Analysis Of Snatch Opening
Mise-En-Scene
The characters Seam gang-like due to them all wearing gang-style clothing such as suits and a black leather jacket. they also look quite thuggish such as Bullet-Tooth Tony snarling at the camera. In addition, their demeanour looks gang like due to their stance and that Mickey is wearing a punk style top-hat.
The mise-en-scene of the opening of Snatch is very interesting. There are numerous transitions present, such as rotating camera angles from shot to shot and straight cuts. The characters are shown briefly doing things related to crime, such as analysing a stolen diamond, loading a Shotgun, putting somebody into the back of a car and tossing some dodgy looking gold chains. The mise-en-scene of these short clips usually take placed in less classy areas such as backstreets and in a traveller caravan. It also briefly freezes during these shots and the background goes comic-book style and the character’s name appears alongside them in an old- western style typography.
The shots seamlessly transition into one another, graphical matching, such as Cousin Avi examining a diamond then Sol throwing an identical one during his introduction.
Overall, these give indications that the film is crime or gangster related and has a comedic or lighter hearted twist. The character’s seem to be criminal and thugs, such as Bullet-Tooth Tony kidnapping a man whilst he’s gagged and Vinnie handling what appears to be stolen goods. These further emphasizes that the genre of the film appears to be related to crime and gangs. There are not many indicators of the films plot but it seems that the characters are somehow interconnected due to the activity’s the characters are participating in seam to be transitioning to the next on. This overall could indicate they are part of a gang or are in business with each other one way or another. The typography is western style with stars present next to each charecters name on both sides. whilst the film has little to no western theme this was done to emphasize the characters cowboy demeanour and dangerous lifestyle.
Example Of Transition= Bullet-Tooth Tony closing the boot of his car and then the scene transitions to Boris The Blade opening a floor safe containing a Gun. This is another example of a graphic match.
Overall, the mise-en-scene of Snatch fits the thriller genre due to its dark and black comedy storyline alongside numerous character's and London, a city largely associated with gangs. Also, the sound is typical of thrillers due to it being fast-paced and the fact it cuts off perfectly before dialogue, seamless transitioning from one scene to another. Editing is typical of the thriller genre such as straight cuts and graphic matches present to keep the audience with the flow of the story. In addition, the films camerawork also fits the thriller genre due to the innovative shots, such as the diamond rotating in the opening to emphasize an item that's key to the films story/plot. Finally, the films audience is typical of thriller films due to its mature audience and content of the jokes and situations the characters find themselves in.
