Inception Opening Deconstruction

Time

Device

Detail

0.35

Idents

Idents are given in black and

white instead of color.

0.39

Wide establishing shot

with digetic music

Shows waves and their sounds,

sets the scene of a beach

0.47

Pan

Pans to side, showing waves

crashing onto rock

0.50

Close up

Shows male facial expressions

0.55

Non-Digetic music begins

mixing with digectic
sounds

Lets audience hear what the

actors can hear

0.56

Medium long shot

Draws attention to the childern

on the beach

0.58

Extreme close up leading

to shot reverse shot

Close up of male actors face

1.02

Medium long shot

Shows the children playing

1.04

Mix of non digetic and

digetic music

The non digetic music picks up,

sometimes overiding the digetic
sounds

1.05

Close up

The mans face comes into shot

as he attempts to pick his head
up from on the sand

1.07

Non-Digetic music

Non digetic music overides the

digetic sounds for a second

1.09

Medium long shot and

digetic sounds

Shows the children running

away and the girl screams

1.11

Extreme close up

Shows the male actor

1.15

Medium close up

Medium close up shows a gun

being pressed against the back
of the male on the beah,
creating tension.

1.17

Low angle shot & Rule of

thirds

Low angle shot allows the

audience to see who is
controlling the gun.

Medium shot

Shows the reveal of a gun

belonging to the washed up
man.

1.18

Low angle medium shot

Shows the male military

character talking upwards

Wide /long shot

Shows who the military

character is talking to, sets the
scene further as it shows a large
house on th other side of the
beach

Tilt

Allows the audience to see the

top of the house

1.27

Track into medium shot

Sets the scene of a room

1.42

Medium close up

Shows the rear of another mans

head

1.44

Extreme close up

Shows the audience the

spinning top

1.47

Close up

Shows the back of a mans head,

who is thought to be the owner
of the large house

1.51

Tracking shot

Very slow, almost unoticable

1.20

1.24

Effect on Audience

This gives an intense feeling and sets the genre, as

we know this is unlikeley to be a happy film.

This has a dull lighting to it and doesnt look

particularly happy, unerves the audience slightly
Could have violent connotations and meanings,
showing that all is not calm in the scene

Male has wet hair and is laying on the shore of the

beach with cuts all over his face. Could impply that
the male has been washed up on the beach,
unsettles audience

By mixing the music types it lets the audience

know that something dramatic may happen in the
scene they have been brought to

Could show that this is what the male actor is

looking at. Digetic music allows us to hear the
children laughing, almost subverting the serious
atmosphere

Whilst the audience can still hear the children play,

the male actors facial expressions are confused,
tied and painful. Giving a further intsense
atmosphere. Shot then reverses back to the
children playing

Again showing the contrast between the mans

misfortune and the happiness of the children

This exagerated the contrast between the calm

and the tension atmospheres in the scene,
unsettiling the audience

His attempt to move fails and his head falls back

onto the sand. Could create empathy from the
audience towards the male character

Creates tension for the audience as the music is

dramatic and suggests something big is about to
happen.

Suggests that the child has seen something

upsetting as she runs away scared. The digetic
scream overiders the non-digetic sounds.
Male actor once again attempts to lift hs head,
prehaps to see what the chilren are scared of, this
unsettes the audience and could create sympathy
for the man as he cannot see what he wants to
see.
As an audience we know realise that the sight of
the gun was what made the children frightened.
This unsettles the audience and creates tension as
we have seen the gun before we have seen who is
controling it.

Through using a low angle shot the audience can

infer that the man controlling the gun is large,
although this could be camrea trickery. The man is
also in the centre third of the shot, this may
unsettle the audience because this is all they can
see.
Creates tension as the gun is shown, the audience
do not know where the man has come from or his
activites before the occurrence of being washed
up on the beach.

As the audience don't know who he is talking to,

this could reate tension and because this is in a
forign language it could unsettle the audience
further.

Shows the audience that the military men are

shouting across the beach and that the location is
lived on. Also shows the audience that the man
may be going inside the house. The house and the
other military character are in the right hanf third
of the screen, the majority of the screen is dead
space, givivng connotations of isolation.

Shows the audience how large the house is,

making them want to know who may own it.
As this comes after a wide shot of the house, the
audience assume this is where they are now. Track
is used to bring the audience inside of the room,
could make them feel as if they are really there,
building tension.
As this man is at the head of a large table in what
looks like a boardroom and has military members
around him, it gives the audience the impression
that hes very important. Creates more tension.
Creates tension for audience as they are not aware
of twhat relevence this object has, but because of
the close up, audience memebers can infer that
this object may be important.
Creates tension, as we see the mans reaction
before we as an audience see his face. He
withdraws from his action of reaching for his wine,
as if he is concerned.
This almost unoticable action brings the audience
into the room in a gradual way, bringing them
closer to the action of the scene but without the
audience noticing.