1. Reservoir Dogs Use of Camera At the start of Reservoir Dogs, the people are all static and not doing much movement, as they are just sitting around a table having a conversation. This creates movement from the camera to keep the scene exciting and entice the audience, as it is vital to keep the audience gripped at the opening sequence of a movie. To keep the audience’s attention the camera moves around the table to each individual character, as without the movement of the camera the shot wouldn’t b e very intriguing and not be showing much more but men sitting around a table, which is not a very exciting opening. The movement of the camera is also extremely essential to us, as it establishes all of the characters and gives the audience an insight of each individual’s personality, for example, we are giving an indication that Harvey Keitels character has authority, is confident and may be a leader, as the camera angle is focused upon him when he speaks, and does not move around a lot, like it does for characters, such as Quentin Tarantino’s, who might not play a big role in the film. Even though we have only seen five minutes of the film, the camera angle helps us have an understanding of what the characters are going to be like later in the movie. Sound/Editing At the very first second of the scene we hear the movement of cutlery or plates, which gives us an idea that the scene is in a diner or restaurant. There is not much other sound in the opening sequence apart from lots of dialogue between the men on the table. The dialogue is humorous and casual, which makes the audience feel shocked, as the stereotype of a criminal is not talking about casual things but to be planning the robbery. This makes the audience not know that they are robbers and does not give them the indication that they are going to commit a crime. After the cafe the scene cuts to them walking as a group outside, with slow tempo and upbeat music, which matches their style of walking and the posture of being cool and composed. There is not much editing in the scene, as the concentration is mainly on their dialogue and there is no need for them to cut anything, as the director wants the audience to see how normal these men are, making it seem strange for them to be criminals. Mise-en-scene The scene begins in a cafe with conversation around a table full of men. We are not aware of where the cafe is and we don’t have much of an insight of what the characters are going to do. The enigma is not shown and all we can see is them having a casual and humorous conversation. All the characters are dressed the same in a black suit with a black tie, making them seem like they are in some kind of cult or group organisation. Only two of the characters are not wearing the uniform, which makes them seem separate from the group or they could have more authority than the others and make the commands. All the characters are happy to leave a tip, apart from one of them, which gives us an idea of what is character is like, which is very selfish and thinks solemnly of himself before others. The cafe scene cuts to outside, where we are introduced to all the characters in more detail, as they walk in slow motion, which is essential in showing the difference between all of them and their characteristics.