After the introduction of the villains the title screen is shown. In this shot a document pile is on top of the title. Each document is removed from the pile and the last document in the pile is named ‘Crab key’. When that document is removed the title of the movie ‘Dr No’ is displayed. The name Crab Key is shown on the document to show the audience that the name Crab Key is the name of the villain Dr No.
After the title is shown the last scene in the opening sequence is shown. In this scene the ‘hero’ James Bond is introduced. He is shown gambling in a London Casino. This scene shows that he has time for fun. He is shown to the audience in a dozen different camera angles. This tells the audience that he is of importance. He is also shown flirting and calm, this tells the audience that he is a ladies man and also in control. He while gambling receives an urgent phone call (the conversation is not heard, this adds to the movies suspense). The phone call as well as the camera shots emphasise his importance in the film.
The clothes worn by James Bond (a tuxedo) are very glamorous and sophisticated. They also emphasise that he is important.
A view to kill, the second James Bond movie to be analysed in this essay, has the same gun shot scene at the start, but the action in the movie is much better. This is probably due to the date of release (1985). Dr No was released in 1962. The difference is probably due to more advanced technology being available.
A view to Kill focuses more on girls and action. The camera angles used in this movie also make the movie more exciting.
The first scene in this film shows James Bond (Roger Moore) skiing in the Arctic looking for a microchip. He is dressed in white this may be a disguise to camouflage him (the snow he is skiing on is white) from the villains who are dressed in green. The shots in this screen are close up shots and extreme long shots. The extreme long shots emphasis the depth of the scene and also hide the stunt mans face from the audience. The close-up shots are used to show discoveries made by James Bond i.e. the micro chip.
The second scene in the opening sequence of this movie shows James Bond doing dangerous stunts while skiing. He is shown skiing away from the villains after obtaining the micro chip. He goes to his hideout which is disguised as an iceberg with a union Jack flag on top of it. This tells the audience that he is British. Also the fact that he went through a lot of trouble to obtain the micro chip tells the audience that the chip is of importance. Bonds hideout is in fact a submarine.
In the submarine the audience is introduced to his gorgeous assistant who is played by Tanya Roberts. The camera angles used in this scene are mid-angle. This is because this scene is hot and finishes the beginning of the movie.
Going back to the opening credits, they have both a visual representation and language representation. The soundtrack played in the opening credits is Duran Duran ‘A view to Kill’. The words ‘A view to Kill’, of the song, flash on to the screen.
The opening credits in this movie also focus on women. In the opening of this movie the women wear ski equipment and an ultra violet light. The visual representation occurs when Duran Duran, sing the lyrics of ‘A view to Kill’ and it is illustrated by the women dancing in fire.
The ski equipment worn by the women give the audience an idea about the location the movie is set in.
The women play a big part in the movie. This is because they entice the audience and also show James Bond as being attractive to the female audience.
Golden Eye the third movie to be analysed in this essay, is in my opinion, one of the best James Bond movies to be released. The action and mission in this movie is extremely exciting and captivates the audience. The film starts off like every James Bond film has in the past forty years. The well known gunshot scene is played. In this scene the camera angle is set to a long shot showing the length of the gun barrel.
Golden Eye begins with a pre-intro sequence. In this sequence an aeroplane flies over a dam. The camera angle in this scene is a long shot and James Bond is seen Bungee Jumping down the dam. The audience knows that a stuntman is doing this as James Bonds face is not shown. The aim of this scene is to create suspense, tension, and excitement. This scene also shows that the James Bond plot line has improved over the years.
The next scene in the start sequence has a comical theme to it. When James Bond does a bungee jump in to the dam, he needs to get in to the Russian database, so he goes through an air vent in to the toilet. There he finds a man in a cubical he uses a comic phrase ‘sorry I didn’t know’ and then punches him. The man he punches is a part of the villain’s army. This scene helps to introduce the enemy.
The third pre-sequence scene shows James Bond meeting up with 006. The agents speak in a Russian code to reveal themselves. This may be the first time we see another agent besides 007 in the long line of films.
The film focuses back on to the action scene. The stuntman in this is extremely dangerous and creates suspense. James Bond is trying to get on board a running plane. He gets on board when skydiving down a cliff and pulls just in time before a crash. In this scene the camera angles used were long shots. The action shot is enticing to the audience, and also exciting.
The last scene before the opening credits has a base explode. The camera uses a pan effect for this scene. The pan effect shows that a part of James Bonds mission is complete.
The music used in Golden Eye the soundtrack is sung by Tina Turner. The opening credits in this movie also use a visual representation as well as song lyrics.
Like every James Bond film the credits focus on the women but instead of representing them as sex objects, in this particular scene they are represented as being dominant and in control. The representation is done my means of a bullet flying out of their mouths. The women are represented as guns.
The overall mise-en-scene in ‘Dr No’ is set in Kingston Jamaica. (Shooting), and London (Casino; James Bond character introduced on screen). The three blind men in the film are hiding their eyes to mislead the audience, Dr. Strangways is dressed in a white suite this also suggests he has something to do with medicine as Dr’s/Scientists wear white coats, or dresses, James Bond (Sean Connery) is wearing a white tuxedo in the casino this suggests he is a spy. The bond girl Honey Lyder (Ursala Andress) is clothed in a revealing bikini. This shows her as a sex object.
