Comparing Casino Royale opening scene and LA Noire title scene

By Lucy Grubb

I am going to focus on:

• genre• cinematography • mise en scene

Genre

Casino Royale• action/adventure/thriller• The opening scene builds tension to excite the

reader, which is typical of a thriller movie.LA Noire• action/adventure game• Set in 1940s Los Angeles, the title scene of LA Noire

gives the player an understanding of the game, its characters, scenery and culture. The title scene doesn't depict the genre as it is only introducing the game, but we can sense that there is something hidden and secretive that we must uncover.

Mise en SceneCasino Royale• The opening scene is shot in high contrast black and white,

perhaps referring to the flashback of Bond gaining his "oo" status or presenting Bond in a more basic way to previous Bond film opening scenes.

• Lighting is hugely important in the opening scene of Casino Royale as it enhances the audience's perspective of the film. There are many scenes where bond's face is lit up with darkness surrounding him, so the audience can focus on what he is saying. The lighting also shows two sides to Bond; one being the darker more sinister side.

• Bond is wearing a smart suit which shows the audience that is a figure of authority and power and makes his character seem more realistic.

La Noire• Use of colour unlike Casino Royale which is in black and white. The

scenery and costumes used in the opening title depict the time in history in which the game is set.

CinematographyCasino Royale• Camera angles are varied - use of long shots, close ups, bird's eye view and

over the shoulder angles. The use of these different angles makes the opening scene more entertaining for the viewer and can help portray the characters, their emotions and locations.

 LA Noire• There is frequent use of panning to show the games location, similarly

Casino Royale uses panning and long shots in establishing locations. Unlike LA Noire which mainly focuses on scenery and culture, Casino Royale uses more close up shots to show the development of characters emotions and reactions.

• The camera angles in Casino Royale are more complicated and developed due to the scenes having more action and movement where as LA Noire has more of a relaxed movement with basic camera angles.