Sin City Shot Sequence Analysis

Shot One - This shot is of a man lying on the ground, pointing a gun at and looking at the camera. He is wearing an expensive looking suit and tie. The HA makes it easier for us to see his face and the MCU ensures that we are not distracted by anything else in the shot. The light shining on the man's face and gun makes us look at the them. The man is holding his ear which suggests that he has been hurt. The shot makes us feel as if the man is looking directly at us, or that we are looking at him from someone else's perspective.

Shot Two - This HA, LS introduces us to another character. The new character, a man wearing a long, light coloured coat is pointing a gun at the man on the floor. The distance of the shot helps us to see both men clearly and enables us to see a bit more of the setting. We can also see that the man on the floor's hand has been severely injured and we can assume that the man standing over him has shot his hand as the light shines on his arm so we can see even clearer that his is pointing a gun at the man. The blood from the man's hand has been lit up so we can see it very clearly, therefore it causes our our eye to be drawn to it. The standing position allows us to assume that he is ready to shoot again.

Shot Three - This ELS, taken from the side, introduces us to two new characters. The two new characters are a man standing, wearing a long dark coat, and a little girl sitting on the floor. The girls legs appear to be tied up. the distance of the shot allows us to see more of the setting and the surrounding area looks deserted. From this shot we can assume that the girl has been kidnapped. The man on the ground appears to be trying to get up, or to talk, and the man standing over him is leaning in towards him, and seems to be talking to him. We can now see that the light is coming from lights in the distance and this helps the shot seem more natural. The light shines on the man in the dark coat's hand to show us that he is also carrying a gun.

Shot Four - Although still a long shot, this shot is a tighter version of the previous shot; we can no longer see the man in the dark coat. The man standing is now pointing the gun back at the man on the floor. This suggests that he is ready to shoot him again. The man on the floor has raised his injured hand, possibly an instictive reaction, or to plead with the man standing, not to shoot. The light shines on the damaged hand and reveals to us that it has been severed. The man standing's coat is being blown back by the wind which makes him seem powerful. It also has a heroic element about it and makes him seem more heroic than he first appeared. It is possible that he is there to save the little girl.

Shot Five - This is a CU of the little girl. The tight shot makes us focus on her face and her facial expression. The light shines on her eyes and cheek showing that she is crying, and she is obviously upset and scared which causes us to assume she is watching the man get shot. She seems to be leaning forward, maybe trying to get away from what she has seen but she appears to be tied up and so can't. This shot is very different to the other shots we have seen. It seems more 'real' than the other, as the men have seemed to not show any emotion in the past four shots.

Shot Six - The ELS shows us all four characters again. It is a LA shot so we are looking up at the characters. The man lying on the floor now appears to be dead as he's lying flat on the floor, whereas before his knees were raised. We now see some emotion from the man in the light coat. He is leaning onto something, and leaning forward. This shows that he is tired and his facial expression also shows this. His expression also suggests that he may feel bad about shooting the man. The man in the dark coat seems mysterious and sinister, watching the man in the light coat from further back. We still haven't seen his face but have seen all the other characters faces, this adds to the mysteriousness of the character. The blackness of his coat is highlighted by the white smoke behind him which again makes him seem sinister. As well as the smoke highlighting his dark coat, the coat highlights the white smoke. This causes us to notice it more and contrasts the (what appears to be) calm scene of the three living characters with the hectic, everyday business that is going on behind them.

The Whole Sequence - By moving the camera around so much in a very short sequence the director helps introduce us to the surroundings and the characters. It also helps us to understand what's happening better. By changing the distance of the shots more and more characters are introduced to us. This means that the audience is not sure whether any other characters are going to appear and so helps create more suspense. The shot distances also help to show which characters are the most important in this sequence. For example, the man in the light coat is more prominant in this sequence and so we can see that he is the most important character in the sequence and maybe in the rest of the film.