An analysis of the way in which mise-en-scene cinematography, editing and sound are used to create meaning during the opening 7mins of The Usual Suspects.

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Richard Thompson                                                                                   January 2001

An Analysis of The Way in Which Mise-En-Scene, Cinematography, Editing and Sound are Used to Create Meaning During the Opening 7mins of The Usual Suspects

When we go the cinema, we go for entertainment. But in order to enjoy the film we need to understand it. To do this an audience can look for the key concepts of mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound. During this essay it will be these subjects that I investigate in order to find out how the film is put together to generate meaning and response from the audience.

The Usual Suspects has an original narrative structure which is crucial to the creation of the enigma that is created in the film, and thus important in the role of gaining the audience’s attention. The narrative structure is able to do this by altering the time line of the film by showing the audience the end of the film at the beginning, this instantly hooks the audience and makes them want to know how this situation arised and what is going on. The film is able to indicate these times in time and settings through the use of captions, which anchor the meaning of any shot by telling the audience where it is and when it is. During the opening of the film the mise-en-scene attracts the audience attention as they want to know what is going on, who is this man Keyser Soze, why is the film opening up in a ship yard and what has happened to cause these deaths? One such part of the opening that creates meaning is that when the camera follows Soze it does not portray all of his body, instead it only shows his chest and legs, this is important as it creates an air of mystery and makes the audience want to know who this man is. Not only does the opening sequence based upon the boat create these questions but it also uses important cinematography that is essential towards the end of the film and so adds to the reward of realisation that the audience gains when they reach the end of the film. These importance shots can be seen when the camera zooms in on a large coil of rope (behind which we later discover is where Verbal is hiding) and a shot of a porthole on the ship (behind which an important character in the identification of Soze is killed)! One of the key parts regarding the success of this film is how it is not until the end where we find the true identity of Soze, throughout the film the identity of Soze is made out to be that of Keaton himself. The audience is able to read Keaton’s role as being an important character as he is the first person whose name we learn and who is clearly seen on camera; this is why it is believable to the audience that he is Keaton. The reason that this narrative is such a success is that these expectations are later underlined as it is identified that it was actually Verbal who had the hidden identity of being Soze therefore it is the shock factor at the end of the film makes the viewing experience worthwhile.

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Throughout the opening sequence there are underlying conventions regarding the genre of the film that are illustrated to the audience. The importance of the genre film-noir is important to the audience as it helps them to understand how they should go and view this film, should they prepared to be scared or should they be in a good laugh to laugh and sing. The idea of film noir though is to portray how evil people can be and to show the dark side of our characters dark being the operative word as in film noir the ‘bad guys’ are ...

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This is not really a conclusion, but it does highlight a very important "meaning" (or system of meaning) that the opening sequence tries to generate for the audience. This "meaning" is not so much a sign as a logic that gives meaning to signs: a morally ambiguous space where everyone is suspect and no-one is entirely innocent. There is some very insightful commentary in this essay, but structurally it needs a lot of work. It is also a bit weak on detailed and systematic analysis, but this aspect is better because there are definitely good examples of images and events from the film that have been analysed in such a way that something of their meaning becomes evident. 2 stars.