Opening Scene Analysis - The Matrix

As my movie will be post-apocalyptic, I feel that this movie opening appropriately illustrates the kind of post-apocalyptic environment that I want to reflect in my movie, as it contains an overruling corporation and a rebellious group.

The first shot is a close-up shot of a blinding white light which transitions into a close-up shot the beam of a torch and pans across to the face of a man holding a gun, with another man standing behind him. The colours at this point are monotonous and neutral, mostly grey and blue tones, probably to show that the current location is somewhere dark, both literally and metaphorically. The soundtrack begins with a loud burst of music but becomes sombre and mellow as the scene establishes. The only diegetic sound at this point is the small shuffling movements of both of the men in this scene as they survey the location.

This cuts to a medium-pan shot of the men running forwards towards a door. You can see at this point that they are in uniform which, added to the fact they have guns, makes the audience assume that they are in a position of authority, probably a police officer. The music is slowly becoming less mellow and more threatening and unnerving, building up tension as to what is behind the door. The diegetic sounds are still the men running, but you can hear faint breathing as well to show that they have possibly been searching this location for a while and are tired.

The next shot is an over-the-shoulder pan shot of the door they were running towards. One of the men is pointing a torch towards the door, pausing to establish that there is meant to be something significant behind it. The music, as the scene pauses on the door, becomes subtly quieter than before and the diegetic sounds of the men moving and breathing fade to almost nothing, which somehow adds even more tension to the scene.

The next shot is a medium shot of one of the men kicking down the door in an aggressive manner, which makes the audience think that there is an urgent reason to get in the door. The music becomes almost entirely diegetic during this shot, probably to draw attention to the exertion of strength from the man kicking down the door.

The next shot is the men shining their torches into the room that was previously sealed, and as they do they reveal the silhouette of a person sitting in a chair with their back to them. There is almost no non-diegetic sound, and the diegetic sound is the first occurrence of speech in the movie – the men yelling “Freeze! Police! Hands on your head!” at the person in the chair which suggests that the person in the chair has done something wrong or is a wanted criminal, though the reason why is unknown. This cuts to a medium panning shot of the person in the chair – revealed to be a woman - raising her hands in surrender. The non-diegetic soundtrack in this scene has become the dominant music, and no diegetic sound is present at all. It’s almost a complete reversal from the last shot, which is appropriate as the audience is now viewing the woman instead of the police officers.