Introduction to film studies - Essay Example

uelle Seinger is about a book dealer whose primary aim is to make money and who is hired by a wealthy book collector to track down a particular book called ‘The Ninth Gate’. The book dealer is also supposed to authenticate the book. Only one of the three copies of this book exists in the world and the wealthy collector is very keen on getting hold of this book, as he believes that this book will be able to conquer evil. The opening sequence of the film is very arresting and the focus shall be on that particular sequence while analyzing the mise en scene.

The director begins the film by taking a wide shot of an old man shown sitting in a room and writing a note at his desk. Then the camera slowly moves towards a small chair focussing on it for about thirty seconds before panning straight to the top of the ceiling where a rope is shown hanging from a chandelier. While the camera is zooming on this sequence, the background music and the sound of a clock ticking away build up the suspense and makes the audience is filled with an ominous feeling that something terrible is going to happen.

The director then skilfully cuts the camera from the rope on the chandelier to a medium shot of the old man where it stays on him showing him stopping his writing and then folding the sheet of paper. The atmosphere of suspense is reaching a crescendo as the camera again suddenly cuts from this shot to follow the old man’s legs while he is walking towards the chair. Because of the skilful placement of the camera and shot angles, the audience has already got an inkling of what’s going to happen but the music and the camera shots keep the suspense building till it reaches the man climbing onto the chair, putting his head through the rope and tightening it and then quickly pushing away the chair.

As the chair falls down on the second try, the audience can see the man’s feet trembling and the sound of the broken neck along with the background score heightens the drama in the