Film Opening Analysis - The Matrix

The Matrix film opening analysis

The film starts with mysterious music, which stops after the title appears. A load of numbers and letters appear on the screen flashing while a conversation is heard. The sentence "We're gonna kill him" will create enigmas for the audience, as they do not yet know who "him" is.

The camera zooms into a small light very quickly, and we realise this is a torch light. The music stops and the mis-en-scene depicts a very close up frame of a man's face looking straight down the camera with a gun, as if the audience were a character in the film. The camera is zooms and pans about a lot to add to the mysterious feel, and the make the audience feel like they are part of this group. At one point the camera moves from an over shoulder shot, round the back of the police men, and to the other side. This is an example of how to keep to the 180 degree rule if you want to film from the other side, in order to not confuse the audience.

When one of the men kick down the door, the camera is placed in front of him in a low angle, medium shot so that it looks like he is kicking the camera. This causes suspense for the audience, and the noise of the door being kicked down contrasts against the quiet background music, which becomes louder once the door is kicked. From this sudden change in volume, the audience can tell that something is about to happen.

There is a long shot of the back of a women in a very dark room, which is followed by a very long take of the woman's face hidden behind a laptop screen, however the camera pans upwards to slowly reveal more an more of her face. This will cause further enigmas for the audience, like why are the police after this woman? What's she doing on the laptop? Why is she hiding in a dark deserted room?These enigmas are what keeps the audience intrigued.