2. Johnny English is a 2003 British action comedy
film parodying the James Bond secret agent genre. The film
stars Ben Miller, John Malkovich and Rowan Atkinson. The
screenplay was written by the James Bond writers Neal
Purvis and Robert Wade, along with William Davies. The film was
directed by Peter Howitt.
3. Mise-en-scene
Costume – the costume in the first couple of minutes of the film
is dark which may connote mystery or secrecy. It also works well
with the low key lighting helping Johnny blend into the back
ground (lighting comes later). When he has entered the room,
there is a young woman wearing a short, black dress which
connotes corruption. The clothing is informal as Johnny is
wearing a burglars outfit whereas the woman is wearing a short
dress in an attempt of possible seduction.
4. Mise-en-scene
Lighting - the lighting for the majority of the opening is low key
as it is dark. This is because it is night-time and it is the best time
for Johnny to break into the house. The darkness signifies
mystery as to why he is there. Near the end of the opening there
is high key lighting where the woman turns on the light to reveal
herself holding a gun.
5. Mise-en-scene
Actors – the main actors in the opening are a woman and Johnny
himself. The facial expression on Johnny’s face when he has just
entered the building shows knowledge of weapons and firearms.
Whereas the expression on his face when the mysterious woman
reveals herself is an element of surprise. On the woman,
however, the expression on her face seems to be an element of
annoyance. The way they communicate with each other is in a
flirty, but formal way. The body language on Johnny is relaxed
showing he is calm, but the woman’s body language is tense.
6. Mise-en-scene
Make-up – in the opening to Johnny English, the only make-up
worn is by the woman, black eye shadow and pink lipstick which
tells us that she’s not that innocent, but she’s not that slutty
either. It may also be black to show that she is either evil or
mysterious. She is also made to look attractive to try and make
Johnny get distracted from what he is supposed to be doing.
7. Mise-en-scene
Props – the props used in the opening couple of minutes are 3 guns
with one being held by a woman which challenges the stereotype
of a woman because we wouldn’t usually think of a woman holding
a gun. This is to make herself look more powerful than she is. The
other 2 are being held by guards which meets the male stereotype,
these are used because guards often carry firearms to protect a
complex. In the room there is a sofa which the woman is sitting on
to make herself look as powerful as she can be. There is also a table
which has a box on top which contains a piece of paper which
Johnny picks up, this must be important because the woman holds
a gun to Johnny when he’s holding it and threatens him.
8. Editing
The editing in the opening of Johnny English is mainly slow with
a few fast edits. When he fights off the guards, there are 3 fast
cuts, this shows that he takes 3 actions to fend off his enemies.
There is a little section of shot/reverse-shot which shows that
Johnny and the woman are having a conversation and the
audience gets to see what they see. The sound effects in the
opening 2 minutes are the sound of the guards guns cocking
which signifies they are ready to fire at him. Another is the
squeaky toys that Johnny uses to occupy the dogs, this connotes
that he knew there was going to be some form of canine
guarding the complex.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc8yCP_SbOU
9. Camera
The camera shots and angles used in the opening are made up
of: close ups, mid-shots, longshots, over the shoulder shot, a two
shot and a point of view shot. These are used so that we are able
to see Johnny’s body language and facial expressions. The only
time we see a point of view shot is when he turns and faces the
2 dogs so we see what he sees himself (1:06-1:15). The two shot
is used to tell us that there is a conversation going on between
the woman and Johnny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc8yCP_SbOU
10. Sound
In the opening to Johnny English, the majority of the sound is
non diegetic which is the main soundtrack for the film. The
diegetic sound we hear are the dogs barking and the guns
cocking. There is a little bit of dialogue towards the end of the
opening with the woman and Johnny. They talk about how
Johnny over-estimates his powers over women. There is also a
line when he has the guns held up at him. He says “Ahh, the
Heckler & Kokh G-36. quite deadly in the right hands.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc8yCP_SbOU
11. Enigma
The enigma in the opening of the film is:
Who is the woman?
Why is Johnny breaking in?
What does he need?
What is that piece of paper?
12. Genre
The genre of the film is an action/adventure/comedy. It has lots
of jokey parts and funny slipups by Johnny himself.
13. Audience
The audience that this film is made for, is for those who like the
action/adventure movies with a bit of comedy in it. This film has
a lot of comedy in it. This was made for the teenage/young adult
age range as is has a lot of comedic scenes.
14. Film Opening Conventions Met?
In the opening, we get introduced to one of the key characters
(Johnny)and we see the studio and production company names.
What we don’t get which challenges the conventions are the
actors’ names. There’s non-diegetic music for almost the whole
opening 2 minutes. We get enigma but we don’t get the title of
the film. There’s not much action in the first 2 minutes but we
find out that the opening was just a dream that Johnny was
having.
15. What I Think
Overall I think that this is a good film opening as there are plenty
of questions to keep the audience wondering what is going to
happen in the film. It has a little bit of comedy and a bit of action
which the average action lover will like.
