Taken Opening Titles

Taken is a 2008 action thriller with Liam Neeson as one of the main roles. Neesons daughter Kim played by Maggie Grace goes travelling around Europe with a friend and gets captured by slave traders while in Paris, France. The main plot of the film is of Brian, (Liam Neeson) a former CIA operative pursuing his daughters captors and her freedom. Both of the young girls are captured by the Albanian Mafia who are significantly involved with the illegal sex trade in Paris.

Mise en scene

The beginning of the opening titles starts with Twentieth Century Fox fading onto the screen,slowly moving centrally and then fading out to a black screen. The setting for a considerable period of the opening titles is the kitchen of this American family. It has a regular family and homely feeling, where it is evident for the audience to acknowledge the love and warmth within the room. Also the footage of the girl opening her present is particularly colourful but when the man wakes up in his room, it is gloomy. The difference between these two settings is particularly vivid, due to the quick flash camera shot. Moving from a pleasant and happy perfect picture to a dark dingy depressing image.

Sound

When the young girl is opening her present, there is a high pitched eery music which is integrated into the sequence. A slow piano comes in to create the sense of emotion. The music is connected with the footage, it's an old family movie, and the music reflects this because it creates a sense of remembrance and emotion. As the girl opens her present, the mother is asking the girl if she likes her gift, she replies with elation. The girls all the way through is laughing with excitement.

Camerawork

In the opening titles the camera style is a hand held shooting, to create the image of a home movie. This style of filming emphasises the amateur effect with the home movie style, this provides the realistic footage. As the girl opens the present with frantic excitement, the camera zooms in to show the joyfulness on her face. The camera shots from then on are in a fast flash sequence, the girl has a birthday cake brought to the table and then she is seen blowing the candle out. Following this, just as she blows the candle, the image dramatically and effectively flashes to a man asleep on a sofa in a dark room. These rapid shot changes result are successful in building tension and drama. Contrasting images of the bright family kitchen to a bleak lonely room is clever and creative. Before the TAKEN titles appear on screen, the man turns on the light and walks out of the room. To conclude this scene, there are two extreme close ups,one, a framed picture of a girl and the other a karaoke machine in a catalogue. The picture of the girl has already got the audience engaged, because they can connect the young girl and the one in the picture frame. Also all of these camera shots , of the young girl and the picture frame set the scene and characters of the film well.