My media powerpoint.

1. By Pierre Morel

4. Narrative
In the opening scene of Taken, the first shot we see is of a party hat and so
we know the clip is of a birthday. It shows a home video of a birthday as
we see a little girl blowing out a number 5 candle, indicating to us that she
is turning 5.
The whole shot seems to be focusing entirely on the little girl,
although the mother is by her side, she is the centre of
attention.
The next shot we see is of Liam Neeson’s character Bryan Mills. He seems
to have just woken up from a dream, signifying that the footage he was
seeing was a dream. The room he is in is very dark, which can indicate
death and sadness.

5. Characters
Kim
• First shot we see of her is at a young age which
represents her vulnerability throughout the film.
• In the scene she is surrounded by her mum and
dad to show her reliance on them.

6. Lenore
• Shown right beside her daughter – Very protective of
her.
Bryan
• Not shown in the home video because he is recording –
could represent how later in life he is almost out of the
family picture due to divorce.
• Shown in his house, very messy. Lives a sad and lonely
life.

7. Location
In the first shot the location we see looks as if it is in a house,
most probably the house that belongs to all three of them.
Showing they live together and are a happy family.
The next location goes immediately to Bryans house in
which he lives in alone and this shows that something has
happened now that they dont all live together.

8. Titles
Titles were integrated with the scene by fading it in and out of the footage but
they are quite subtle and difficult to notice so it doesnt take the attention away
from the scene.
Also, the way the titles were gently fading in and out relates to the
music because the piano is playing gently like the way the title
appears.

9. Cinematography
The use of cinematography in the scene is very useful as it allows us to get the
full experience of the movie.
This scene mainly consists of home video which is very
unsteady, representing how their family will be in the
future.
Shot of the mum holding the cake showing us that it
is a happy occasion.
We see a long shot of Bryan sitting in a chair and from
this shot we can tell that he is isolated and all alone.
There is a single shot of a picture frame and
this allows us to focus on that item as it may
hold useful information.

10. Mise-en-scene
Misce-en-scene in this scene is very significant and foreshadows later
events in the movie.
Party hats and decorations scattered on the
floor showing there is a party going on.
There is also a very significant shot of the mother
holding the cake showing that Kim is turning 5
years old – vulnerability.
As he gets up there is a shot just focusing on a
photo of Kim, telling us how she is his main
priority in life. And also, when this is shown,
the title of the movie appears which is ‘taken’
and so that indicates that she will be taken.

11. Sound
Sound really allows us to get the full effect and so everything
has a meaning.
The beginning clip includes mainly diegetic sound of laughter and
happiness but the non-digetic sound played over that gives a sort of sad
viibe.
There is contrapuntal sound as it is a happy scene but slightly disturbing,
sad non-diegetic sound playing over it. This makes it seem as if the
happiness shown is just an act, and behind all of that things are going
wrong.
The same sad music with the piano then carries on into the next clip
and this creates continuity within the scenes.

12. Editing
Editing just puts the whole thing together and creates continuity which
makes the movie more enjoyable to watch.
As she blows out candle shot immediately turns to Bryan as if waking
him up. Makes it seem as if something is going to happen to her and its
is almost like a sign.
There are a lot of quick jump cuts in the birthday scene, this could
represent how the happy times of when they were a family went by
so fast and now everything has changed.

13. The End