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Thursday, 1 December 2011

Analysis Opening Sequence 1*




Era, genre of film and introduction of characters:


Once Upon a Time in the West is a 1968 epic Italo-Western film directed by Sergio Leone for Paramount Pictures. It stars Henry Fonda as the villain,Charles Bronson as his archenemy, Jason Robards as a bandit, and Claudia Cardinale as a newly widowed homesteader who used to be a prostitute. The screenplay was written by Leone and Sergio Donati, from a story devised by Leone,Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento. 


Story lines, topics and location:


Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson were casted as the two main characters. The story revolves around them, this can be seen straight away with the short interaction between them that takes place at the beginning of the film and then throughout the film they end up looking for each other. The story takes place within a fictional town in the American Old West that is trying to develop where the railroad is starting to appear. The railroads has not yet spanned across the rest of the country and the people involved in this story are planning to take full advantage of the profits that can come from being involved in the whole process. However in the opening sequence with the three gunman standing near the train was the last sequence filmed in Spain. 

Fonda plays a villain named Frank, his actions throughout the film show just how he has become mentally unsound and what made him that way. He has many tendencies throughout the movie that show just how he has become so twisted, and what made him that way. Bronson plays his archenemy named Harmonica and happens to be one of those people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
They both admire the same woman named Jill McBain who is played by Cardinale. She has come to the west to find her family, but instead finds them murdered. Frank sets out to kill her to end it all and Harmonica wants to protect her. During a time when women have no rights, and is not looked upon as a weak character, Jill is on her own in a Western town that looks to be in control by Frank's boss. Working for the railroad, they want to own everything that it passes through, and that includes the land which Jill owns now. It is in the hands of the mysterious Harmonica , and another man who has been up to no good throughout his entire life, to stand in the way of Frank killing Jill and capturing everything for himself that she stands for.



Props, sets and iconography 


At the beginning you see the character Snaky, played by Jack Elam and this character is part of Frank's gang. You know he is associated with violence when he puts the gun to the fly and shoots it. Around 1:12 on the opening sequence when he sits there rocking back and forth, shaking the gun to make sure there is no noise from the fly now and that it's dead can be a dark comparison to when someone wants to quiet a baby, which is in the same way of rocking back and forth with the baby in their arms. 


The cowboy hats, jackets, coats, tucked in shirts, belts and guns makes it clear that it is a western film and the scenery of drought land, cactus like plants, wooden cabins adds to the typical western look too. 


Sound-dialogue, music and editing styles, features and camera movements, framing:

Diegetic sound is amplified with a total lack of dialogue to create audience anticipation. The camera movements and framing of extreme close ups and extended shots also creates a suspense ambience as the audience may be expecting for something to happen for them to react physiologically and physically. This is to build tension throughout the scene, this is broken towards the end when sudden violence breaks out. 

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