action trolley. They realise they have been saved in the nick of time from the dogs and the camera changes to a mid-shot as they run to the trolley and sit on it. They find out that the old man is a blind prophet (based on Tiresius) who tells them that the fortune that they seek is not the one that they will get. I think that this refers to the tale that Everett has spun. Fade Edit is used at the end of the scene.
One of my favourite moments from the rest of the film is when Everett and Delmar meet the Bible salesman (based on Cyclops). To create more realistic sound effects when Big Dan T is beating up Everett and Delmar with a branch a Foley track is used. A high angle shot is used when Big Dan is around which makes him seem more powerful and more in control.
Overall I think that the effects used in sound, lighting and visual are very effective, because they make the film entertaining by creating realistic places and sounds and building up tension, for example when the Klu Klux Klan appear. I think the film could be confusing because there are so many separate adventures that it is hard to focus on the key theme of the film which is Everett’s quest to get back to his wife. This echoes Ulysses’ adventures as he tries to get back home to his wife.
Using a range of shots can create more depth in the film and increase the dramatic effects; for instance the extreme long shots show what a vast deserted, barren wasteland it is, and the close ups of the characters’ faces make us share the emotions they are experiencing. The Foley track enhances the sound to make it more realistic, for example the train whistle creates a sense of urgency as the prisoners are running to try and get on board. The colour change at the very start of the film from black and white to yellow tones conveys a dry, dusty landscape. It also has the effect of bleaching the land, giving an impression of a very hot climate.
