Iron man opening scene analysis
During the opening scene of Iron Man the audience are faced with the opening extreme long shot, a view of a desert and complete silence, with only the diegetic sound of the wind. In the distance three trucks are driving along the road and straight away we are given enigma's as to why the scene is set here. The next shot displayed is a long shot of the trucks driving towards the camera with a background music which is very manly and can be seen as a convention of an action film. As the scene goes on we discover that the trucks are army trucks and the audience can question whether they are completing a mission, as at the top of the truck is a soldier, handling with a gun and on the look out for any of the opposition. The range of shots of the trucks make the audience excited and they are immediately drawn in as the scene looks dangerous, but still questioning why they are here.
The next shot is inside one of the trucks, and we get a glimpse of some of the soldiers inside the car. The audience are shown a close up of a glass of alcohol being held by someone, which is unusual as it doesn't fit with the rest of the scene, and in the background, coming into focus, we are shown a medium shot of a soldier who also looks as confused as the audience as to why the character is drinking alcohol, but he can also be seen as intimidated by the character, who we have not yet been introduced to. Straight away the next close up is of the protagonist, Tony Stark, wearing very formal clothes which makes him stand out from the rest, the glass of alcohol can connote that he has a lot of power as he is doing things that you usually wouldn't think a person would be able to do during the conditions of the scene.
The protagonist talks with a lot of dry humour which helps the audience connect with him allowing the character to become more personal to the audience instead of referring him to just the protagonist, even though we are not given him name. Just as we get used to the humour in the scene, a soldier asks to
take a picture with the main character, connoting he is a celebrity.
Just as the picture is about to be taken, the audience are shocked with a sudden explosion of the truck in front, which they see through an over the shoulder shot of the soldier in the front seat. The sudden explosion creates another enigma as to who is attacking them and why. The characters start shouting and we hear loud gun noises in the background which keep the audience in their seats waiting to see what happens next. One by one the soldiers are killed leaving only the protagonist to fend for himself.
The camera becomes out of control, which helps the audience to feel how chaotic the situation is, the camera does not stay still on the protagonist, which can connote that he doesn't know how to react and doesn't know whats going on. The audience watch as the protagonist runs and panics, trying to find a point of safety. While trying to call for help, we are shown a range of close up angles of the main character and the repeating gun shots keep the audience of the edge of their seats.
Suddenly a bomb falls right next to the main character and shows an extreme close up of the maker of the weapon called 'Stark Industries' and before he can get away he is hit with the bomb and the ending shot is a close up of him lying on the floor bleeding and unable to move. The picture blurs as well as the sound suggesting that he is dying or becoming unconscious.
The opening scene is very intense and exciting which can be compared to the convention of an action film, faced with a lot of enigmas, audience will be wanting to keep watching to find out what happens throughout the film.
