Face/Off Analysis

Open Face from Stephen Adams on Vimeo.

The non- diegetic music begins and acts as a sound bridge before the title sequence begins, it is quite melodic and rather pleasant but at the same time has an ominous undercurrent. The music continues right through the titles that show the film production company and the name of the director, John Woo. 

These are shown in a classic sans serif font implying that the film will be action based rather than psychological. The writing is white on a black background which instantly shows the binary oppositions of good and evil, it also fades in from a blur signifying mystery and enigmas of things becoming clearer. 

The first establishing shot is a fast blur with slows down to show a close up of a carousel and John Travolta’s name appears overlaid on the image, it is half in white and half in black with one half coming forward whilst the other recedes which signifies and emphasises the films main themes which is swapping of identities and the opposition of good vs. evil. 

The fact that the first shot is a close up gives the audience a sense of mystery and the repetition of the speeded blurred shot and slow motion shots creates the idea of chaos and confusion but also further suggests a hidden element or enigma yet to be discovered. 

Throughout this opening scene the dissolve edits are used to establish a very close relationship between a father and son, as he kisses his sons head, the use of a close-up further establishes a tight bond between the two characters, who presumably will become the victims and this also puts Todorov’s theory into place as we are being shown the equilibrium.  Within this section we also notice a lack of people with adds to the sinister feeling of the movie.

The first long shot we see is of the carousel, something of which should be a happy place but the non-diegetic music, dull lighting and also the use of a blue filter to wash out the bright greens and fairground colours which creates an eerie and ominous feel to the place. 

There is also an element of selective focus on this shot which creates a hazy and dreamy effect.

Suddenly, a white cloth begins to disrupt the scene, cutting in from the bottom centre of the frame along with a loud yet muffled sound. 

This leads us into the next shot which is an extreme close up of a gun being uncovered, at the same time we realise that the muffled noise is the diegetic sound of the cover being pulled away; this sound leads the non-diegetic music into becoming a lot more sombre with a deeper bass setting a more daunting
atmosphere. As we are introduced to the
villain though a long shot, the title, ‘Face Off’ appears, again following the black and white conflicting movement as the previous titles showed. Also the fact that Nicolas Cage is almost a black silhouette further empathises his ominous and evil character which also makes him mysterious and unknown.

Again, using a dissolve for a transition, we cut to a close up of the villain drinking; this shot tracks up to meet his eye looking straight into the camera showing his determination and confidence. He continues to look through the eye sight on the gun and we get a sense that he is and expert assassin and has done this before. The fact that we never see his whole face further hides his identity, just as an assassin would do, however we know that this film isn’t about uncovering the killers identity as it is clear who he is from the start.

It then cuts to his point of view through the rifle scape which is set on his target as shown through the medium close up view through the crosshairs of the father and son from earlier on who we are certain are now the victims.

The non-diegetic music at this points creates an almost storm-like effect showing pathetic fallacy which sets fear and worry upon the viewer as we know what is about to happen.

We then cut back to a close up of the villain who proceeds to look straight into the camera, again showing his dominance and determination as the camera tracks away from him. Here the titles begin again throughout a series of shot reverse shots between the happy father and son, their happiness is reinforced at this point by the non-diegetic sound of trumpets which to me, gives a feeling of triumph.

 However at one point, the father stokes his hand down his son’s face and although this is done in a very loving way, it also casts a dark shadow across the scene perhaps foreshadowing death and this is emphasised by the use of slow motion. 

When we see the killer’s viewpoint through the scope again, the music seems to slow and fade out just leaving one long sustained note and later a deep bass note joins it and this creates a lot of tension and the music is building up to a crescendo. An extreme close up of the killer’s fingers on the trigger appears and we hear the diegetic sound of him pressing it and suddenly an emphasised diegetic sound of the bullet taking off as we see it’s slow motion progress fears the viewer as a close up shows us the bullet heading straight towards us and then pierce into the back of the father. This is a cause and effect edit. 

The father falls off the horse leaving us to think he is dead just as a dissolve leads us into a close up shot zooming into the horse. There is a dark, red blood stain contrasting against the pale white horse which again foreshadows death.  We hear no other sound other than a very high pitched and pained shriek of the carousel horse, almost as if it was the horse that had been shot through this of course, is a non-diegetic sound effect used to add pathos and shock to the viewer.

Another dissolve cut to a medium close up of the balloons flying away which connotes life drifting away, during this shot slow diegetic music with a sad undertone begins to fade in and as we see the father on the floor it begins to sound more nightmarish, at this point we realise he is not dead and therefore a horrible feeling overwhelms the viewer as we realise that the death must have been the little boy. The camera tracks towards the motionless boy to confirm our fears.

The next shot is quite unusual because we are shown a close up which tracks towards the villain, however he actually looks quite remorseful. 

Gospel voices are now heard in the non-diegetic music which reminds us of a church choir and this further signifies the son’s death and perhaps him going to heaven.

We then cut back to a medium shot of the father and as he painfully makes his way to the son, the camera tracks with him still maintaining the medium shot. As he cradles the boy this reveals a gaping wound at the back of his head, we can hear the diegetic sound of the fathers cries.

The camera however continues to track past the scene and towards the carousel, at which point the non-diegetic music leads into a high-pitched nightmarish sound followed by the synchronous bass notes as the horses stutter past the camera with the entire colour fading out only to show the binary opposition of a black background and against the white horses.

This music continues acting as a sound bridge leading into a fade with a title which showing us that we are now six years after the incident. When the next shot fades in we see a long shot of a high rise office building down onto a city scene, this fits the typical urban thriller setting but also signifies authority and power.

The shot tracks along to show a close up of John Travolta who is the father and his non-verbal code of putting his hand on his chin and sighing gives us the sense that he is thinking about his son and is still upset and emotional about the event we have just witnessed. The non-diegetic music emphasises this by the reprise of the opening music. In this scene the contrasting black and whiter titles begin again and this is unusual because we are now 6minutes into the film. However these titles are a lot less noticeable as they are small overlays in the corner of the screen.

The next shot cuts to a close up of his certificate; it tracks down showing more of his awards and certificates suggesting he is a very important and authoritative figure. The tracking shot ends on a gun which suggests that he is thinking about revenge but also further encourages his high status and establishes that he is a top detective/ agent. 

The main characters we met during this opening scene are two typical representations of the villain and the hero according to Propp’s theory. The Proppian hero is a chief, middle aged, male detective which is the typical appearance of the hero character. The same follows for the Villain who is also a middle-aged make but is also typically dressed in black to enforce his evil character. It is usual for the hero to have a flaw and in this case the father’s flaw is his desire for revenge.

Written by myself.