Image Analysis - The Beach

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Image Analysis Topic: Describe the appearance and effect, in context of the film, of this extract. Extract: The Beach (2000), directed by Danny Boyle. A considerable trail of blood leads from the bottom left hand corner of the frame in the opening shot. The blood travels across the sand, to the point where beach meets trees, covering the screen almost diagonally. The significant amount of blood implies something gruesome lying just beyond the frame. The bright colour of the blood immediately stands out against the colourless beach and the seemingly ‘washed out’ trees. The protagonist, Richard, comes running from behind the dunes, straight along the bloody trail, towards the screen. This shot gives the opportunity to show Richard’s reaction to an as yet unknown scene that is unfolding in front of him, but behind the camera’s view. His significant speed demonstrates his panic at what he expects to find, and sets an atmosphere of fear and alarm. The camera cuts quickly to a long distance shot as Richard slows, in shock of what he sees – the blood tracks to a man laying on his back. This reaction coupled with the man’s position, indicates the man lying down is injured, and severely. Richard pauses momentarily, clearly shaken and questioning the correct actions to make, before he speeds up again, the situation fully realised. Throughout the segment, the chosen music gives off an evocative and haunting effect; it reaches crescendo at the moment Richard sees the other man, it begins to quiet as he quickens his pace once more. There is only non-diegetic sound in this fragment, with the atmosphere and mood being set by the music track rather than via dialogue or similar. Harsh music integrated with the starkness of colours gives the effect of a barren wasteland, rather than the paradise the beach should be. This, along with the overall macabre scene,

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