A retired CIA agent travels across Europe to save his estranged daughter who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris. The film Taken, directed by Pierre Morel, had a budget of $25 million and grossed $145 million in the US. It tells the story of a father relying on his old skills to rescue his daughter and was a box office success.

1. A retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies
on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who
has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.
https://youtu.be/xe9S4HAG-4k

2. Information about Director
Box Office made on Taken
Budget: $25,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend: £1,165,986 (UK) (2008)
Gross: $145,000,989 (
USA) (2009)
Awards:
Pierre Morel is to be named International Director of the Year, for his
film Taken, at the 2009 Cinema Expo Awards Ceremony
Date of Birth: 12 may 1964 in france

3. Mise en scene
 In a electronic store- this could give us an idea that he is
buying an expensive item possibly for his daughter as the
opening scene included her birthday
 Prop of a karaoke player- this could show the dad being
more with the kids as he’s down with technology
 Clothing of the man is normal- he has a baggy shirt, messy
hair, like a stressed out father
 Setting- his house but he’s sleeping on couch meaning that
he has a lot on his mind maybe he misses his daughter as
he’s on his own in the dark
 Props in opening scene- colourful lots of gifts, food, like a
party which creates an atmosphere of joy and love

4. Camera angles, shots and
movement
 Close up on girls face when she gets presents- she’s
happy and didn’t expect to have such gifts
 Extreme Close up on the newspaper- it advertises a
karaoke player
 Establishing shot of car- setting the scene where he’s
in town with other cars around him
 mid shot- of when the two men are having a
conversation
 Pan shot when he’s sleeping to signify his loneliness as
he’s in a empty house

6. Sound & Atmosphere
 No sound till 3o seconds in then a slow piano is played
 Some sounds are amplified and added such as a swoosh
sound to create an effect of it all happening quickly
 Car engine amplified when driven to show how old it is
 Newspaper is amplified so the crunches are louder to show
how the newspaper is tarnished
 No dialogue till 1 min 3o this forces the audience to
understand through looking at the film as no other ways of
portraying the narrative is shown
 Dialogue is him talking about his daughter creates an
atmosphere of love and care as he’s proud to be her father

7. Editing
 Vhs style , its edited to look like it’s viewed from an old recording as it
has the time on the top right and static lines horizontally creating an
effect of the audience looking at an old video
 Montage of clips combined together which speeds up the narrative
showing us what has already happened which in this case is her 5th
birthday
 Editing of the pace the film is sped up near the end creating an illusion
of the events happening a long time ago
 Match on action he left a watch behind so he went back and found it in
the same place which it was left at
 Credits: Distribution company first “20 Century Fox” then onto
“Europacorp” & “M6 Film” when character is shown then his name is
mentioned “Liam Neeson” and then Lastly “Taken”