analysis of openeing two minuites of an action movie-class presentation-DREDD

Shot analysis of DREDD

IMDB rated DREDD 7 stars & described it as: ‘In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality altering drug’

Establishing shots almost construct the foundations for a new or beginning scene. They are designed specifically to show the audience where the action is going to take place. In terms of the opening two minutes for Dredd, the location is heavily emphasised to the audience...this is primarily due to the repetitiveness of shots showing the location.

The film begins with an initial master shot of a large derelict land mass. The wind whistles through this neglected land as a diegetic sound, however non diegetic sound-being the narrative and infrequent drum strokes-over powers the noise of the wind. The narrative that plays alongside the scene informs the audience that the location of the establishing scene is the USA, with this indication we can assume that this is a dystopian futuristic representation of the USA however without this indication; the audience would be left puzzled about what the master shot even shows.

The towering buildings almost look lost in their own location. They seem alienated in contrast to the surroundings and almost look like an elongated Stonehenge…this would connote that the buildings are old, almost historical which we see holds truth as the camera pans in and we have more establishing shots as we see car parks abandoned and old and buildings looking tiered and historical in comparison to more modern buildings with un-identified aircraft soaring along beside them. Being the same level as this modern aircraft makes us as the audience feel almost powerful and helps us to follow one of the key characters who holds a strong vital role in this new American society.

Because there are no characters included in these establishing shots, it hints to us that something corrupt or very bad has happened to any prior characters. Also, because our key character-Dredd is not placed in these surroundings or associated with them as we only see him in a dark room during the opening two minutes the audience assume he is possibly hiding or is cautious about how he associates with the outside world. the lighting used in these establishing shots almost shadows the buildings so it is made to look like everything going on in the American city is almost trapped in the shadows, or that a dark age has arisen. The bright light from behind the buildings however foreshadows that there may be a positive outcome in the end. The camera angle seems to alter so that this bright light continually remains central to the screen, possibly indicating its importance.

They have used this aerial shot to possibly suggest the power that one of the characters have over everyone else. The fact that the shot is overlooking a wall suggests the idea of separation or alternatively protection. Typically when you see an aerial shot it is like a bird’s eye view, and/or someone is looking directly down, whereas in this shot it is showing the sight from behind a wall. Although it isn’t showing a whole landscape, which is also what an aerial shot commonly does, this shot gives us an insight as to what the setting is like. Though the buildings may be tall, this shot tells us otherwise as the aerial shot is partially towering over them making them seem like degraded objects.

 we thought these shots were very prominent and original to use for the opening two minutes because the shots combine high angle shots as well as computer generated imagery so that it looked like we were seeing through the computer generated first person view of ‘Dredd’.  Therefore, what we were actually seeing was a point of view shot.

The settings we see through Dredd’s point of view look almost distorted and uninhabited…the way we view these shots in a very fast paced manner in comparison to if the shot was filmed using tracking or panning to the right or left or using a pedestal or mechanism to keep the camera still makes these shots appear very fast paced and almost rushed. The fast appearance of the shots fits the action genre of the film because typically action films are fast paced with lots of continual cyclic action happening to keep viewers engrossed. Also, these swift camera movements make Dredd- who’s point of view it is- appear to be travelling very fast…this is empathised that maybe he is possibly flying or above the towering buildings as it is from a high angle shot.

This point of view technique through Dredd’s mechanical mask makes the audience able to relate to Dredd and as well as this they feel more involved in the film...especially when this would have been shown in cinemas in 3D. Similar techniques are used for films like Iron man where we often get to see through iron man’s mask from his point of view to reinforce his height, prominence and ability. This makes the heroic persona he adopts stand out more. Additionally, the camera shot often slants towards a cantered angle; this possibly shows uneasiness or a change of direction in the scene.

 in these extreme close ups we suggested that the light behind could possibly connote that Dredd is almost like a saviour, and this glow is like a halo…however we know from the actual context of the film that this idea is completely juxtaposed as Dredd is brutal. However, in a religious perspective- Christians for example would describe god as the ‘ultimate judge’ the position that Dredd has in this film. The dark and light heavy contrast with the glow and the shadowing could almost create an idea of heaven and hell in contrast.

 these medium shots enable the audience to see one of the most revealing shots of Dredd as in all the other shots only extreme close ups are used to make his presence feel almost secretive as if he is the undisclosed enigma of the film.

When we finally see him captured in a medium shot even now he is still in full costume-completely covered up. Mid shots are often used to show body language which we see as Dredd finishes his preparations and steps out into his devastated city with an almost slow yet prominent pace. Mid shots also establish importance and power- and we see Dredd associated with his dark, shadowy surroundings looking powerful and his outerwear empathising this power with black, thick almost military costume and large boots. This particular choice of costume relates heavily to the importance of the mise-en-scene in the opening two minutes of the film because his costume choice ensures that his true identity is not revealed-building up an engrossing and enticing attitude to the film.

‘Dredd’ is also filmed with a level angle; however the shot is still very dark and un-revealing possibly connoting a kind of mysterious plot. The mid shot used in the film allows us to view Dredd from a frontal and back medium view- so the audience are given 360 degree view of their main film character in just the first two minutes-even though he has no dialogue and not one of the close ups features any of his emotions or facial features. Having no close ups or even extreme close ups of Dredd’s face makes him seem almost emotionless as we do not get any indication of his feelings or personality. This makes it harder for the audience to relate and through the shot types alone the audience would begin to presume Dredd could possibly be brutal and ruthless towards society- as he often turns his back to the camera, is in the dark and has no emotion exhibited…this completely relates to the context of the film and ‘judge Dredd’ because Dredd’s position is meant to be judgemental and in some cases severe…however this can be a very controversial point in the film because his judgement is often questionable.

Low angle shots often look up upon key things or people. The opening two minutes of Dredd has very few and limited low angle shots possibly because there is little in this dystopian society to look up upon. The majority of shots in the opening sequence are actually looking down upon abandoned buildings and chaos. The final part of the scene we analysed where there was a low angle shot looked up upon an illuminated eagle logo. This eagle presence possibly connotes power and flight- linking to the almost flying pace that Dredd has in the beginning…this enables the start of the opening scene and the end of the opening scene to sustain a strong relationship. Also- the shot type almost creates a resounding order over society with its height and the natural lighting as well as the illuminated neon lighting…this is one of the lightest parts of the opening two minutes-possibly representing it as one of the most positive aspects of society.