Analysis for homework on The Italian Job

Media Homework

Analysis of The Italian Job (2003)

By Henry Wade

The synopsis of the Italian Job, it is a robbery that contains a lot of gold and most importantly how they do the job, which is with the mini coopers. There is ensemble cast in The Italian Job and this film will influence with the good and the bad as main characters. Our opening sequence for our crime caper as we are going to have an ensemble cast will have good and bad main characters this is why I chose to analysis The Italian job. The synopsis in depth is about a perfectly executed robbery at the beginning where all of the characters such as Mark Whalberg and Edward Norton are established, and the bank robbery all goes to plan with out any mistakes taking millions pounds worth of gold. On the way back to a safe house they come across a truck on a bridge, the people in the truck get out with weapons and a traitor is amongst the good people. Who then steals all the gold, and get away. Through out the film the good people are looking for revenge on the traitor as he killed the leader of the good group. To conclude the film they get all the money with a struggle and great plan whilst leaving the traitor in a lot of danger and you do not know what happens to him. The opening sequence to this film is of very detailed instructions and maps down the Italian Riviera of what to do, this gives the audience watching a question, what is being planned in this case? The film then opens with the daughter and father on the phone to each other as they are on other sides of the world; the daughter is confused on what he is doing. The father then meets up with his other members of his team and starts discussing financial details which shows there talking about a robbery of some sought.

One of the main micro elements in this opening sequence which most of the audience should pick up on is the variation and timings of the camera shots. The cameras used in the opening sequence for The Italian Job is very good, there is a wide variety of shots, from close ups, to establishing shots. They are all held for the perfect amount of time. In a lot of crime caper films it takes a while to know where the person is until an establishing shot is done, In the Italian job a fantastic establishing shot is done where he mentions he is in Venice. A few good camera shots at an opening of a film can really set out that it will be a great film. A tilting shot when Mark Whalberg walks toward the camera, it shows the reflection of Whalberg in the water, then gradually the camera tilts up to show himself.

The mise en scene used is very important in any film and it is shown off in The Italian Job, costumes were a main hit in the opening sequence, they were very casual, unlike the film Goodfellas where they have the stereotypical costumes which is normal suit. When I say casual I mean clothing that is correct for the weather, they were wearing Jackets, coats, scarves and gloves. They were people that looked like they had money to spend on valuables; they were wearing smart black shoes in the rain, not boots or thicker shoes. The choice in costumes was very good; it made the public not think anything of these men just usual. The rendevoe point was very dissimilar, where all the public were also so none of them would look dodgy to the public. You could tell it was a tourist distraction as there were people with the cameras, with a huge building which was nicely lit up.

The lighting used throughout the opening sequence is different; In America where the girl is in bed, it is as if the mood sets her scene, she is happy as you can tell from her blues and her light colours but as soon as she finds out her Father is on a mission the mood changes, you then see the weather it looks rather dusk and dull because she is anxious. The lighting effects do not play the biggest part in the opening sequence.

To conclude my point, The Italian Job uses a lot of micro and macro elements I will be using in my crime caper opening sequence. I really liked the way camera shots, especially the tilting shot worked; this can definitely be an advantage to us and can be used in our film. The lighting in the opening sequence was very bright and you could see all the characters well, as we are shooting our film in the dark we will need to make use of the lights in the area, The Italian Job has given us notification on to do this. For costumes we are going to need to be, casual and smart at the same time, so warm big coats but smart shoes very similar to the Italian Job.