INCEPTION THRILLER

ANALYSIS
 Narrative
Inception is a thriller movie with an A-lister cast to show off with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Joseph
Gordon-Levitt and many more. the narrative is hard to follow but the film does its best to keep you updated on the
main points of the story. The film itself is about Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief with the rare ability to
enter people's dreams and steal their secrets from their subconscious. His skill has made him a hot commodity in
the world of corporate espionage but has also cost him everything he loves. Cobb gets a chance at redemption
when he is offered a seemingly impossible task: Plant an idea in someone's mind. If he succeeds, it will be the
perfect crime, but a dangerous enemy anticipates Cobb's every move. The movie has won several academy
awards such as best visual effects best cinematography and many more. the film is very much a like other thriller
for example with the narrative, a chance of redemption and a chance to do good to help him and others around
him. The movie in itself has a Charles Derry thriller theory. According to his six thriller theories i can tell it's a
psychotraumatic thriller where the narrative revolves around Dom Cobb being able to see his kids again and being
able to enter America again after completing an 'impossible' mission. This movie also follows Tzvetan Todorov's
narrative theory that suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure where they begin with equilibrium,
where everything is balanced where it then progresses as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and
at the climax they finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored. In the movie there are several enigma
codes such as at the ending and a semiotic code. The semiotic code is when Leonardo's character pulls out his
spinning top and spins it on the table and leaves it spinning. the enigma code is when he leaves its spinning and
walks away so you don't know if he is really alive or still in limbo a dream state dead realm. There are similar
character types with other movies with the main protagonists being highly skilled in doing what they do. In the
narrative they are constantly being chased by the subconscious of the antagonist. Atmosphere and tension are
created throughout the movie where the main protagonists dead ex girlfriend rots and pollutes his brain meaning
she always knows what's going on and is always there to try and make their plans fail.
 Mise-en-Scene
In the scene the protagonists are wearing smart clothes because they are trying to blend in
with the higher class people who are staying. But in the car they are wearing casual/ smart
because they are trying to act like normal civilians. The antagonists however on the other
had in the hotel are wearing very classy and suits to show that they are important and
they are professional. They also wear smart suits to show that they are good at what they
do and are committed to do their job. the other antagonists in the car chase wear similar
suits to show that they are high powered and are dangerous. the lighting in the hotel scene
is high key lighting because it is trying to look welcoming and making sure it looks nice
because if it was dark and gloomy the atmosphere would be different and unwelcoming. In
the car chase the surroundings are low key lit because it is raining causing it to be darker.
these two scenes use the natural light mainly in the car chase scene because it gives it a
more natural look and feel when watching. The guards/antagonists in the scene carry
weapons and the protagonists don't this shows that they are more prepared if action starts
to happen compared to the protagonists who have no weapons shows they are not ready
for combat in a situation. The set design in this scene is very different in this scene
because the set is built to rotate so the hotel can relate to the twisting and tuning of the
car.
 Editing
The scene starts with a synchronous sound of a thud the camera then cuts to where the sound originated from which
was the car chase happening in another dream world, where it shows the protagonists in a car chase where the
antagonist pulls out a shotgun and they shoot at the van cutting back causing another thud in the hotel dream. It
shows a reaction shot to the main protagonist in the scene of him closing a box with an eye line match then a jump
cut to the protagonist closing the door to the room. As the protagonist walks up the hallway the camera cuts from two
different shots from over shoulder and a close up. it cuts to a close up where it shows a reaction shot to when the
antagonist comes out of an elevator and a reaction shot of the antagonist upon seeing the protagonist. There is then
an action match where he is getting chased and the editing pace is really fast capturing different angles on the action.
it then cuts back to the protagonist becomes into contact with the antagonist a deeper tone of a brass instrument
comes in and a fight starts. Another antagonist pulls out a pistol it then action matches to a to the car chase where an
antagonist pulls out a pistol of his own and shoots. the shot creates a thud in the hotel causing which they capture
with his reaction and also gets a reaction shot of the antagonist as he hears shots fired. When the car crash occurs
there is many different angles used and very quick editing is used. as the scene approaches the climax slow motion is
added in post production as car speeds around corners showing inside the car as the bodies move and what the effect
does to the protagonist in the hotel. during this scene there are some long takes used rather than the scenes usual
fast paced editing. when the protagonist and the antagonist are fighting the editing is slower compared to the car
chase but it captures every detail, so when the gun is falling and sliding around the room it shows both characters
trying to pick it up and where it goes around the room. so when the car stops rolling down the hill the gun is the main
focus as it slides towards the protagonist and the reaction of the antagonist as he grabs it and shoots. as the
protagonist shoots the music stops and it shows the protagonist get up and the joyfulness of the driver as he realises
he is still alive saying to every one 'did you see that' only to realise they are all asleep. overall in the scene the main
protagonist in the hotel the protagonist driver and the antagonist all get a lot of screen time sharing it equally
throughout the scene.
 Camerawork
In this scene the camera work doesn't really change with the camera only
having a few different placements and positions. the camera work used in
the scene is mainly all tracking during the car chase scene changing
positions to capture the van from behind in front and from the side with the
camera changing between steady-cam and handheld. In the hotel the
camera work is fairly similar with throughout the scene the camera work is
mainly all handheld until the set begins to rotate the camera work is
changed to tracking and steady cam where it tilts and pans to capture all
the action and the little details. when the scene starts the shots are long to
make sure everyone and everything fits in the frame. when focusing on the
people in the scene the camera work is fairly similar and fairly basic with a
lot of close ups, reaction shots and tracking shots.
 Sound
In the movie Inception it has a remarkable soundtrack with the marvellous mind of Hans Zimmer
writing the music. Hans Zimmer said himself that he was aiming for his work to be "a very electronic,
dense score", filled with "nostalgia and sadness" which was written simultaneously to filming to match
Cobb's feelings throughout the film. Hans Zimmer was also nominated for an Academy Award in the
Best Original Score category in 2011. The music in the joie stands out with its loudness and also studs
out when quiet. the music captures the emotions of the movie and the emotions of the characters
when the music starts playing. One example of this is when the scene starts with the man in
protagonists in the dream state with one of them looking after them but in the dream before the
protagonists are being chased in a car by highly trained subconscious protectors. The scene starts with
the music being quite tense with high pitched violins with a heavy bass in the background. as the
scene progresses the music gets faster and the heavy bass becomes more repetitive. But as the music
progresses so does the action in the scene where the main protagonist is against the clock to save his
companions and create a kick to send them deeper into the next dream. the music kicks in becoming
faster where the main protagonist comes into contact with on of the antagonists getting the audience
watching as a fight breaks out and that the van is under attack. The music then builds yet again when
until the van gets barged off road. where the music stops and picks up again when it hits the floor,
where the music has picked up with deeper tones coming in. During the scene there are lot of ambient
sounds. There is the ambient sounds of gun shooting the car when the protagonists are being chased.
the scene is also filled with background sound when the set changes you can hear the sounds of the
building being moved and loose things falling and dragging around the set.
 Impact
The movie Inception gave me ideas of how to build tension in several scenes
being that Inception relies on the build up of tension. Inception influenced us
for several ideas. The mise en - scene used during the movie with low key
lighting. We used low key lighting during the movie where we filmed in a
forest. The forest has dark colours that we used to replicate a dark atmosphere
like Inception does in several scenes. We also replicated the screen time
during our movie Inception where we give Sam the most screen time where in
Inception they give Dominic played by Leonardo Dicaprio the most screen time
throughout there movie. We got inspiration again for the sound we used
similar music to build up tension in the build up and the climax of scenes.