No Country for Old Men opening:

No Country for Old Men is based around a hunter who stumbles upon money left over from a drug deal that had gone wrong, putting a psychotic hitman on his trail as he decides to keep it as his own. The opening scene invites intrigue and garners interest through captivating and considered dialogue and atmosphere, as well as building tension through mysterious character development and motifs. Genre: Western crime thriller

Mise en scne:
The mise-en-scene of the opening of No Country for Old Men (NCOM) focuses on a variety of Western-American environments as numerous deserted dry desert landscapes with rocks and mountains but never once a populated area are shown one after another in a collage, with a brighter time of day each with each shot, starting around early morning and ending around what is presumed as afternoon. This has the effect of denoting the feel and setting of the rest of the film, as it gives the audience a flavour of the environment which we already associate with films set in the Wild West, and this might do a good job at drawing in the audience who appreciate such an environment for film.

When the montage of different western-like environments comes to a close, we see a police car, a cop and a man in handcuffs being taken into custody. The Coen brothers cleverly only show the back of the man in handcuffs or the front of him but only when his face is obscured under a dark shadow, which creates tension as the audience is drawn to wonder questions such as What has this man done? or Who is this man? giving motivation to watch on and find out the answers. They also chose to dress the man in much darker clothing than his cop-counterpart, who is wearing a brighter beige police uniform something that we in society have learned to trust as it represents the law. This binary opposite serves to impressively cast the man in cuffs as being inherently darker in nature than the cop, showing us who we should be rooting for. Another thing that the opening of

NCOM seems to focus on temporarily is the oxygen tank which seems to be an unusual item in the situation shown, which also pushes the audience to find out what its purpose might be.

The lighting is also important in this scene, as the realistic colours of the Wild West during the collage and scene with the arrest are translated through the natural light of day, but low key lighting also has an important role as it creates a silhouette figure of the arrested man when in the police car, adding to his mystique. The realism of the lighting also creates a more intense feel, as everything just looks more real and so everything that happens on the screen might feel more dramatic.

Camera:
When we watch through the collection of shots taken of the dry western environment, they are each taken from a wide-shot angle, giving the audience a flavour of the open desert terrain. This may have the effect of showing us that there isnt really anywhere to hide in the Texas-like desert, and nobody to blend in with as it is so remote and uninhabited, setting the tone for an intense cat and mouse film. When the audience lands on the very last shot of the western desert, the camera pans to the left slowly and steadily, gradually bringing the police car and the two characters into view. This has the effect of building tension as the prolonging shot means that we are offered the chance to interpret what has happened before the situation is explained, or it means that the audience is on the edge of their seat waiting to see the rest of the scene come into the shot. When we see the man in handcuffs being put into the back of the police car, a medium-close up two shot is used, showing the cops face, but still showing just the unusual black hair on the back on the man-in-cuffs head. This has the effect of showing the audience that the cop has nothing to hide, he is very clearly the good guy in this scene, whilst the man being pushed into the car still has his face turned and all we see of this man is his primarily black-coloured back showing he may be hiding something (literally his face, but also metaphorically) from the audience. When in the cop car, the

camera is forced into a close up of the gas tank, connoting that the gas tank may play a more important role in the future and forcing the audience to guess or wait for the answer.

Audio:
Interesting and captivating dialogue plays a big role in the opening sequence of TCOM, as there is no non-diegetic sound used in the opening. The dialogue offers biographical information of a character that is not actually in the scene, which gives the audience incentive to watch on and find out whose voice they heard, as what he says is impact heavy as he describes sentencing a boy to the electric chair after having committed a passionless murder, as well as saying that he knew he needed to be willing to die to do his job. This is something that sticks in the audiences head for the brutality mentioned and it also underlines what the film may be heavily based around death. By mentioning and focusing on death so early on, it really starts building tension for the rest of the film from the very start. Other than the dialogue, there is the use of diegetic sound in the background of grass and bushes whistling in the wind, creating a lonely and empty feel, which is vital to creating and isolating the character that we see get into the car (he is a psychotic hitman). We also hear the sharp high pitched sound of a rusty wind mill in the shot, which sounds harsh and violent against the otherwise natural sounds, connoting a violent element to the film.

Editing:
The opening titles are very simplistic in design and style, using what may be described as a sharp or thin font on a black background, which works well not only in minimalizing non-diegetic visual elements fitting with the realistic feel of the film, but also in foreshadowing the violent nature of the film through what some might consider to be violently thin/ sharp font. The black background also denotes the dark nature of the film, drawing in an audience who are particularly fond of such an atmospheric tone. All shot transitions in the opening are made up of cuts, which sticks again with the simplistic nature of the opening sequence, keeping everything minimalistic so that the audiences focus is directed towards the dialogue when the montage is being shown, and then towards the scene with the man being put into the police car.

Genre Signifiers:
- Sharp minimalistic font Makes for a more immersive film as nothing is there to take you away from the moment or dialogue, immersion is essential for thriller films. - Western landscape typical of films set in western environments with characters similar to those found in western films. - Police car with man being put into custody recognisable kind of situation/scene from crime genre, denotes crime and wrong doing. - Never showing us the face of one of the men creates intrigue and builds tension, important in thriller films.

Narrative enigma:
Narrative enigma is also a vital part of the opening scene from NCOM. It has been made to mask the identity of the man being pushed into the back of the police car - only showing him to be a dark figure with dark clothes and black hair. This leads to the audience questioning why he has been arrested and who he is, drawing them in to watch on. The voice over also presents the audience with a narrative enigma, as we are given the voice of a man we do not yet know, who has obviously had experience with crime and death drawing us in to be interested in the rest of his character and tale. It is very rare that film makers direct heavy focus onto a particular object without that object having some kind of significance, and so when the camera is close up on the gas tank, the film gives us an enigma of wondering what the gas tank is for, and how it might be important in the story to come.

Audience reception
Audiences would enjoy this opening sequence because it gives so little away about what the film may be about and what it entails. It features a calm collected voice speaking philosophically which helps the audience to identify with the voiceover character as well as establish him as a potential hero/ father/ donor/ father. It may also be entertaining as it allows audiences to escape into the beautiful countryside and mountain wideshots that are features in the opening sequence as well as intrigue them by adding in the scene with the police car and arrested man.