Media Assignment: Mission Impossible 2

 

Media Assignment: Mission Impossible 2 Opening Scene

Connor Cushingham

The scene starts off with an establishing shot of a large mountain which turns out to be the Grand Canyon. A forward tracking zoom shot focuses us on Tom Cruise’s character scaling the canyon. As Cruise’s character gently scales the mountain there is no music for a couple seconds, the only sound being a diegetic sound of wind breezing across the mountain, which emphasises the desolate location and focuses the entire scene on Tom Cruise himself rather than anybody else. The desolate sounds of wind remain evident throughout the scene in collaboration with Cruise’s heavy breathing and tense panting. Despite the clearly desolate location and obvious room for danger in the fate of Tom Cruise there seems to be room for a very light-hearted tone, this is due to the non-diegetic music which is played over the top of the scene. The music is similar to holiday music, similar to a tropical getaway, later in the scene this is reinforced as one of Tom Cruise’s assumed co-workers mentions that he is on vacation at this remote location. The music takes the serious out of the scene and effectively eliminates any worry for Tom Cruise as it manages to eradicate any intense or potentially dangerous scenarios through the sheer tone of the music.

Towards the start of the scene there is not a lot to comment on except for the vacant sounds and diverse camera angles, all of which are centred on Tom Cruise. The camera is constantly switching to different angles however it does not lose focus on Cruise. The camera preforms an arc shot, moving around the side of the canyon towards Cruise, who scales the canyon with vigour. There are also a few pan shots which zoom in and out while moving to one side, usually back to back. These shots effectively emphasise the background as quite a few of them can also be seen as aerial view shots due to the location of the scene. High on the Grand Canyon the camera is commonly facing downwards and acknowledging the sheer depth of the canyon, which may connote danger. Despite this connotation Cruise’s character seems quite contempt and cocky about the situation. This potentially cocky attitude may be proven by the scene following, in which Cruise places his knees in between a crack in the canyon to support himself, leaning back and resting. This shows confidence in his abilities and may imply he is somehow showing off to the canyon itself, expressing the fact that he is gradually conquering it.

There are several full body shots of Tom Cruise as he has planted his legs into the canyon, all of these also including a large body of land far below Cruise, emphasising the height he has achieved. The scene doesn’t show Cruise climbing the mountain from an outward shot constantly, it uses a variety of close ups to almost transition the scene a little bit up the canyon more and more, implying that Cruise is expertly scaling the canyon in a short amount of time. The camera has a close up of Cruise’s feet, gradually climbing the canyon and planting themselves into several cracks to connote that Cruise is moving up the mountain with ease, however  we do not see all of Cruise and the scene exaggerates his abilities. There is a shot soon after of Cruise’s face, focusing on him for a moment to show us his expression, this implies intrigue and connotes that he has an idea in mind. This query is then provided to the audience as the camera zooms in on a chunk of rock protruding from the canyon. Cruise’s intrigue in this and the focus on the chunk connotes that it is important and that Cruise may make an effort to get to it. This shot also provides a shot reverse shot of Cruise and the protruding rock, foreshadowing potential action. At this point the once cheery upbeat holiday music which generally ruined the dangerous atmosphere is dimmed down, to an eerie soft volume, which eliminates the hindrance of the dangerous atmosphere and allows the extreme situation to be acknowledged. This is also emphasised by the close up on Cruise’s face. Cruise then jumps to the chunk of rock protruding from the canyon and slow motion is used to make the scene seem more dramatic. The slow motion connotes the idea of suspense and danger massively as it plants a seed of doubt in the viewer’s mind that Cruise may not make the jump. This is again further emphasised by the lack of music and general danger of the extreme environment. At the point of his jump there is an aerial shot of Cruise in slow motion, this shows us the grand steepness of the canyon and reminds the viewer how high Cruise is, again reinforcing the suspense of the situation. Upon Cruise’s landing there is a slight pause in his movements and a close up of his legs standing firm on the ledge. This connotes the idea that the suspense has ended, however less than a second later Cruise slides down the edge, refuelling the suspense. As Cruise manages to maintain his hold on the canyon the sound of an eagle can be heard echoing in the background. This sound connotes to the idea of America as it is the country mascot, which also connotes to Tom Cruise himself, an American. This connotation reflects the idea of American freedom and pride as Cruise had cheated death and is close to conquering the mountain. As Cruise falls there is amplification in volume of the music, with heavy drums, reflecting the sudden danger. After Cruise regains his composure and the eagle echoes in the background the music is completely gone rather than lowered. The non-diegetic sound becomes eliminated and then all the diegetic sounds are emphasised. Cruise’s heavy breathing can be heard, connoting to the idea that he is worn out and surprised, which may empathise with the viewer due to the sudden scare. There is a close up of Cruise’s troubled face as his heavy breathing is emphasised, keeping our focus on him more than anything. There is then a middle shot with Cruise swinging his free hand up behind him to grab onto a rock, which puts his back to the canyon and his front to the viewer. The camera then provides an arc shot vertically, slightly zooming in at an angle which emphasises Cruise’s current position. The rock he is on protruding an alarming amount out of the canyon, showing Cruise’s perilous situation. The camera then focuses on Cruise with a middle shot of him centred, which zooms in to a close up shot of his face. Under the non-diegetic holiday music which had now returned since his recovery we can hear the diegetic sound of Cruise’s breathing, as well as a shot of his expression, which seems to suggest confidence and a rush of adrenaline to the audience.

Afterwards there is a crane shot of the top of the canyon, with Cruise reaching the top. The shot shows the distant ground in the background. The shot then turns into an arc shot and completely revolves around Cruise, using him as the centre. The centred focus on Cruise connotes that he has completely succeeded and he is now the absolute centre of attention, congratulating him.

Seconds afterwards the diegetic sound of a helicopter or a plane can be heard, which drowns out the non-diegetic holiday music, which had increased in volume upon Cruise’s conquer of the mountain, however it has now been lost and the atmosphere filled with pressure. The sound connotes danger to the audience as the sound of the helicopter can be connoted to the war or artillery. We then see the helicopter itself, and a slow forward zoom towards it, which focuses on a man draped in black wielding what seems to be a weapon out the side. The rocket launcher connotes immediate danger and peril to the viewer, as it looks like Cruise is about to be attacked. The man in the helicopter is draped in a suit and sun glasses, which connotes to secret agents, or the men in black. It could also reflect the gentlemanly agents from the James Bond series.