Casino Royale opening- extended analytic essay

The opening of the first ‘James Bond’ film starring Daniel Craig, Casino Royale, is directed by Martin Campbell and aims to introduce the new Bond actor to an audience of newcomers and die-hard fans of the franchise. Campbell takes a more suspenseful approach to the opening than previous Bond films, using two different locations that juxtapose so we get a real sense of what Bond is capable of. This opening engages the audience through the use of black-and-white, and two different scenes that which cross-cut between each other using contrasting techniques of lighting, sound and camerawork.

Throughout the opening scene, the director decided not to use any colour, so the opening appears in black and white. This creates a very nostalgic feeling, as the director wanted the audience to be reminded of the old Bond movies. Even though they were never shot in black white, he director wants you to feel this will be more sentimental and true to the classic Bond films. The first part of the opening has very low-key lighting in the building, we can clearly see that it is night so there are limited light sources, and it adds to the mysterious nature of the scene. There are small spotlights in the corridor of the building that is covered in glass walls and metallic poles so the lights can be reflected off of the surfaces. In the office itself there is very little lighting, but there is some light shining into the office, showing the isolation of Bond and the villain in the room. As the scene is in black and white, it means that the chiaroscuro is very bold, so everything in the scene seems much more dark and dramatic. Both Bond and the villain have one side of their face in the light, implying secrecy and parts of themselves hidden from society. Lights are also shone on certain parts of the set such as the cupboard that the villain finds to have been opened and when the villain opens the draw at his desk with a gun in it, so these events are highlighted to the audience, therefore drawing in them in and building tension as we question why the cupboard is important and whether he will use the gun. When we cross cut to the scene at the cricket match, there is more natural, daytime, high-key lighting so it appears much brighter than the previous scene, symbolizing the naivety of the cricketers and spectators and the dark nature of Bond’s mission. There is a strong contrast in lighting between the two locations which helps separate the time differences, as the cricket scene is set in the recent past. When we see Bond for the first time at the match he is standing behind a structure at the back of the spectator area, separated from the other people in the light, which shows the danger and mysteriousness of his job. After the villain runs through the building behind the pitch he goes into a bathroom, lit with unflattering strip lights. As these strip lights are unnatural it makes the audience feel more uncomfortable and reflects the nature of this raw fight of hand-to-hand combat as opposed to a simple gunshot. The only bit of colour we see in this whole opening sequence is when the villain picks up his gun after nearly being drowned in an attempt to shoot Bond, to which Bond turns straight to the camera and points his gun at us like all the classic Bond film openings, and cartoon-like red blood wipes down the screen. Not only is this a great transition between this scene and the opening credits and serves as a classic reference to all of the previous Bond films, but the red is polysemic and therefore connotes many things such as danger, lust and power.

The editing in the opening of the film is quite simplistic, but much like the light and colour the differences in editing from scene to scene reflects the nature of the actions of the characters. All the cuts in this are straight cuts but the variation in speed is the main element of the editing: when Bond and the villain are in the office there are many low-speed, shot reverse-shot frames, reflecting the calm feeling of the scene, but also builds tension as this reserved feeling seems wrong if Bond is coming here to kill. When it cross-cuts to the cricket match the editing is still low-speed, again reflecting the relaxed, friendly match, but when the fight begins in the bathroom the editing is suddenly very high-speed, contrasting with slow-paced beginning, and mirrors the aggressive fight between Bond and the other villain. There are two jump-cuts in the opening, and one occurs when the villain in the bathroom picks up a bin as if he is about to hit Bond with it, and then the camera cross-cuts to the office, whizzes round and stops as the other villain pulls of his gun and points it at Bond. This provides a connection between the two kills as they are whom Bond needs to assassinate in order to become a ‘00’ agent. After he (nearly) drowns the villain in the bathroom, the editing changes back to low-speed, as Bond realises what he has just done and how he is now much closer to gaining his ‘00’ status.

The sound is very subtle in the first few shots, with barely-there single notes playing in the soundtrack underneath the diegetic sound of the car pulling up outside the building. When we see the lift ascending up the building we only hear the sound effects of the lift and afterwards the sound of the villain walking down the glass corridor, which builds tension as we question what will happen next as he is alone in the building at this moment. The composer uses ‘beats’ in the music to highlight important moments in the office scenes , such as the villain noticing his cupboard is empty resulting in him realizing Bond is in the room, and him pulling out the draw with the gun in it. As the scene progresses, strings are added to the music and there is a small crescendo before we switch to the cricket scene, which compliments the development of the storyline. In the cricket match scene there is no soundtrack, only diegetic sounds of players running on the pitch, applause and hitting cricket balls, which creates a more familiar, comfortable feeling for the audience. When the villain in this scene notices Bond standing in the spectator area, the non-diegetic music begins again, but with a more brassy instruments, and crescendos as the villain runs into the building, which all adds to the drama of the situation. The villain notices that Bond has followed him into the building, and the music momentarily stops on a loud note so the audience can see the villain’s reaction, and then the music continues but with a fast, regular tempo the reflects the action of the scene. Really dramatic, orchestral, brassy music is used when the fight ensues in the bathroom, and the non-diegetic sounds of huffing, shouting, punching and crashing are added on. The music stops again when we switch back to the office scene and we hear the villain take the gun out of the draw, and the soundtrack returns to high pitched, very quiet strings, but when we switch back to the fight the soundtrack goes back to the loud, intense accompaniment. When the villain cease to resist being drowned in the sink, the music stops and we hear him fall to the floor, and the sound effect of the water from the tap still running makes it seem anticlimactic. Upon cutting back to Bond in the dark office, atmospheric, non-orchestral deep sounds play underneath the dialogue, again juxtaposing the violent actions. Bond shoots the villain, and the sound effects are hyperbolic and accompanied by a short clip of brass instruments playing very loudly to add to the drama, and then the soundtrack immediately switches back to the high-pitched strings. This sound crescendos when we see Bond back in the bathroom, picking up his gun, and after the villain attempts to shoot Bond, he turns to the camera for the classic Bond opening shot and the title music begins. This song includes electric guitars and is much more modern compared to the previous Bond films, cementing Martin Campbell’s style in the Bond franchise.

