Collateral Textual Analysis

1. An airport implies that he is arriving on business This is typical of a thriller as thrillers are set in normal places where everyday people go Starts off in an airport which is very busy Location Vincent’s clothes imply he is a businessman and might have some money. The sunglasses imply that he is hiding something as we cannot see his eyes and the emotion in them. His suit looks very well made which could imply he is quite wealthy Costume Vincent wears a grey suit and sunglasses Max is wearing a T-shirt and jacket. He is dressed casually and wearing dull colours. The next location a taxi rank which is also a mechanics Collateral Textual Analysis Max’s clothes are very casual and could show he is of a lower class This shows Max’s place of work. We can tell he works there by his nature and relationship with other employees. In the taxi rank, the lighting is still very dull, but there is lots of bright yellow Lighting/Colour The bright yellow is used to represent the yellow taxi’s used in America, so it helps the audience to determine the location of the film The lighting is very natural but looks a bit dull. It has also been de-saturated. The de-saturated dull lighting is very typical of thrillers, as it makes the atmosphere seem dull, dreary and sinister The natural bright lighting tells us that its daytime

2. The photograph implies the Max is not happy with his job and that he dreams of better things Max’s glasses could imply that he is intelligent Max’s body language could show that he keeps himself to himself and doesn’t fit in. Vincent walks very slowly which makes him appear confident and also makes him stand out from the crowd. Max is quite closed up and is hunched over. He doesn’t socialise with anyone Newspaper Max’s glasses Photograph of island Briefcase Performance Props Both the newspaper and briefcase imply that the main characters are businessmen. Businessmen in thrillers are very common. The briefcase adds to the action as we are not aware what is in it. It is likely to play a vital part in the storyline as there is a focus on it, and the suitcases are swapped. Collateral Textual Analysis Camera angles Camera movements Tilt from crossword to Max Low angle shot of Max’s bag This identifies max as the crossword user and shows more detail which makes the bag look important

3. Show’s Vincent and his surroundings. He stands out from the rest of the crowd as he is not blurred and the focus in drawn to him which shows he is the main character Unconventionally they have used close ups instead of an establishing shot to start the opening title sequence and to give details away Shows the important of his job and the taxi rank Emphasizes Vincent’s glasses which portray he is hiding something Close up of the details of cars and newspapers Establishing shot of taxi rank Long shot of Vincent walking within the crowd whilst at the airport Associated point of view shot, just behind Vincent when he is walking away with the briefcase Close up of Vincent’s face as he is walking. Camera shots Collateral Textual Analysis Close up of the briefcase As what he is looking at is blurred, this shot makes us focus on the side of his face. We get a view of Vincent but not a full view so there are still questions unanswered. Its an unconventional associated point of view shot. Shows that the briefcase has some important to the plot Medium close up (two shot) of Vincent and other man. This shot allows us to see their facial expression clearly and how they react to each other, from this we can see they clearly know each other Close ups of Max cleaning his taxi Shows the details of him cleaning and shows that this is an important part of his character.

4. Silence at the beginning while titles show The bag falling onto the floor can be heard very clearly which implies the bag is of great importance Help create the equilibrium as sounds are natural and relate to airport Music is fast paced to match Vincent’s fast paced walk You hear the men bang into each other and the bag fall to the floor Diegetic sounds (natural ambient airport sounds) rustling, tannoy, moving around and footsteps. (Footsteps of Vincent are much louder) Airport sounds very echoic which shows it is a big space. Non-diegetic sounds – Music starts as Vincent walks away (fast paced). Then it slows down as the scene moves to the taxi rank We can hear Max’s footsteps are very slow and Vincent’s are very fast. Both of these footsteps say something different about their character. For example Max is more relaxed. Sound Collateral Textual Analysis Dialogue exchanged. ‘You OK?’ ‘Yeah I’m fine mate’ Can hear Max put his bag down The language used implies they have a relationship of some sort At the taxi rank, diegetic sounds from machinery, TV and people on the phone. Seems a more natural and relaxed environment We can also hear diegetic sounds from Max. (From the spray cleaning his car) As we can hear Max put his down similarly to at the beginning when Vincent does, this implies that both these bags have great importance When max shuts his taxi door, the volume gets quieter and almost pauses. This implies that Max is in his own world within his taxi and he is closed away from the busy environment of the taxi rank This shows a lot about Max’s character which is probably why its heard above the music