The first shot follows Travis out of his car and towards a dark building, the mise-en-scene establishes the environment as a run down street at night. This kind of environment puts me on edge as stereotypically, this is a location for violence and crime. The dark, damp environment is a typical convention of the neo-noir genre. The car drives into the long shot and Travis doesn't bother parking, suggesting that he's in haste and feels some obligation as a vigilante to be beyond parking requirements. As he exits the car he walks into a mid shot showing his appearance; The mise-en-scene shows he's wearing a veteran jacket, suggesting he's an ex-soldier and proud of it; an all-American representation. He's also sporting a mohawk hairstyle, reflecting a rebellious nature, and the pop punk culture which is of course out of place here - giving me an insight into his mental state. Tracking is used to follow Travis as he moves through the street, making me feel as though he's on a mission, suggesting the events that follow are thought out and organised. He knows what he's doing, making me trust this character however I’m still unaware of what he'll do next due to the low-key lighting which emphasises the sinister atmosphere. As he makes his way towards the darker end of the street, away from the streetlights, I feel as though the situation is going to descend into a sinister tone, where events may become violent as he moves away from light/logic and into darkness/psychosis; The low-key lighting emphasising the mise-en-scene of this sinister scene. Throughout this section, there is non-diegetic music. It's a marching drums kind of melody with a monotonous violin orchestra in the background which gives the scene a sinister feeling as well as emphasising the fact that Travis is a patriot, this made me anticipate what’s about to happen. Marching drums can also be related to a ceremonious burial or funeral - foreshadowing the deaths of the men in the building.
The long take tracking shot comes to an abrupt stop at a doorway with a man dressed in a loose blouse, grey waistcoat-vest and long maroon trousers. This aspect of mise-en-scene I feel foreshadows his opposition with Travis, as he's dressed in a similar way to a native American; rival to the American veteran stereotypically. This also relates to the 1956 film: 'The Searchers', set in 1868 which follows two American civil war veterans in their search to find an American girl taken by Native Americans, whom eventually becomes Native American herself. The girl Travis is trying to find is called Iris, suggesting she has been taken in by the prostitution/pimp culture, and that the doorman represents the Native Americans keeping her captive. This is emphasised with the bars and grates over the windows, presenting the building as a kind of prison – typical mise-en-scene in the noir genre and shown in Nocturne (1946) where a private eye is forcing a woman to answer questions about a murder; her shirt has bold black lines around her wrists and neck, much like shackles; suggesting she's trapped in the situation. Travis refers to the doorman as 'Sport' while he responds with 'My man', this dialogue conveys the relationship between the two and how they perceive each other. Here I feel Travis is a masculine, old fashioned type of person with a sense of superiority, while the doorman is presented as being much more relaxed and informal, and of a younger culture, as he is dressed in typical seventies 'peace mongering' clothing, to emphasise the narrative of the opposition. The long, two shot shows the relationship develop between the two; the transition from both of them being on the same level, to the conflict between them as Travis steps down. The two shot also shows the environment by placing them both very close together in the middle of the frame of the wide shot, with the building taking up most of the shot. The rule of thirds is presented here with bars either side of them, suggesting they're both in positions in life where they're trapped, and both in drastic situations. This cinematography suggests that there's room for action, foreshadowing that a large event (The shootout) is about to occur that they need room for. The shootout scene is a typical convention of Neo-noir, especially western-noir, featuring the protagonist's final fight, such as with Travis in the end.
The events here somewhat represents the relationship between the Americans and Natives in general: The doorman becomes aggressive as Travis antagonises him 'You got a gun?'. The doorman retaliates by throwing his cigarette at him which sends sparks down his jacket, and then kicking him while saying 'Get outta here'. I feel this resembles Native Americans primitive attempt at defending themselves against American machinery such as the firearm. Travis then proceeds to shoot him, changing the pace of the scene from relaxed and mysterious, to fast and tense. The dialogue before this is Travis saying the iconic: "suck on this". This builds up the shooting and heightens the significance of the event, with iconography in the form of dialogue. There's no non-diegetic music here to help the scene become more suspenseful. The fact that the take is such a long duration however, aids the suspense, and emphasises the rapid change in mood in such a short time. If the scene was filmed using multiple shots - I feel there would be less of an impact on me during the killing, as the continuous shot leads me into a false sense of security, with no dutch angles or close ups to give away what's about to happen, thus creating more excitement and shock. Travis scans the area moving closer to the camera, and then eventually moving away to another doorway, suggesting he's moving on to his next target - creating a tense atmosphere. The mysteriousness here shows aspects of horror conventions with the psychopathic killing and concept of 'victims'. The scene is laid out similarly to before; an extreme long shot, giving me the impression that theres more to consider than just Travis, the mise-en-scene in the area around him represents all the others in the city who are sinning, and surrounded by this darkness or psychosis that they're driven to. He sits on the doorstep, almost blending into the environment as if to camouflage himself rather than to run away and cause a scene only to be caught. I feel that the fact that we never get a clear view of Travis' face shows that he's been successful in assassinating the doorman with no witnesses, and remains mysterious as he continues with his plot.
The camera rises from a low angle midshot to a long shot as travis enters the building, giving a sense of empowerment, and raising my confidence in the character, giving me the impression he is very experienced and to be feared. The loud diegetic sound of the doors in contrast to the silence that followed the gunshot picks up the pace of the scene, and restores the tense atmosphere. There's a straight cut to the next scene, emphasising the rapid movement of the narrative. The split second gunshot here is broken down into a six second event; Upon shooting the first man he sees in the hallway, theres an over-the-shoulder shot of Travis holding the gun (conventions of both Noir and Horror, due to the general theme of murder, and use of 'killers POV'), a close up of the mans hand exploding, a close up of blood splattering on Travis' face (Use of iconography with the graphic element of gore), and multiple long shots of the gun shot echoing throughout different hallways. The editing here shows straight cuts of very short duration long shots, emphasising the rapid theme and the extent to which he affects his environment by using a long, drawn out non-diegetic sound of the gun in contrast to the fast paced montage of shots throughout the building. This evokes excitement and allows for a moment of reflection on current events before the narrative suddenly continues. The camera returns to the same over-the-shoulder shot as before. I feel this shot represents a starting point, as it was the shot that engaged the shooting of the man in the hallway, and here it shows Travis taking a bullet in the neck and turning to his next victim. By making the structure of the narrative more predictable, I feel that it's creating a false sense of security so that shocks have a larger effect on me. The fast pace continues with shot-reverse-shot and parallel editing, back and forth between 'sport' and Travis shooting each other; mid shots, zooming out from Travis and in on 'Sport' (Typical convention of the Western-Noir genre). I feel this represents Travis' success in yet again striking him. There's no non-diegetic music here, so the sound of the glass crashing is the only thing other than the gunshots to provide an ambience, representing destruction. The cinematography here heightens the action, with a close up of Travis' gun falling to the floor, followed by a very fast tilt up to a midshot of his face turning to his victim portrays him as incredibly dominant in this scene. He's in control despite dropping his weapon. The long shot from the top of the stairs making the scene almost invisible from the low key lighting save for a neon lightbulb (Film noir convention), makes this scene seem sinister and secretive, and changes the mood from exciting to tense, and erases the sense of security.
1596 Words
2:37 minutes of film
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