Inception- Opening Scene Analysis

Inception

Inception is an American film directed by Christopher Nolan, produced by Syncopy Inc, Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers.

Opening Credits 

The opening credits of the sequence are presented as having dark overall feel. The graphology includes a lighter, bold text on a dark background, to allow attention to be drawn to the writing by making it stand out. This automatically creates the effect and connotations that the film is going to involves a dark and mysterious storyline.
The titles read:
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan
Leonardo Dicaprio
Ellen Page
Editor Lee Smith
Production director Guy Hendrix Dyas
Joseph Gordon Levitt
Music by Hans Zimmer
Dileep Rao
Ken Wantenbe
Tom Hardy
Inception

Part of the opening titles.

Sound

At the start of the extract, typical sound for a thriller is used, which is deep, short bursts of string music. This automatically presents the audience with the fact that something bad is about to occur. This sound is used up until the waves are presented in the frame. The wave sounds are very violent, almost as if in a storm, which could reflect that the main character who we next see washed up on the shore, has been through violence or perhaps fallen from a boat during a storm. We don't know that for a fact, so this adds to the narrative enigma. After this point, the non diegetic music begins again, which is low and eerie, with a building tempo, which occurs throughout the narrative. This creates the effect of excitement for the audience as well as a building tempo which could convey what is going to happen in the narrative, a build up to an event.  

The dialogue is unclear when the children are presented in the frame playing on the beach. This could portray the sounds heard from the character who has been washed up on the shore. The sounds of the children playing are eerie, with a sinister laugh and cry combined with the eerie string music. The images are distorted, and the sound of them playing is almost muffed, so this suggests to the audience that this is a hallucination and that the character is possibly dreaming about the past. This makes the audience question as to what this character is doing washed up on the beach, and how these children are relevant to the narrative.

The sound of children playing is effective because it is eerie.

Another point to note is the lack of dialogue from the main character, especially at the beginning. This creates a sense of mystery surrounding this particular character and also builds the tension, as although he appears to be the protagonist, it is unclear what his actual role in the narrative is. The lack of answers also continues to make the audience intrigued about the narrative. However, when the other characters begin to talk, they talk about dream states, which also relates back to the mysterious children on the beach. This could portray

that the narrative is going to revolve around dreams and the past conveying a sense of mystery.

Lack of dialogue from the character at this point adds to the narrative enigma

Mise en Scene

Low key lighting is used after 1.11 of the extract, when, what appears to be a villain base is shown. This room involves traditional Japanese inspired décor. The low key lighting helps to create an eerie, mysterious atmosphere to which builds tension and makes the audience question as to why they are  depicted in this unusual setting, but also makes it more difficult to identify each individual character in the narrative, adding to the narrative enigma of what each characters role entitles.

Low key lighting.

An additional feature is during the meeting when all the characters are congregated in one room. The old man appears to have the most authority within the group. The other men, all appear to be wearing suits and expensive accessories, appearing as stereotypical business men. This suggests to the audience that these men are in authoritative positions with major status, so the audience get a sense of hierarchy and expensive lifestyles, compared to the character shown at the beginning of the narrative but are also made to wonder who they work for and what career they are involved in.  The character shown at the very beginning of the film is depicted wearing non business attire which strongly indicates that he doesn't usually belong there, but why is he in the meeting? This adds further to the narrative enigma.

Hierarchy shown through costume usage.

Camera

An extreme close up is used at the very beginning of the narrative to present the audience with the characters face when he is washed up onto the shore. This helps the audience to see the sheer confusion on the characters face as he lifts his head out of the water, but suggests that he has no idea why he is there or what he is doing, and presents no clues to the audience as they are left to wonder what happened to him. This adds to the tension and narrative enigma for the audience, causing them to be nervous for the character.

An over the shoulder shot is presented in the frame during the meeting in the room with the Japanese inspired décor. This shot shows one character at the head of the table, sat with his back to the camera. This draws the audiences full attention to the other character exchanging dialogue with the character at the head of the table, allowing the audience to see the emotions displayed on his face, creating a sense of anxiety and mystery due his fearful expression which causes the audience to feel the same way. As well as this, the shot means that the audience can't view the man at the head of the table, and what emotions he is presenting. The distance of the two characters also suggests that they do not have a strong relationship, presenting their relationship as very business like an professional.

Over the shoulder shot.

Editing

During the very beginning of the extract, ellipsis of time is used. This is when the character has been washed up on the shore and is lying there, attempting to work out how he has ended up there. An eyeline match is also combined with the ellipsis of time to allow the audience to see what the character is viewing as he slowly looks up after hearing the sound of children playing. The audience are therefore presented with a frame of two children playing on the beach, but the image of them is slightly ghostly and distorted combined with slow motion. This portrays that these children are either a dream, or a hallucination, or a memory and that this isn't actually occurring in real life, just in the characters head. This helps understand that the character is very confused due to whatever happened prior to him being washed up on the beach. Another point to note is that these children could possibly be his own, or him as a child playing with a sibling or friend. This again, adds to the narrative enigma, because he could have been brought back to this location for a particular reason, but the audience are clueless as to why he is there and the importance of the two children in the narrative. The audience are made to ask questions, such as will they appear again later? Are they haunting him? Is it a clue?

Hallucination of children and point of view shot.

Furthermore, an abrupt cut is used after the meeting, when the scene jumps to what appears to be a hotel room, in what the audience believe to be a post-apocalyptic time period. This cut between two different time periods is effective because it creates an effect of increasing tension and mystery, but the audience are unsure of the amount of time between each abrupt cut. This technique allows the audience to feel increased tension and anxiety as the pace of the narrative picks up, adding to the increasing mystery and confusion foreshadowing events to follow.

The clip analysed shown below: