Unknown, 2006 - Film Analysis

Synopsis

Five men wake up in an unknown location with no memory of who they are or how they got there. They are all in a locked-down warehouse which is highly secure so that they are not able to escape in any way. Some are tied up and some aren't. They are left to decide who is good and who is bad if they have any chance of survival.

The introduction titles of this film appear with a black background at first with only the accompaniment playing.

The introduction titles firstly name the film company who created the film. They are then followed by who else that film production company worked with before they finally reveal the film name 'Unknown'.

The titles for the film are quite basic and simple. It is in the style of a negative space which is a black background with white writing. These two shades are bold opposites which create a significant contrast.


The font of the titles is in the same font style throughout which keeps it consistent. The titles also appear the the bottom left hand corner of the screen. This allows the audience to clearly see where the opening titles are placed.

When the main title is presented, the colours and font are still the same. However, the letters are all in capitals. This creates a bold introduction to the film and makes the title stand out from the rest of the credits.

This is the first clip which we see from the film. It is an establishing shot. It is one of many establishing shots which appear during the opening credits of the film. I think that the various hints of the setting makes the introduction to the film really interesting and keeps the audience guessing about the location. It immediately suggests to the audience ideas about the themes and ideas about the film and may make them think about what may be about to happen.

The first opening credits which appear show the names of the actors who star in the film. In this film, it has noted that the names of the actors are appearing in alphabetical order. I don't particularly like this idea of stating that the actors names appear in alphabetical order. This is because I feel that the opening credits to a film look more professional when they just state the actors names.

After the actor names appear on screen, the production names appear on screen with their role. This shows the audience the difference between the actors who act in the film and the production team who make and put the film together.

In the opening credits of the film, all of the objects and settings scene are shown later on in the film at some point or have some sort of significance to the film themes and plot.

The lighting of the set is quite dark with only places of natural light which falls through the windows. The light which falls through the windows is bright which suggests that the time is around mid day. In the rooms without windows, artificial dull light, lights up the room such as the toilets. This shows that besides the fact that the building is barren, it is still in use by most probably the bad people as electricity is available to them.

This close up shot of the man's face is the first character you see in the film. This is when the opening credits have finished along with the accompaniment which allows the audience's focus to fall onto the man. It begins to make them already wonder what is going on in the man's mind.

The next shot shown is a blurred point of view shot from the man. It allows the audience to see that he has just woken up from unconsciousness and his bearings are all over the place. The various shots of the man looking around quickly all over the room suggests that he is confused and doesn't know anything about his location and how he got there.

This shot appears later on in the film. It is the first time the audience actually sees the outside building of where the men who are locked in are being held. It looks as if it is in the middle of the desert. A place where nobody would go or think about going. This way people like the police won't be able to identify where the people are. I think that the setting for this film is perfect to reflect on the themes and ideas of the film. The setting around the locked-down warehouse in itself is in-escapable. This is because the warehouse is in the middle of the desert which is hot and dry. The chance is that even if the men did escape, they may probably die of thirst before they could reach a town or village or some sorts of civilisation. 

Opening Clip

The accompaniment which plays whilst the opening titles/credits are being displayed I think fits with the themes of the film well. The accompaniment is slow and mysterious like the setting of the film. It has a sense of sadness and dispear in it which relates to the unfortunate events which occur in the film.

I think that the sound of the ringing phone which is edited over the top of the main accompaniment is a clever introduction to the phone as later on in the film a phone rings and at the other end, it is the bad characters asking about the hostages in the warehouse. This is the first inkling that the men who have no knowledge of who they are decide that there are some bad people amongst them.

Trailer

I like the editing of the shot which is used whenever one of the men remember something. This clearly differentiates the reality to a sudden memory which kicks into them every now and again. The light blurred colour effect which is used doesn't make the image fully clear but it hints at key pieces of the puzzle which the men try to sum pup to find out their true identities.

I really like the wide range of different camera shots which are used throughout the film. This is because I think it makes the film look interesting and immediately interests the audience and makes them want to watch more. 

This is one of the many point of view shots from the man in the blue shirt when he first wakes up. They are very quick and focus on one thing at a time. In this shot, the man has seen a shovel with blood on the end which makes him wonder whose blood it is. It is one of the many bizarre things which he discovers when he wakes up. 

This is a close up shot of the man after he has looked at the shovel. In this shot, he sees another object/person which catches his eye. This close up shot of the man returns after and before he looks at each object/person. This reminds the audience that it is his vision we are seeing and it also shows how he reacts to each thing he sees.

In this long shot, the man in the blue shirt has got up to investigate his surroundings. I really like this long shot because it shows the desolate and dispear of the barren warehouse which he is imprisoned in.

We can tell that this film is set in modern day America. This is because, firstly, all of the actors who feature in the film are American. 

Secondly, we can tell that this film is set in the modern days because of their modern clothing, the proper, i.e. the hand gun which is in the film. 

There is also a smashed up mobile phone on the floor so we can know that the film is defiantly set in a time where mobile phones were invented, especially with the fact that this mobile phone is fairly modern. 

Another aspect to show that the film is set in modern day America is the fact that all of the verticals are a left hand drive and are all modern for these days.

There is also a use of a tracking device in this film by the F.B.I. These are only recent inventions as they haven't been around for long.