As the film starts, the credits fade from black to a close up of a man staring intently at the camera. The camera viewpoint reveals that he is in a camouflage patterned jacket which instantly connects to the army. The opening scene then fades out into a mid-shot of the man sitting behind his desk, still staring intently at something. In the bottom left hand corner, the shot establishes who the character actually is by specifying who he is “Brigadier General Hopgood” and the division he works in “U.S Army Intelligence” as well as establishing where the scene is taking place which is in North Carolina and the year, 1983. We then cut back to a close up of the General. We then become aware of what the General is looking at as the camera changes to a POV shot which reveals that he is actually staring at a wall. The General then proceeds to talk to another man know as Boon who is sitting at another desk in his room, sharing little dialogue. The General gets up and once again stares at the wall before running at it to which he hopes to run through yet fails and runs into the wall and falls backwards. The camera then films him from a high angle from waist upwards so that we can see his facial expressions. The scene then fades to black and text is presented to reveal a back story to us. It then cuts to an establishing shot of a house which a man (Bob Wilton) pulls up to in a red jeep. Once again the bottom left hand corner sets the scene by revealing that this scene is set 19 years later in Michigan in the autumn. Bob then gets out of his car, and walks towards the house. During this, there is a voice over to which Bob is explaining his job and how it is the beginning of the story which could be seen as the story of the men who stared at goats. Bob is seen to be interviewing a man who claims to have a psychic power. The scene opens with a close up of the DVD which appears to be the interviewee’s own film. He then passes it to Bob who takes an intriguing look at it which is shown using a mid shot and two shot showing that they don’t know each other very well as there is an obvious gap between them. Shot / reverse shot is used to show Bob’s pretend interest in the DVD itself. Bob then asks the interviewee a question to which his mother enters carrying a tray of tea and biscuits and a mid shot is used to keep all the characters in the same shot. This then triggers the interviewee to start answering Bob’s questions to which Bob pretends to write down notes, a POV shot is used to show exactly what Bob is writing which is a cheeky comment about the man. Very little happens in the first two minutes yet the impression is given to us is that the journalist will be one of the main leads in the film, as it appears to be his journey to researching into the men who stare at goats. The General at the beginning of the story might have some significant part in the film as it was quite strange for him to announce to his colleague Boon that he was “going into the next office” and run at the wall instead of using the door as this specific moment must connect somehow to the overall theme of the film.
Screen Shots- Men Who Stare At Goats
The opening shot is a close up of one of the characters in the film. It just shows the character’s face with the sweat beads on his face, showing his deep concentration. We can also briefly make out his army uniform giving us the sense of power and possible ranking of the man.
This mid shot reveals more about the character in the opening close up. We see a neat desk as well as certificates that are hanging on the wall behind him suggesting that he likes to excel and do things properly. This shot also reflects on the character’s status as he appears to have his own office with a name place on it too.
This POV shot allows us to see exactly what the character was staring so intently at. It does not reveal much as we can only see a door and 3 pictures hanging on the wall. Yet it does show that this General has quite a large office showing his status must be quite high and respected in the army.
The text on this shot is an almost light hearted joke aimed at the audience as the scene before we witness the General running at a wall in hope to run through it. This piece of the text is a starting point for the next seen which is the main plot to the story itself.
This establishing shot allows the voice over to be listened to properly as the only action taking place is Bob walking from his car to the front door. This sets the scene to which allows for an easy transition for the scene taking place inside the house next.
The close up of the DVD clearly illustrates what the reporter (Bob) came for. At this point the voice point is still on going over the scene with no dialogue. The DVD has also got bright colours used on its front cover whereas the man holding it is dressed in a dark purple top allowing the DVD to be the main focus.
The mid shot here allows the entrance of the man’s mother to be clearly noticed. Unlike the others, the mother is too dressed in brighter colours refreshing the scene from just an interview.
Titles and Credits- Men Who Stare At Goats
There are six separate title slides before Men Who Stare at Goats actually begins. All the title slides are production and distribution company credits and logos. The colour scheme is black with white writing except for the very first company credit “Momentum Pictures” which is on a sky blue background as it leads into the starting of the film credits. The slides show the companies that have sponsored the film and offer no distraction as they are simply providing basic information.
Use of Sound- Men Who Stare At Goats
From the second title slide there is a little soft orchestral, bubbly, non- diegetic music leading into the actual start of the film when it dies down so that all you can hear is a quiet shaker in the background. This piece of music makes the scene quite light hearted yet is contrasting to the General as he appears to be quite a serious character. The music stops as the General prepares to run at the wall, yet there is the odd ticking in the background, making it slightly mysterious. The sound that the General makes when he runs into the wall is diegetic as Boon heard it as well as the people in the other room.
The same music is repeated in the next scene yet it is a fast pace. The music in this scene is loud at the start yet lowers when Bob starts his voiceover.
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