Bourne Identity

Bourne Identity - Opening Scene

Doug Liman employs many interesting and thought provoking techniques in the opening 5 minutes of Bourne Identity, especially the lighting. The first shot is of an unknown man floating in the water and Liman has cleverly lit above the water and placed the camera underwater, in order to create an image of a silhouette. This is clever from Liman as it instantly outlines the mysterious genre and establishes the mystery of the main character, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon). In the first 5 minutes, Liman uses a lot of Low Key lighting in conjunction with the Music (which i will mention later), and by doing this creates an eerie and unknown atmosphere. Liman also uses Backlight effectively in the opening sequence, creating an instant feeling of tension as the man walking towards the camera looks similar to that of a shadow. Chiaroscuro is used a lot during the sequence as it is a perfect way to create tension and fix the idea of the unknown into the films viewers for example when the fisherman is outside his shadows, along with the objects around him are reflected onto the boat, which immediately provokes the audiences emotions and again establishes the genre of the film. The shadows are sharp and jagged, which highlights the sense of danger in the scene and causes the audience to ask themselves the question, "what is going to happen next".

Liman also uses some very interesting camera techniques in the opening sequence of the film. The long shot of the unknown man in the water at the start of the film is clever as it instantly establishes the scene and lets the audience know that the floating character is an important one. The close up of the guys playing poker at the start also works as it informs the viewers that these men are not "bad guys"due to the fact that they are laughing and joking around. Liman uses Open and Closed framing in the sequence to separate the unknown man from the fishermen who found him. The unknown man is carefully placed in front of the camera to make him seem more important where as the fisherman are made to look completely normal and this is due to the framing. Panning is also used, for instance when the fisherman is walking across the boat, Liman pans the camera and due to the Low Key Lighting, the fisherman looks more mysterious and again creates an eerie atmosphere on the boat. Quicker, more frantic pans are used a bit later on in the sequence and along with a mixture of high and low angle shots create and almost hectic atmosphere and emphasise the danger in which the mysterious man presents. Liman also chooses, not to show the unknown mans face during the sequence and this is clever as it keeps that sense of mystery and keeps the viewer guessing. There is also a good example of depth of field in the short scene and this is clever as although the fisherman in the background is the main focus of the shot, by keeping the unknown figure slightly in shot, successfully highlights his importance in the film.



Liman uses sound extremely well in the opening sequence of the film. The loud storm at the start of the sequence is a clever of use diegetic sound as it instantly establishes the genre and is again there to create a sense of danger and tension in the shot. The soundtrack is also effective in creating an eerie atmosphere and Liman uses non-diegetic sound alongside diegetic sound (fisherman speaking with foreign accent and soundtrack) to also create the sense unknown in the sequence. The opening sequence also plays around with slow and fast music to create different emotions. The music works in parallel with the quick panning as aforementioned successfully creating a dangerous and hectic atmosphere. The synchronous soundtrack suddenly cuts back to the slow, eerie music from before the change, which again creates tension. The editing is also important to note as Liman chooses to open the film with sharp cuts and changes, which also add to the theme of danger, which is running throughout the sequence and the film as a whole. The importance of this scene is important for the film as as whole because without it the rest of the film would not make sense and that is why Liman spends a lot of time making this opening sequence so good.






The facial expression of the fisherman when he first notices the unknown man in the water is a perfect close up to sum the sequence and film as a whole. There is clear confusion on his face, which highlights the mysteriousness of the scene and completely separates the fishermen from the floating man. The change in music here also adds to the peculiar and confused mood. The fishermen are also playing poker at the start of the scene, which is a game that revolves around deception and this could represent the fact that something is about to happen in the rest of the sequence. There is also a close up of the knife, in which the fisherman is using to cut Jason Bourne's wetsuit and this is a good symbol of the danger that is certainly present within the scene.