The camera work in the opening sequence works with the editing format in that the office scenes are simplistic, steady and slow-paced, whereas the fight scene uses much shakier, hand-held camera work and is more intense and close up to the action. The opening shot establishes the location of the action; the car pulls up outside the building, and the following shot shows the villain of this scene getting out of the car, with the camera looking upwards towards him. Looking up at him, the audience assumes he is important, powerful and someone with high social status. However after another shot of the camera looking up in the glass building to ascending lift, we see another shot of the villain but the camera looks down on him in the lift. This may show that the environment around him, the career he has and his corrupt role in secret service may ultimately be his downfall. The rest of the office scene is shot quite simplistically: when the villain notices the cupboard is empty we see a close-up shot of him to shot his sudden fear and realization, and then a sudden change of focus reveals Bond to be sitting in a chair in the office. The camera follows the villain to his chair, and then the director chooses to have a long-shot of Bond and the villain in the office, barely lit, to show their distance from each other. We see a match-on action of the villain pulling out his draw which contains a gun, implying that he is scared or at least prepared to defend himself. The rest of this part of the scene up to the cricket match only uses the same long-shot of the two sitting away from each other, and shot reverse-shots of the two characters. As it is so subtle it makes us feel uncomfortable as we do not know what might happen next. In the cricket scene the opening shot establishes the location, with the spectators in the foreground and the field in the background. The villain is introduced with a close up shot of him look behind where he is sitting, building intimacy with the audience and showing that he is in danger. The camera cuts to a closed shot of Bond standing in the shadows, at which point the villain gets up to move into the building, and the camera operator follows him down corridors and through changing rooms eventually ending up in the bathroom. The audience feels as if we are getting let in on the action while we follow his route down the corridor. The fight begins with a shot of the villain holding his gun up towards a civilian and Bond follows him is through the door unexpectedly as he is out of focus. The director decided to use mainly match-on-action and close-up shots to capture each movement in the fight, for example, the camera follows hands when they reach to punch each other. The close-up shots of Bond shows the aggressive emotions he needs to have the strength to assassinate his target. Shots of the cubicle door closing in front of the camera and the aerial shot of the two crashing along the toilet doors feels like this is very secretive, and again like we are being let in to something that is kept away from society. To transition between the two scenes the director uses a match on action shot of the villain about to hit Bond with a bin, and then the camera whizzes and stops abruptly to see the villain in the office pull out his gun. We return back to the shot-reverse shot style of the office scene, calm and composed in juxtaposition to the previous fight scene. During the next section of the fight the camera looks up towards Bond and down at the villain, which shows the change in power from the previous scene and how Bond now has control of the situation. Close-up shots of Bond’s aggressive tension in his face while he tries to drown his target, accompanied with shots of the villain drowning in the sink make it very uncomfortable to watch. After the villain stops restraining, there is a mid-shot of him falling to the floor, followed by a long, suspended close-up on Bond, and we see his tension fade but the realization of what he has just done appears on his face. We return to the office scene, and to the shot reverse-shot close-ups, and when Bond shoots the villain in this scene the camera jump cuts past a photo of the villain’s family and then to a mid-shot of the villain falling back over his chair. The contrast between the nature of each assassination- violent drowning and immediate shooting- adds to the different atmosphere of each scene. The final shot of the opening sequence is of course the classic frame of Bond pointing the gun at the camera, and the lense that goes around the frame is edited in, like all the other classic Bond films.

The mise-en-scene in the opening sequence is certainly very different at each location, but it manages to retain a dark theme across the two. In the office scene we feel much more relaxed although it is more suspenseful as there isn’t much going on, even though it has a nighttime setting, whereas in the bathroom scene is more forward in showing the violence. The villain in the first scene turns out to be working as part of the secret service, but Bond states that he shouldn’t be ‘selling secrets’, implying that his work is corrupt. We know that his motive must be to get Bond out of the way of his work as he attempts to shoot him later, and doesn’t know that he is a valued member of the secret service because he is on his to get his ‘00’ license. We presume Bond’s motive is to assassinate the villain in the scene, as that is what the audience knows to be his usual motive for being in strange places. The villain suspects he was the agent who killed the man at the cricket match after Bond confirms that he is aware of the idea that it takes ‘two kills’ to become a ‘00’ agent, so the audience presumes that if he kills the villain in the office then he will get his promotion. Shooting the scene in black and white allowed the director to flip between the two locations, while creating a classic, iconic feeling to the opening. Always dressed in his suit to kill, we can clearly see that Bond’s job is of very high caliber, whereas the villain in the cricket scene is dressed casually, showing that he does not expect Bond’s appearance. Bond is a man of very little words, but the few words that he does say therefore become iconic. He speaks only with the intent of fulfilling his job and passing on information, so in the scenes where there is barely any dialogue the reader is easily drawn in, trying to see any subtle references or actions.

In conclusion, the film takes a new spin on the Bond franchise while still nodding to the original films. As an opening we have a clear introduction into Daniel Craig’s James Bond, his character and his morals, and it sets the tone for the rest of the film as more of a thriller than an action adventure, unlike the others previously made.