In the first scene Dr. Stangeways and his assistant are shot in Kingston, Jamaica, James Bond is alerted about this while being coquettish with Sylvia Trench.
The Mise-en-scene in ‘A View to Kill’ is set in the Arctic. The characters in the opening scene are wearing various different outfits. James Bond is dressed in an Eskimo suite, he may be wearing this to disguise himself from the enemies who are dressed in green and also his assistant, shown at the start of the movie is hidden in a submarine which is disguised as an iceberg so it will go un-noticed. All of the disguises emphasise the espionage genre of the film.
The opening scene in this movie shows James Bond searching for a chip, and being chased by enemies. He later escaping and conceals himself in the disguised submarine.
The props used in the starting scene of this movie are glasses, a Philips saver bug detector, a union jack, an iceberg submarine, chocolate, vodka, and wine glasses. All these props show how English James is.
The overall Mise-en-scene in Golden Eye is set in a Russian Database in Russia. James Bond is dressed in black clothing. There are several or more gadgets used in just the opening sequence. A piston gun is used when James Bond jumps in to the dam, a getaway plane (tiger helicopter), a bungee rope, and a code cracker to gain entry in to the base are all gadgets that are used in the starting scenes.
The Mise-en-scene in the three movies, are different as each of the films are set in different locations. Bond has different missions in each of the movies and different actors play Bond in each of the movies.
‘Bond Girls’ is a well known phrase for the girls that star in Bond movies. There is a common connotation for the women in typical Bond movies. They are: mindless, helpless, sex objects. However relating this image to another James Bond girl ‘Pussy Galore’, she is not helpless, nor mindless. She is the trainer and leader of a squadron of ace fighter pilots. Rather than being helpless she is an extremely powerful female. The only weak point she had in the film was falling for James Bond and being treated as a sex object.
The reason for the change in the portrayal of women in the film may be due to the changing views in society of women. The Bond girls in the Bond films are still stunning but are portrayed as having equal rights and abilities as men.
James Bonds character uses effective language in his movies. He trademarks what he says, and people that watch his movies usually use his dialects. This shows that the movie is effective in communicating with its audience. The most well known of his phrases is his introductory phrase: ‘the names Bond, James Bond’. This phrase is used by James to introduce himself to the audience.
‘Martini shaken, not stirred’ is another phrase used in the film. Shaking martini causes the vodka to turn cloudy and the ice contained in the drink breaks. The phrase may be used to represent a part of James Bond’s character: he is cool, hard to break and gets away from trouble just in time.
There have been twelve James Bond characters through the forty years of releasing the movies, in my opinion Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore were the best Bond’s. Bond had twelve characters playing him. As he never ages, he is always thought to be young. Bond is provided with the best clothing as it is crucial to his character, he has always worn Tuxedo’s with the colours ranging from black and white, James Bond is a rich and successful spy and because of this he is provided with the latest, fashionable props.
The theme songs/soundtracks in James Bond relate to the films title(s) except for ‘Dr. No’. ‘Dr No’ uses the original James Bond soundtrack as the James bond theme as it was the first James bond movie.
‘Golden eye’ and ‘a view to kill’ both use soundtracks that relate to the title of the film. The songs are sung by well known singers: Tina turner and Duran Duran, respectively. These were probably the most popular singers during the time of the films releases.
In ‘a view to a kill’, during the pre-sequence action shot, there is dramatic instrumental music playing. At this point Bond is searching for the chip but when the enemies are chasing him, ‘California girls’ sung by the ‘beach boys’ is playing. This may be to distract the audience from the movie
At present times James Bond movies still have a main soundtrack that relates to the movie, for example in ‘Die another day’ Madonna sings the main theme song. She is well known and also a role model and the queen of Pop.
The three films compared in this essay are very similar to each other. Each movie has a similar mission and meaning to it. ‘Dr. No’ was, as we know, the first James Bond movie. It is constructed as a spy genre and Bond is on his first mission to find ‘Dr. Strangeways’ killer. We see the first taster of a bond girl: a blond bombshell named ‘Honey Ryder’. The bond girls are used to distract attention from James bond (the main character).
‘A view to a kill’ is the fourteenth James bond film released, the movie has improved throughout the fourteen years of releasing and the missions have stayed the same (trying to find the villain(s)). The gadgets in this movie are used more and we see the Bond girl at the beginning of the movie.
The last film ‘Golden Eye’ has a slightly different setting to it. It shows the crises occurring in Russia and shows James Bond saving the world. Once again this movie has more action in it and is more creative because of the technology they have used.
The women in the movie have become smarter and are also in control this is because of women’s rights, women in current ‘James Bond’ films are not treated as extreme sex objects as they were in the past.
The gadgets in the James Bond films have also improved and are used more to create action in the movie. The science and technology in the movie has improved, and the movie has changed to the audiences liking, this is why more people go to watch James Bond movies and also why they are more successful. The producers also use promotions to await the release of the movie such as teasers/trailers and computer desktop themes (wallpapers, icons and much more).
Author: Zuhaib Ahmad Page of