Task 2: Research into Existing Products- Red Dragon

The second filmed that was to be analysed for task 2: Research into Exisiting Products was Red Dragon. Red Dragon is a tense thriller film created by Brett Ratner in 2002, a remake of Man Hunter (1954) . The film is a Pre Title Sequence which is when the scene is played then all the opening titles are shown, it then goes back to the scene but continues into the film. Although the titles are shown after the first scene there is one or two titles at the start, this is done to tell the audience what the film is.

The thriller was set in Baltimore, Maryland 1980; a real life place. The storyline of Red Dragon is that a retired FBI agent has been assigned the job to help track down 'The Tooth Fairy' a mysterious serial killer who is a huge fan of Dr Hannibal Lecter work (his mass murders). In order for FBI Agent; Special Agent Graham to succeed he needs the help of Dr Lecter who is in currently in a psychotic jail due to the many murders he committed.

Titles

Red Dragon starts with the opening titles of the directors name. The font colour of the two words has been separated; the forename in red and the surname in white, this is shown on a black background identical to the film title. All the text in this section uses the white vs red font text. The red font shows connotations of blood and danger, the solid black background shows fear and and darkness and the white text portrays purity and innocence. The film title shows good vs evil however as the red text is before the white it suggests that evil is dominate and the good is weak. The use of these colours instantly tell the audience the film is a thriller/ horror because the colours red, orange and black symbolise death.

Scene One

SScene 1: OpeCEBJcCVFhe scene starts with an establishing shot showing a clear view of a very grand, old fashioned styled opera house. This shot instantly tells the audience that the people watching the opera are very wealthy and upper class. We know this because at that present time you must had a high status and a good finance base to be able to watch shows in the opera house. The place of action is then shown at the bottom of the screen, it fades in to compliment the soft yet high tempo orchestral music. The text of the place is with time of the action; this means that because this scene is set in 1980 the text needs to compliment the date not to look irregular. The camera then changes to several close ups cuts of the orchester groups playing their instruments, it then changes to a medium close up of the whole orchester. The shot then changes to an extreme close up of the hand of the cello player, this is done to show the talent the musicians have. A low angle shot is used for the musicians to be looking up to the conductor; this emphasises the power the conductor has over the music and the musicians movements. A range of shots are then used showing the musicians playing their instruments, but the camera then goes into a crane shot over the conductor to the audience. Zoom in is used to show the antagonist eye match line with one of the musicians, shot reverse shot portrays what then major character is looking at. The audience are left puzzled why the major character is staring at the flute musician; concentrating very hard through the eyes. One of the main body movements the major character does to show he is the antagonist is that he tilts his head showing the cannibalistic feature he has staring at his target, implying he is a predator.

Scene Two

Another establishing shot is used to set the next scene where the action will take place. The setting illustrates the characters are in a upper class American city area, I know this because the town houses are very tall, wide, white and the pillars emphasise the wealth because in the Greek era pillars were mainly used for palaces and important buildings. The old style American cars also show the antagonist wealth even more. A sound bridge is used to guide the viewer to the room where the guests are located this is done before a cut shot showing the guests are in the dining room. The dining room futhers the wealth of the anatagonist and from the detail in the home we know the setting could be real life. The way the guests speak and the subject they talk about implies the characters are from a high status and what era the film is set in as they use words such as "cripping" and they talk about politics. The props used such as the red wine show connotations of blood and the same connotations as the opening credit titles. Dr Lecter circles the table whilst pouring the wine for his guests this is shown through a low angle shot and it is seen as he is herding the sheep, the sheep being the guests; this is emphasing the dominance and power Dr Lecture has. One of the guests uses the phrase "speaking for the rest of the herd" this indicates he is saying he is one of Lecter's followers and will obey to anything Lecter would say. A subject brought up on the dinner table is about a fellow Oprah musician whom is missing, they laugh about the disappearance as if it is not important and it is a laughing matter. This clearly shows the haughty and arrogance the guests portray and therefore they illustrate a negative image to the audience of the upper class. One of the women hastily changes the subject to food, asking Dr Hannibal Lecture what the 'divine' food is, he replies saying if the knew what the food is they would not eat it. This gives the impression that the food could be the missing Oprah musician; the flute player that Lecter glares at in the Oprah House. The Guests over emphasise their laugh and start to eat. The antagonist uses the words 'Bon Appetite' and smirks at his guests eating the body. This is shown in an over the shoulder shot of on of the female guests.

As Hannibal Lecture clears up the dishes from the dinner party he is greeted by the sound of the door bell, Special Agent Graham appears on to the screen by an over the shoulder shot from Dr Lecture. Due to the relaxed body language and that both characters know each others names it gives the audience the impression that they already know each other but it makes the audience question this because why do a Doctor and an Agent know one another? A series of shot reverse shots and over the shoulder shots are used in the build up of researching into the murder case and finding out whom the cannibal murderer is. A subjective point of view from Special Agent Graham is used to look at Hannibal's bookcase showing his hands touching the many ornaments and the book with Hannibal's secret inside. Whilst the sub POV is happening soft incidental music is being played, it is showing the tension build up. When the protagonist gets closer to the book and opens it the incidental music tempo gets louder and the camera zooms in to see what the protagonist eyes are focused at. The camera angle then changes to a medium shot showing Hannibal stabbing Graham. Graham's painful reaction is emphasised to give the audience an idea how excruciating the stabbing is and in the cutaway shot it shows Hannibal's evil streak. Many angles such as a medium close up, shot reverse shots and close ups are used when Lecture is describing what will happen to Graham after stabbing him, Dr Lecture says this in a sinister, quiet voice grinning at the same time. A high angle shot is used when Graham stabs Lecture in hope that he will be injured or will die. This angle is used to show the helplessness of Lecture and how he has become weak and not the dominate person anymore. As he stumbles backwards, the non-diegetic tempo and frequency gets louder and faste

r showing the horrifying action and vertical tracking is used to show the stabbing wound. Dr Lecture's body lays on the table after being shot by graham and the last shot has been faded out so that it links with the upcoming titles.

Scrapbook

The one last shot is faded out on to a black screen with the same font titles previously shown but this time it shows all the opening titles including the actors names and the film title. A scrapbook is faded on to the screen with the names fading on and off the screen. The scrapbook is based on Hannibal Lecture it includes all the cases, injuries, articles and many images of him and a variety of framing shots are used to show these in detail. The flipping of pages and the montage of images implies the passage of time and how the articles of Dr Lecture go from a victim to a criminal emphasising the wrongs. Many of the words in the articles are blocked out this demonstrates that the creator of the scrapbook must be in favour of Hannibal Lecture and is seen as his idol. Although many of the articles are about the antagonist the images are religiously symbolic and some are quite disturbing. The religious images could illustrate the beliefs of the scrapbook owner and he could feel that Hannibal should still live. Other images include exposed children and adults; the introduction to child exploitation and some are of actual photographs of people perhaps in the 19th century with their eyes blocked out. This suggests that the images could relate to the scrapbook owner. The music throughout the scrapbook viewing is very sinister and mysterious, the tempo increasing as the pages turn. As the scrapbook fades out the audience are left to watch more to see whom this fan of Hannibal Lecture.