Cape Fear Analysis

Cape Fear Analysis

First seen is first the ‘Universal’ logo which is played along with the sound of thunder as the image goes black and white. The first scene starts with a sound sting; the sudden sound grabs attention straight away. The music carries on very sinister and slow creating a tense atmosphere, there is dark rippling water being shown throughout. The water creates immediate tension as the sea is seen with a fear of the unknown; it also holds danger and darkness.

 As the music builds up there is a refection of an eagle shown flying across the water. The eagle is a predator which represents danger, strength and freedom.

The music gets louder as the title is shown to give it more emphasis on it, which is then followed by a distorted extreme close up of an eye shown in the water. This could create the feeling of being watched. There is then another distorted close up on the whole face, as these images come up it is making the audience question who it is and what character they hold in the film. 

There is a silhouette of half a body shown with the colour green over the water, as the colour represents jealousy and envy it could show that there is a character that wants to get revenge.  

There are hints of red shown in the water, which then turns into a whole screen of red still with the moving water. The red represents danger and is common in a lot of thriller titles and films. This then turns into another close up of eyes still with the red fade, then a change to a green fade.

It is then shown that it is a young girl talking about the river ‘Cape Fear’. The young girl represents innocence and purity, this is enhanced by the costume of the white shirt, which is also buttoned up to the top, and this could show her vulnerability. The non- diegetic sound stops when she starts speaking and there is no other sound but her dialogue. The lines she says also adds question to the audiences mind, making them wonder what the story is behind ‘Cape Fear’- “those enchanted summer nights”. This script also emphasises the characters vulnerability as she talks about the ‘magic’ she had. Her image is then faded out into black, with more titles coming up and non-diegetic slow guitar music is heard.

The next shot is in a prison cell, the camera goes slowly along the wall seeing the pictures and books which could give the impression that the man seen is quite clever. He has a tattoo on his back- which is the first the audience see’s of him- of scales of injustice. This could lead them to think that he could be wrongly imprisoned or is out for revenge, to make something equal.

The final scene of the introduction is a long shot of the character walking out of the prison. The music builds up with this, and there is also a storm starting in the background. This shows the audience that now he is released and free- like the eagle seen before- something bad is going to happen. As the focus is on him, this shows the audience that he is the main character, but leaves lots of questions like, what is he walking towards when he leaves the prison? As he keeps on walking into the camera, this shows his aggressiveness and violence, it is then clear that he isn’t a nice character, but the intense atmosphere and building music is used to show the characters emotions.