Inception is a 2010 science fiction action film which was written, co-produced and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film features an international ensemble cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy and Michael Caine. DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a specialized corporate spy and thief whose work consists of secretly extracting valuable commercial information from the unconscious minds of his targets while they dream. Cobb is wanted for murder and unable to visit his children, but is offered the chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: ‘Inception’, the implantation of an original idea into a targets subconscious mind.
The opening sequence to the film Inception is quite confusing and unclear, but this is what appears to help it hold its audience. We first see two titles of production companies ‘Legendary Pictures’ and ‘Syncopy’, accompanied by amplified orchestrated music, that is powerful and has a tension building feel to it. This then fades abruptly, and changes to the amplified diegetic sound of crashing waves, played alongside slowed down visuals of waves crashing on the shore line. We then see a close up shot of a man lying in the edge of the water, and this shot is slightly out of focus representing and emphasizing the confusion surrounding the man. We also hear faint sound of children laughing and playing combined with slowed down visuals of a girl and boy playing on the beach. The faintness of the laughing and slowed down visuals could reflect the sub-consciousness of the man. The mid shots of the children also appear to move in and out of focus again reflecting the man sub-conscious state of mind. We then see shot reverse shots of the man and the children before the girl screams. This shows the audience how he is possibly trying to understand where he is. We then see a high angle shot looking down the barrel of a gun which is poked in the man’s back. This is combined with a shot reverse shot to show the police/guard holding the gun and then him using the gun barrel to reveal the gun hidden under the man’s shirt. We then see him call over to a man on the cliff edge and the camera pans to the right to reveal an oriental style building, allowing the audience some idea of the location. A slow zoom is used into a room with a man sat in a chair with his back to the camera, again used as a master shot to set the location but also leaves the audience wondering who the man in the chair is. Subtitled dialogue is then used: ‘He was delirious. But asked for you by name’, and leaves the audience thinking that the man found on the beach has a reason to be here. The man’s possessions are then placed on the table before he is then dragged in by two guards and sat at the opposite end of the table. The camera then tilts upwards to show the found man eating, before an over shoulder shot is used to show who the man is at the end of the table. The man also appears interested in the spinning top as a close up shot shows him pass his hand over the gun and pick up the spinning top which straight cuts to a close up to show the spinning top spinning on the table, suggesting this prop has more importance. Natural light is used on the beach but artificial/ low lighting used in the room as there are no windows. This implies an almost secretive element to the scene.
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