Task B: Analysis of Looper Opening Scene

The scene starts with a extreme close up of a pocket watch then cuts to a close up of Joe's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) face while he's repeating French phrases. The camera rotates and zooms out to reveal him kneeling in a field in front of a sheet; he checks his watch once more, stands up, takes out his headphones, holds his gun up. Suddenly a kneeled man appears out of nowhere and is immediately shot by Joe the scene then cuts to the credits.


The scene lacks any other sound then Joe's dialogue, ambient sound of the field and the gun shot. This creates a unique amount of sound that the use of background music would be able to replicate. The gun shot also creates suspense as the viewer will completely shocked and confused why this random guy appeared and the got shot. This links in with the Mise-en-Scene as the viewer ponders why Joe is in this field, after the man is shot the viewer understands that Joe was in this field as its discreet location is the perfect place for a murder. Apart from the cut from the watch to Joe this clip is cut-less again making it feel long longer than it is for the viewer.