As they are walking through the jungle there are noticeable difference between the three characters, the leader is wearing a leather jacket, a hat and is wearing a whip whereas the two people following have rather worn down shabby clothes and are carrying lots of equipment. This makes Indiana look as if he knows what he is doing whereas the porters seem as if they didn’t want to come and aren’t prepared. This is also reflected in their body language, Indiana seems tough and courageous whereas the porters seem nervous and anxious. The fact that Indiana isn’t carrying anything whereas the porters are carrying lots of tools suggest two things that Indiana is the leader and perhaps he has hired them which suggests he is well off. Indiana’s clothing suggests to the audience that he is American because his clothes were popular at that time.
As they come to the riverside Indiana pulls out his map and looks at it, a close up on the map is used to put emphasis on it and tell the audience again that he is the knowledgeable leader. As Indiana is stood next to the riverside we get a full shot of his back so we are able to see his costume he is wearing a leather jacket, a cowboy hat and a whip this symbolises three things to the audience, it first of all tell the audience that it was set in the 1930’s, it also shows that he is the leader of the group because he is smarter than the other two and he has no luggage, additionally, it tells the audience he is an individual who is a bit special or cool. It is noticeable that the shots of the leader or the main character are shots of his back or his side so the audience are unable to see his face and he doesn’t speak this makes the audience intrigued about this mysterious character. It then comes to a point where the character needs to be unveiled. Even at this point he isn’t as the centre of the screen, it was when one of his followers tried to kill him there is a close up on his back of his head which allows the audience see him twitch and use his super alert hearing as he disarms his assassin with a whip. This is the pinnacle part of the opening sequence so far where Indiana is seen as almost a super hero that is shown as well by the orchestral music that is built up to a crescendo. This has been done to build up the atmosphere in the introduction of Indiana, when Indiana is finally presented to the audience; he is in the centre of the screen with close up of his face. Indiana comes out through the darkness to make the audience feel that he was mysterious but now he open to the audience.
As they walk through the cave the lighting is very dark to make it seem mysterious and anything could happen which adds to the excitement and tension this makes the task ahead more daring and heroic. Indiana then tells the porter to stay away from the light, we know this is for the porter’s safety, which tells us Indiana is experienced and is intelligent. Once they pass all the traps of which there are many they both come across the artefact, the porter simply thinks they have it but Indiana thinks otherwise, which reinforces Indiana’s experience. Indiana then carefully dodges in-between the traps that shows to us that he is brave and daring and again shows how experienced he is. When Indiana goes to pick up the artefact there is a close up of Indiana flicking his jacket, which makes him look cool, calm and collected. With a quick movement of his wrist Indiana swaps the bag for the artefact this further enhances what the audience think of his intelligence. Then there is a pause, which adds to the tension, but then the bag drops and Indiana starts to run, darts start to fly at him and diegetic sounds and orchestral music starts which creates more atmosphere, this makes Indiana task look more heroic and makes Indiana seem even more brave and even more of a hero.
When Indiana breaks to freedom and jumps out of the cave the audience thinks it is safe but when Indiana looks up, the camera does it as if the audience is seeing it from Indiana’s perspective. This symbolises the danger he is in, first shot of the tribes men is a wide shot of them drawing back their arrows to show the trouble Indiana is in. Then there is a close up of the tribesmen’s faces to show the sheer number of tribe people to show that there is no escape, but as the white man raises the artefact the tribes men bow and Indiana takes his chance and proves the audience wrong that he can escape which personifies him as a hero. When Indiana escapes to the plane there is a close up of Indiana with a snake with him this is done to give the audience a sudden bust of unease and then to quickly calm the audience down again when it turns into a joke which shows that Harrison Ford’s character is only human, this is important to the next scene because it allows the development of both sides of Indiana’s character.
There is then a change of setting, the first shot is a wide shot of a church or a school building; this has been done to show a complete contrast between the scenes. The next shot is a close up of somebody writing on a blackboard and then there is a close up of Indiana’s face, as he turns round. This is similar to the first time we see him, the start of this scene is a bit mysterious because it is a complete contrast between the jungle then there is a close up of the characters face it is as if we are rediscovering the character again. In one sense this is true because the audience are discovering another side to Indiana, we discover he is a teacher, which the audience would never have thought off him as when he was in the jungle. We know he is a teacher as he is writing on a black board and there is people sat behind desks listening to him. In this scene the lighting is much more bright which makes the audience see this part of the film does not contain tension of action.
This contrast of behaviour between the jungle and the school is also reflected in his appearance. Indiana in the jungle is wearing a leather jacket and a cowboy hat and is unshaven whereas in the University he is smart wearing a tie, glasses, a three piece suit and has his hair is combed over. In the jungle he seems much more cool and individual whereas in the University he seems a bit boring and when a girl has love you written across her eye lids and he looks at them he is centre and this gives emphasis on how nervous he is. This tells the audience he is an intellectual as well as an adventurer, this is important in the opening sequence because it shows two sides of Indiana that makes the film more appealing to both sexes.
Mise en scene has played a major part into introducing the main character Indiana Jones. Steven Spielberg has introduced the character by the use of setting, the positioning of the actors, the costume, the lighting, the camera angles used and the music, all these parts have made Indiana’s introduction a successful one. There may be all roles than may effect Indiana introduction a successful one because Harrison Ford was and still is a world wide known actor and has played many staring roles before hand which would already personify him as the main character. If it weren’t for dim lighting or certain camera angles Indiana wouldn’t have seemed such a heroic leader or a hansom lecturer. This shows that this opening sequence has played a major role in introducing Indiana Jones character.
