no country for old men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTbcp2R2yUQ&feature=player_embedded

The first shots in the opening scene are extreme long shots (establishing shots) they are used to show the setting, the setting is very isolated and deserted, we also know it is deserted al there is no evidence of civilisation  this is typical of a thriller as it shows the isolate nature of the setting and therefore how fitting it would be for an attack or crime as the victim would be completely helpless. There is also a narration over the top of the first few clips of the landscape of a man talking about another man, this is done to make us want to keep watching and know who the characters are.

The next shot is of a police man and a mysterious man, the police man is arresting the man. He is kept mysterious as the camera is kept behind him to disguise his identity, none of them speak either meaning we still do not know why they are in this vast landscape and who they are. The costume of the characters give us connotations of time as the police outfit  looks like sheriff outfit and is therefore old, the voice over from the previous clip also told us that it may be set in america because of his accent. The person being arrested is wearing black, meaning he may be bad and out of the ordinary considering the circumstances and setting, it also shows he is a key character as the rest of the landscape and person/props and bland light colours, where as he is wearing all black and so stands out.

The next shot shows both the police man an arrested man in the car. The lighting has been used to express their personalities as the police man is lit brightly representing he is innocent and good, whereas the man in the back of the car is in a shadow to hide his identity and create mystery about his, as well as representing that he has a bad atmosphere. Before this shot we also saw an air canister being put into the car, we do not know what this is for or why it is there. all these factors build up the sense of mystery.

The next shot is then inside what looks like a police station. The police man is on the telephone and describes how the man had some kind of weapon (the air canister). Tension the builds as we see the criminal creep up on the police man, there is no sound, which works just as effectively as using no music at all. The criminal then  suddenly attacks the police man yet his identity is still hidden.

The next shot is to show the struggle of the sheriff as he is being killed by the criminal. It is done by using a birds eye view of his feet franticly struggling, the shoes also leave marks on the floor to show his battle for survival. Once the feet have stopped we then see the concentrated face of the killer to show his determination.