U Turn – Analysis

Use of camera (Cinematography):

The opening sequence of the film U Turn has a lot of typical thriller conventions portrayed through cinematography. We are firstly introduced to the film with a pleasant establishing shot which sets the scene of the film. There is a bright red convertible car which we almost follow down the dusty road. As an audience we feel engaged to the film as seem too hunt the car down to follow its tracks. We also see a tracking shot as if the camera is strapped to the car and from this a viewer may feel that they are in the driver’s point of view leading down the dusty road. There are some low angle close ups of vultures savaging at an animal corpse. This shot makes a viewer feel uncomfortable towards this as it is very bloody and gory in your face. Similarly we see an extreme close up of an animal which screams, the character runs over the animal, an audience may feel hostile towards this in the first couple of minutes in the opening sequence, however it builds up suspense as we want to know what other objects the character may kill. Also the character seems heartless towards the road kill due the way he carried on driving and did not feel the need to look back.

Mise-en-scene:

The Mise-en-scene of the film, U Turn is interesting. We are only introduced to one character the opening sequence, the character is male seems as though he has no thought on the world around, we believe this as his facial expressions look like he does not care to what is going on around him, for example when the character kills the animal in the centre of his track. The characters body language is almost casual but very fidgety; an audience may feel that the man is up to no good due to the influence of the pills he took, we may also believe he is paranoid as he seems very sketchy towards the police. There is not much costume to witness within the opening sequence however the male character is well dressed in a suit. The red car which the character is driver makes an audience believe it symbolises danger so we want to continue to watch the film. The location of the film is set in a desert like setting; there is a lot of shrubbery and dusty roads. There is a lot of high key lighting. As the road splits into two roads it has a sign of various locations however there is a close up shot of a sign which says “U Turn” which makes an audience feel bizarre to. The character seems not to pay attention to the sign and takes the right turn. As a viewer feel want to know where the road leads to and whether he will be in any danger.

Sound:

Within the opening sequence, sound makes the viewer’s feel jittery the soundtrack changes continuously as the character the radio station. The soundtrack adds to the predictions of the character, it is very casual and jolly. As a viewer we believe that the character seems mistrustful due to the soundtracks. There is diegetic sound of the train blowing its horn alongside the road as well as the oncoming traffic. I believe there is a sound effect of the animal screaming as the car approaches it, which is then run over and killed. Besides, there is another sound effect which has been added when the car engine blows up. As viewers we witness ambient sound of a cockerel making sounds, as viewers it makes us feel as though there is not an unnatural silence when no other sound is present. Also there are sound effects of the engine of the car tingling which establishes an ominous mood of an empty scrapyard.

Editing:

In the opening sequence of the film U Turn, there are straight cuts between the shots. There are various shot lengths between some shots being long and others are short. There are some eye line match shots which I believe is very effecting, an audience may feel as they are more involved in the film as they can see everything the characters are looking at. In the opening sequence of U Turn a visual effect has been used. There is a shot of the car engine exploding; there is a vast amount of smoke which helps a viewer visually to understand the storyline. An audience may wonder why the car engine has a fault and how the man will get to his destinations or will he be stranded in the desert. Considering the film is a thriller it does not have a black screen, which a typical thriller includes in the titles. There is some continuity editing for example when the character changes the radio station then it cuts to him putting his hands back on the steering wheel.