Opening Analysis- Brick 2005- Neo noir

The film greets the audience with a calm and steady sound. The volume of the non-diegetic sound starts off quite and low pitched it also sounds like western music, this gives the audience the impression of loneliness and isolation. The sound which plays through the first scene sounds very mournful which signifies death and grief.  The sound has a feel and overall texture of noir films. It features traditional  instruments such as the piano, trumpet and violin. In the second scene we hear school bells ringing and faint noises of children in a play ground in the background which gives the impression that the scene was filmed on school grounds. The diegetic sound of the school bell is an example of a sound bride where the sound carries on into the next shoot. After the shocking scene that the audience have just seen. In the next scene we hear a phone ring. The ring of the phone sounds old fashioned and is almost identical to phone sounds in many noir films like ''Double Indemnity'' and ''Maltese Falcon''. The dialogue also resembles the noir film style. The Lady on the phone who we later find out is Emily, sounds concerned about the main character. At first she asks him how he's doing and he answers ''Status quo'' but as she goes on we notice that there is a sense of fear and regret in her voice. Her voice grew more and more fearful as a sound of a car approached the area. The sound from the speeding car and the voice of  Emily goes well together, as the car got closer the panic level in her voice increased. This gives the impression that she was being hunted or chased and it also helps build up the excitement because the audience begin to question why she's being chased and what will happen is she gets caught.

Firstly the camera pans from the filthy walls of the tunnel to the main character. we then notice that he is squatting on and critically analysing something. The camera then transitions into an extreme close up on the eyes of the main characters face (Brendan) This hides information from the audience. His eyes are glued to the dead body in front of him which gives us the impression he is in a mental state of shock. But one may argue that his lack of emotion was due to the fact that he was a brave character. The camera then transitions to a mid shot of the tunnel and it suddenly becomes clear to the audience what the main character (Brendan) is looking at. He was deeply staring at the dead body of a girl lying at the entrance of the tunnel. The camera then goes back to Brendan but there is still no expression on his face. The eye line match  used here shows that the two characters had something to do with each other and that Brendan might have had something to do with the girl’s death. By using the eye-line match, the audience can see that the Brendan has no change in reaction as he is looking at the girl.The camera then shows us a close up on the girls features like her shoes and half of her hidden face and also her hands. We then experience a graphic match into the next scene. This shows the changes in atmosphere to one that is normal and familiar to teenage viewers. This seen when the audience are shown the girl's hand with the bracelets on in the water which cuts to a shot after the title of the hand putting a note into the locker. The camera then focuses on a young boy approaching the locker. We quickly notice from his shoes that he is the boy we saw at the tunnel. The camera then transitions to a wide angle view of the entire locker area as the boy looks around to see if anyone was around. The whole entire area is empty which emphasizes on the fact that the boy is lonely and isolated. 

Mise en scene is the arrangement of scenery and properties to represent a place where the scene takes place and it also helps the audience understand. In the first scene we see and extreme close up on the main characters face. We notice he is wearing round old fashion glasses which gives us the impression that he is cryptically analysing something or perhaps he could be a detective. We are then shown a dark tunnel with a dead body of a girl lying right at the edge of it. This implies that there is something dark about the death of the girl. We are then shown the features of the dead girl, her skin is very pale and she wearing a dress and a pair of high heals, perhaps she is what is commonly known as a femme fatale. Right before the scene ends we notice that the dead girl is wearing a bunch of distinctively blue bracelets. In  the next scene we see an arm with the same bracelets putting a note in a locker. By using the same blue bracelet the audience get the impression that the girl putting a note in the locker is the same girl who was found dead by the edge of the tunnel.The note gives the audience the impression that the girl with the blue bracelets has some secretes. The title then appears on the screen written in white on a black background which resembles the film noir ''white of black'' tittle sequence. After the tittle sequence we notice a young boy approaching the lockers, he opens the locker a find the note asking him to meet up in ''Sarmentoso''. In the next shot we see a sign reading ''Sarmentoso'' confirming that the boy obeyed the orders given to him in the note. 

The lighting in the first scene of the opening sequence is very low-key like in many film noir/ neo- noir films. This gives the impression that something shocking has just happened. The mood and the darkness of the tunnel implies that there are dark secrets behind close doors. The mood changes in the next scene. The light becomes brighter, the lockers and the sound of children in the play ground gives us a sense of school environment. In the next scene we notice that the light is lightly dimmer which goes well with the empty road because the both give the impression of lonesomeness.