'Face Off' Opening Analysis

The following analysis was conducted by Sally




The first part of the opening sequence is a set of opening titles. The opening titles are a black background with white titles/text, which transition’s are blurred, which could help suggest disorientation. The initial music could suggest tragedy – this is particularly established at the very beginning, where bell-type music helps to symbolise innocence and the drum-type music over the top helping to symbolise the innocence destroyed by an attacker of some sort. Furthermore, this could suggest a murder which is conventional for a Thriller film. Already from the opening titles, we are able to get some sense of narrative, which is also conventional.


We then have a transition of what appears to be a merry-go-round moving very quickly, still with opening titles, transitioning onto a number of different medium shot cuts of Sean Archer (John Trovota’s character) and his son on the merry-go-round. The medium shots here helps to show the overall muse-en-scene, (the location of a merry-go-round emphasises this sense of innocence, which juxtapose with the disorientation of colour and the dark music which suggests danger or evil). The same instrumental music is continued, but with the addition of the non-diegetic voice over of the child laughing. Furthermore, this establishes and emphasises this sense of innocence, and so we as an audience can already guess that the equilibrium will be broken and it could possibly have something to do with the impairment of this character. Medium long shots help to establish them in that location and the medium close-ups help to show the emotion on the characters faces and also instantly establishes the relationship between these two characters – we can instantly establish they are father and son. The colouring seems dimmed down which could help to represent the fact that this may be a flashback or part of the past.
We then have a long establishing shot of a merry-go-round which presents the viewer with many different connotations (happiness, simplicity, youth etc.) which is then broken by a close-up of a sniper rifle followed by a long shot of Caster Troy (Nicholas Cage). The fact that he has a sniper riffle could automatically classify this film as an action thriller. This is the first time we are introduced to this character. The long shot helps to establish the fact that this character is on his own and isolated, which significantly is in comparison to this busy, loving setting at the merry-go-round that we have previously seen. The music suddenly gets darker which could suggest the characteristics of this character, suggesting he is the villain in the story, and also suggests that the narrative will have something to do with a battle against him and Sean Archer. This is where the title of the film appears, with ‘Face’ written in black and ‘Off’ written in white – the significant contrast in colour change here helps to emphasise the narrative of a battle between too people. The title ‘Face Off’ also helps to create this theme of identity (as the face is a vital part of a person’s identity) which is conventional for a thriller. A slow motion close-up of Cater Troy sipping his drink out of a straw before looking through the viewfinder on the sniper rifle emphasises the expression on his face, which appears very casual, suggesting this routine is normal for him, additionally emphasizing the character to be a villain. The point-of-view shot through the view-finder of Sean Archer and his son confirms that the film will revolve around the battle between the two characters and therefore establishes the narrative. The music is very dark throughout this and so therefore suggests drama and evil in the narrative, which is a vital convention in a thriller film.
A zoom out of Caster Troy’s face along with the bell-type music helps to explain the expression his face He seems to be in thought and a sense of discomfort. The music in particular establishes that he has just realised his antagonist has a child, which we immediately presume is the reason of the sense of hesitation/guilt. This is emphasised by a following of a slow-motion shot of Sean Archer and his son smiling and showing affection. This quickly switches back to a medium shot of Caster Troy taking another sip of his drink, suggesting that the hesitation has not thrown him off the idea of what he is going to do next. The fact that the music has not changed also helps to emphasise this. It is a small shot, and is quickly switched back to a number of different shots of Sean Archer and his child showing affection towards each other. All shots are medium close-ups which help to show the happiness and emotion on both characters faces, in exception to the last shot of them together which is a medium shot of Sean kissing his son’s head and then hugging him, showing a bond and a sense of affection and equilibrium between the characters.
We then switch back to a medium shot of Caster Troy looking through the view finder. We then go back to a point-of-view shot of Caster looking through the view finder. As soon as the point in the middle of the viewfinder hits Sean’s back, the music dramatically changes and gets darker. We then get a close-up shot of Caster pulling the trigger, followed by a slow motion shot of the bullet coming towards the camera. The slow motion helps to establish the drama of the scene, and emphasises how vital it is.
We then get a close up shot of it hitting Sean’s back and a load of blood coming through his jacket. The costume of Sean is a green jacket, which could have been used to help contrast the blood on the jacket. We instantly get the sense of broken equilibrium. This is followed by a long shot of him jolting back which fully establishes the fact it has hit him. This is emphasised by the way in which the music the fully comes to a holt, which could also suggest a life has to come an end as well. It also helps to create the tension and suspense of weather this character has infact died the reaction of the other character etc. A medium shot of Sean falling with his son in his arms shows how important his son is to him. A close-up of blood on the horse where the young boy was sitting on the merry-go-round shows that blood has also been drawn by his son. The fact the horse symbolises innocence and now has blood (which has connotations of pain etc.) also helps to establish this. As an audience, at first we presumed that it was only Sean who got shot and believed this up until this point where we realise that as an audience we got a sense of false path, which is conventional of a thriller. We then get a medium shot of Sean on the ground, followed by panning camera movement to his son, who is laying down and is unconscious, possibly dead – this helps confirm the technique of ‘false path’. We then have a medium close up of Caster Troy – the mise-en-scene of the sniper rifle helps to confirm it was him that shot Sean and his son. His facial expression helps to tell us he was not meaning to kill Sean’s son, which confirms the theory that this battle is between Sean and Caster and is not between Caster and Sean’s family. We then go back to a medium shot of Sean dragging himself towards his dead son. The medium shot helps us to see this but also helps us to see the emotion on Sean’s face, which shows devastation. The merry-go-round in the background helps to remind the audience the innocence of the scene. This is then emphasised by a focused zoom-in of the merry-go-round.