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Collateral Textual analysis
The first shot is set in a busy airport around midday, and the other is set in a taxi headquarters around the same time. You can tell at the end of the scenes these two are going to meet up at some point and you can see it pan out before your eyes, but it could always be a Alfred Hitchcock ‘false path’ effect, either way it is typical of the thriller genre. Props in the airport include the other business man holding a newspaper, which alongside with his suit gives off a look of intelligence to the audience. Our main character in this scene Vincent has a pair of shaded glasses, which is mysterious and makes him look smooth, we don’t truly know what he looks like, and then the two business men collide and both drop some sort of suitcase, which again contributes to the business man look as well as showing something important in relation to the narrative because the camera focuses on the bags. In the taxi headquarters there are just typical props you’d find in a place full of taxis. But then Max has a newspaper, a pair of reading glasses and a pencil. Which again shows intelligence but also weakness with Max. He also has similar bag but nowhere near as good quality as the other two bags owned by the business men. He owns a picture of an island which he places in a special place in his taxi, this picture obviously has some connection with him. The outfit of Vincent says many things about him, such as he obviously gets paid a lot of money for whatever he does, that he is intellectual. His hair is also odd, it matches the shade of grey his suit is almost, whatever it is about this man it isn’t right, he gives off a very mysterious vibe. On the other hand Max is wearing casual clothes and you can tell he doesn’t make much money, but he still looks intellectual because of his glasses, but even with this Max ends up the victor which shows that money isn’t everything. Vincent’s figure expression shows us that he is extremely confident, the way he holds his head up, his shoulders are spread apart and broad and how he takes his strides, also they put this in slow motion to make him look just that much more epic. Max on the other hand is much more shy and concealed, as well as him not speaking at all he just seems like an empty shell of a man. Mise-En-Scene In the airport everything seems drained of colour much like Vincent (greyscale) and there doesn’t seem to be much life everything seems very formal again also like Vincent. The taxi headquarters looks quite bleak but with some vibrant colours, it’s also very poorly lit since it’s all dark with just the sun bursting through the door. This is typical of thriller to have poorly lit locations, it adds to the tension and anxiety in later on scenes.
Cinematography At first they use a lot of mid shots, but when the two business men interact they start to use a lot of close-ups to show expressions of their faces during their conversation, and also another close up to show Vincent picking up the bag to show ‘the switch’. Then an extreme close up/ over the shoulder shot of Vincent after he walks away from the transaction. In the airport it makes everything seems tense and keeps you second guessing about what is actually happening. In the taxi headquarters they use completely close ups until it reveals Max’s face to keep you guessing what’s happening or what’s about to happen. Most of Max’s actions are shot as close-ups, this shows us how specific he is as a person, and how much attention he pays on the smallest things. The sound of Vincent’s and the other business man’s footsteps are amplified, and you can hear people talking in the background but because they’re not important to the scene they’re very quiet. Vincent has a slower pace which shows he’s calm and collective. You hear a thud when they bump into each other, then almost a gust of wind sound is played when the bag is falling, which is another way to show the importance of the bag. .After the conversation a high pitch, sharp noise is playing when Vincent is walking away, in a way is shows he is the bad guy because he himself will also make you uncomfortable.
