The Bourne Legacy Essay

At the beginning of the sequence, the establishing shot shows a smart, business orientated street. We know that it’s set in the winter time due to the snow and the background characters wearing coats and hats, the camera sequence was filmed on a crane and used to introduce the setting of the scene. The camera then pans right and starts a slow, descending zoom onto Bourne and starts to track him.

For me, the mise-en-scene is very suggestive towards the theme of crime and action; I think this because in the background the barred windows behind Bourne look similar to jail cell doors and windows. This could suggest that later in the scene he will end up getting caught for breaking the law. Another reason for why I made this assumption was because of the mise-en-scene used for the rucksack; which is a bloody, red colour. Red, symbolising danger, was used because it contrasted against the white snow; making me automatically think that it is an important part of the scene and the characters motif.

There is then a continuity edit to a mid-shot of Bourne on a pay phone, the red bag still in the middle section of the shot; following the ‘Rule of Thirds’ technique. This continues to represent the importance of the bag. The pay phone is also red; continuing the theme of red. This shows me that the news he hears on the end of the phone is dangerous and won't bring him any safety or peace.

The shot cuts to a point of view shot of a ticket warden on the other side of the street - the background showing the same jail styled windows. The shot was filmed on a hand held camera because it was unstable; showing his nervous emotions, which creates tension. It focus' on the ticket warden because her job is government funded, she retrieves a radio out of her pocket which shows that he is getting paranoid of getting caught.

As the camera begins to track him down the road, a similar sequence occurs where a point of view shot shows him coming across two communal police officers. There is another continuity cut leading to a reaction shot of Bourne who looks scared and starts to walk slower, showing that he is getting more and more nervous. Parallel sound is used as very high pitch string instruments accompany the movement of Bourne walking past the officers, suggesting it could've been a close call.

There is non-diegetic music playing as he walks. It began to make me feel tense due to the powerful drums in the music; sounding like gunshots which links with the theme of crime.

There are then two, very fast pans of an oncoming ambulance. There is a close up pan going from right to left. Followed by Bourne’s reaction to the sirens in a wider shot. Leading into a fast left to right pan of the ambulance driving down the road. This links to the fact that he is paranoid of getting caught; thinking the sirens were for him, creating tension.

Bourne continues to walk across the streets, and encounters more police officers in faster cuts; building more tension.

Bourne doesn't hesitate to pace into the road where there is an oncoming tram, yet he doesn't notice it. This could symbolise his oncoming doom closing in on him, as he gets closer to completing his task. The way he doesn't even notice the tram shows how deep in thought he is and that he's desperate to get distance between the police officers. After the tram passes by, the long shot shows the policemen walking through the snowy mist, symbolising how Bourne will always be one step ahead of them and how they'll be left in the dark. But to keep the tension high, they are kept in the background of the mid-shot when the camera tracks Bourne walking down the street. They are not forgotten about though, for when it begins to track backwards on Bourne walking down the street.

Bourne enters the bank showing a few perspective shots of the surroundings in the bank. The camera reveals certain parts of the bank but conceals others so the whole room isn't visible. Which creates a tense atmosphere because it makes you unaware of where the police officers are and if Bourne will be able to get away with it. The use of the hand held camera also adds to the tense atmosphere because it made me feel more apart of the film and put me in the characters shoes.

There are multiple perspective, mid-shots and close ups; which were filmed on a hand held camera, showing a stressed woman shouting at one of the bank workers. Though this has no relevance to the rest of the scene it once again adds to the build up off tension and his growing nerves because it sounds and feels stressful to watch.