The film Blade was created in 1998 and it is an American vampire superhero film. There is a main character who is portrayed like the antagonist but truthly he is the protagonist. This is mainly because of the way he is dressed. He is wearing a black leather long jacket that connotes powerfulness. He also has sliver buckles across his front to portray how he may preparing himself for something that will need extra protection. Wearing dark colours really goes against the stereotype of a protagonist because they are known to wear light colours to connote happiness and safeness.
By identifying the protagonist, you can then work out that the vampires in the underground club are the antagonist. The most significant antagonist would be the lady with the bright red hair. The colour of her hair already connotes danger as it is very bright and stands out. The lady with the red hair also wears dark, revealing clothing. This supports the stereotype of an antagonist as wearing black clothing can connotes darkness in the person that is wearing it. The revealing short skirt that she is wearing creates a sense on rebellion and something that can be sinister.
Throughout the scene it is clear to the audience that the 'damsel in distress ' would be the man that the women has taken to the club to experience the blood bath. He clearly is oblivious to what was going to happen to him as he just went along with whatever the lady told him to do. Also the man had blonde hair and blue eyes and this could connote a sense of purity and innocence because of the way the women is also being portrayed as she looks more strong willed and forceful. This goes against audience expectation because the damsel in distress is usually a beautiful innocent woman where as in this film it is a man as he is seen as a typical American guy.
Sound-
In this scene there are many different types of sounds that contribute to the aim of the film such as non-digetic and digetic sounds. An example of a non-digetic sound would be the soundtrack that is played over the action right at the start of the opening scene when the man and the woman are in the car. It is a fast paced set of music that creates a sense of urgency and quickness. By putting this soundtrack on whilst they are in the are, it then compliments the speed of the car and how fast the action is happening. As they drive along the road quickly in the car the audience will feel a part of it as the music will reinforce this. A digetic sound that is used at the start of the opening scene is the revving of the car as it speeds up. This will reinforce the speed of which the action s going in. The soundtrack then changes when the characters arrive at the meat farm which contains the underground nightclub. It starts to have an eery feel to it as the action is moving along. This is done to compliment the surroundings of the characters as around them the audience is exposed to dead animal bodies that are being skinned. The affect of this will be to make the audience start to feel a little uncomfortable as well as the main man in the opening scene. The soundtrack then changes into digetic sound as it is the music from the DJ that everyone is dancing to. This soundtrack is fast and repetitive which can represent the people in the club. They are all up and dancing at a fast pace so this will link together very well. Throughout the whole opening scene there is a lot of digetic screaming and chanting coming from all the people in the club which could create confusion because many of them have not got smiles on their faces so chanting to the music could be leading up to something bad. A non-digetic sound also could be the noises editing in at the end where all of the vampires are flashing their teeth to the innocent man to create a sharp effect.
Editing-
Throughout the whole opening scene there are many different types of editing techniques used to fit the horror genre. An example of this could be the amount of jump cuts that are used. The jump cuts are from people to people and this done to show the emotions of the characters in the opening scene as well as reinforce the pace of the action. The reinforcing of the pace of the action is to make the audience feel losta dn as if they are unable to keep up with the vampires. Vampires are stereotypically fast therefore the fast paced editing is used to encourage this. Another example of an editing technique would be the credits that are used throughout the opening scene. The font of the titles are bold and red. The writing is the colour red because this colour foreshadows what the film is actually about, blood. It also represents danger and murder therefore it suits the horror genre. Titles play a bit part in the opening scene of this film as they add to the mysteriousness and how eery it is. Many point of view shots are used to create a sense of the characters view but i believe the most significant one would be when the main man [damsel in distress] looks down at his hand and there is a drip of blood. This point of view is very important because it is the first real sign of danger and threat. This indicates to the audience watching the film that the danger is about to begin and it will put them on edge before it happens. After this happens there is a reaction shot of his face. This shot is used to indicate to the audience his confusion and worry. This then affects the audience by making them feel exactly like how the characters is.
Mise en Scene -
The mise en scene throughout the scene is clear to the audience that what is happening is not normal. It consists of many different objects to suit the genre of horror. An example of this are the dead animals that are hung up in the factory. This can foreshadow the blood that is poured all over the people in the nightclub. These are key representations of death and danger. The blood is another key feature of the opening scene that contributes to the mise en scene is the blood that is poured. Another key feature if the mise en scene is the 'men' sorting the dead animals. The men that are standing around the animal corpses do not look alive, they look as if they have not got any colour in their faces and have not got any blood running through their veins. They almost look dead. This will link tot the fact that the other characters are vampires therefore they may have skinned and drained their blood for their own satisfaction. So this can be a key feature to what the audience will notice and may affect them a lot. The limited lighting is also a key feature within the scene it symbolises darkness and mysteriousness, which adds to the genre of horror. And lastly the most significant feature used in the mise en scene are the bodies that are pulled past the man and woman in the factory. When this happens the mans expression changes from excited to anxious and concerned. This will automatically cause the audience to feel disturbed and distressed. All of the characters in the underground rave are portrayed as being animalistic and erotic. This is a large contribution to the mise en scene as it adds to the frightening experience
Camera Angles-
The angles of the camera in the opening scene of Blade are very important. One example of a camera angles are all of the head shots that are used throughout the whole opening scene. These are used to show character emotion and their reactions. This gives the audience watching a real insight of what the character is feeling and this then affects the audience personally. An establishing shot it used when the man and woman is walking through the factory to get to the underground nightclub. This shot is used to establish where they are and their surroundings so that the audience feel more involved in the film and they will know whats going on, keeping up with what is happening in the scene. The angle of the camera is very important because it portrays importance and priority within the characters. For example the is a low angle shot of the girl at the start of the opening and this will show the importance and value of the woman. It shows how significant she is and the power that she has at the start of the opening. There is a low angle of the blonde man right at the end of the opening when he is on the floor in front of the dark mysterious figure. The angle is used to create the sense of inferiority of him and how he is so unimportant in this scene. A last very important angle of the camera in this opening scene would be right at the ned when the protagonist walks in. Straight away the camera swoops down to create a superiority of him and make him look bigger. This will portray the sense of powerfulness of this character and this will indicate to the audience that this man is significant because he makes all of the other vampires stop what they were doing and the music dies down but does not turn off completely.
Here is a video of the opening of the film Blade;
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