Mission Impossible Analysis
The film begins with a 9 second,
constant extreme long shot of a vast, baron, red tinted mountainous region,
appearing to be the Grand Canyon in America, with the sun scorching the rocks
from above. This is used to capture the vastness of the regions terrain, as
well as its treachery and inhospitality for the viewer. Throughout the nine
seconds, the camera progressively closes in to one position on the cliff range,
going from an extreme long shot, to eventually slowing down at 6 seconds, and at
17 seconds closing in on the particular point of the rock it was tracking,
changing to a mid-shot where we see the hero of the story, straggling to the
side the rock with what appears to be very little strain, despite him not
having hold of a harness or anything of the sort. This is used to display the
protagonist’s action hero persona, with him almost laughingly holding on to the
side of a sheer drop of several hundred feet, and not at all appearing to be in
any bad condition. This is complimented by the extreme long shot from before
that paints the landscape as a perilous ragged terrain, which in return makes
the protagonist look more intimidating by his ability to handle his
surroundings so easily. Another feature spurring the protagonist’s strength, is
the use of non-diegetic sound in the background. Up until the 6 second mark,
the only audible sound is the whistling of the wind through the rocks and crags
of the grand canyon, helping to give the landscape an isolated feel, but at the
6 second mark (roughly were the protagonist comes into view) a progressively
loudening drum rhythm begins to play, which over time becomes more and more
complimented by a rather funky guitar riff. Eventually at the 17 second mark,
where the guitar and drums go in full swing, the protagonist becomes the centre
of the shot. This gives off the impression of the music presenting the main
character, as the funky and just down right cool sound of the guitar and drums
undermines the whistling of the canyon. This effectively represents the protagonist’s
ability to climb his perilous surroundings without putting himself in a
situation that he can’t handle. The shot cuts at the 17 seconds mark to a long,
panning shot of the protagonist from another angle, up until 30 seconds in.
Then to 35 seconds, the shot is cut again, this time from the same distance but
once again at a different angle. The non-diegetic noises also alter over the
period of 18 seconds, with the guitar seeming to fade away and more ambient
noises such as birds squawking can be heard. It’s also worth noting that a
particular diegetic noise is but in place during the time period, in the form
of the protagonist panting. This period seems to be put in place in order to
once again drill in the vastness and severity of the landscape. The longer
range of the shot has a particular effect on this. Showing more of the cliff
side than before, making it appear larger and more intimidating. The dyeing
down of the instrumental noise, and the addition of more ambient noises appears
to be placed to once again give a feel of the isolation of the area, as well as
also giving a sense of struggle from the protagonist, contradicting, the young,
unstoppable, action man characterisation that was prevented before. This is
further supported by the diegetic sound of him panting, however the
contradiction is not there to remove his characterisation, but in fact
exaggerate the harshness of the terrain he is trying to conquer. This is almost
as if to say, “Well if that guys struggling to get around this, then this place
must be brutal”. Earlier there was mention of the sound of a bird squawking, as
one of the ambient noises. This noise may perhaps not be referring to the land
harshness, but in fact its beauty, and the protagonists drive to explore it.
The bird heard in the clip was in fact the usual stock sound of a bald eagle,
giving connotations of America; and with the connotations freedom, beauty and a
drive for new things to be discovered. From the 35 second mark to the 1 minute
8 seconds mark, a series of similar shots from varying lengths occur, all
giving off the same connotations of struggle in such wild environment.
Differences that occur are few, however there are several notable ones’. For
one, 2 cuts occur, in which for a short period you see an extreme close up of
the protagonists hand tightly gripping on to a slight ledge upon the cliff, and
another of his feet struggling to find a wide enough ledge to perch upon.
These, whilst still showing the characters struggle to overcome his
environment, also show a great deal of determination with him going against the
odds to clamber on to whatever he can find to prevent himself from falling.
This supports the determined, youthful, action hero characterisation placed
upon him. A few shots later, after climbing to a shaded position where he can
take rest (1 minute 24 seconds) the protagonist makes a split second decision
to jump down to a ledge below, where he can continue with his climb. The camera
looks down on him from a bird’s eye view as he jumps, to which a special effect
is added in which the jump plays out in slow-motion. This sort of effect is
used regularly in action/thriller movies, to add further suspense to a
suspenseful shot (i.e. someone making a risky jump) giving time for the
audience to contemplate the outcome of the characters choice. Should the
character succeed, he looks more heroic than he would had the shot gone
normally without the addition of the slow-motion special effect, as the effect
implies that a particular stunt is more difficult than other. Of course the
protagonist succeeds in this circumstance, however upon making the jump, a cut
to a close up shot of him tripping and falling down the ledge occurs. As he
falls a cut is made to a long shot of him falling, and then another shot takes
place (this time a close up shot) of him just about managing to grab on to the
tip of the ledge, leaving his body dangling over the crags below. He switches
to hold on with one arm, and as he does the camera pans out and the bald eagle
stock sound can be heard again. This gives connotations of the protagonist’s
strength and bravado, with him dangling over a sheer cliff face with only one
arm as he looks into the distance, as though to say he came to conquer this
environment, and that’s just what he’ll do. The sound of the eagle does well to
support the imagery of his bravery and sense of wonder. After that a cut is
made to a close up shot of the protagonist turning himself around and grabbing
on to the rock with his other arm. Another cut occurs, this time to another
close up appears to have to character in the form of a crucifix, giving
religious connotations, and even going as far as to compare the protagonist
inhuman abilities to that of Christ himself. The shot begins to be pan closer
in to the protagonists face, where his expression suddenly turns from seemingly
weak and feeble to a cocky smile full of determination. The shot then goes to
another. This time a mid-range shot of the protagonist using an arsenal of
clever and seemingly impossible tricks that he did not display earlier to very
quickly scale the Cliffside. This gives further light to the religious
connotations from before. Where Christ died and was reborn, the protagonist
also seems to be reborn, stronger and more capable before, able to pull off
even greater feats. The music at this point has changed from the mixture of ambient
noises and drum rhythms, to all out Caribbean style party music, giving the
idea that at this point, conquering the environment is nothing but a fun
holiday. The protagonist reaches the top of the Grand Canyon, to which a series
of long range orbiting and panning shot occur, focusing around him, seaming
quite relived. The music at this point is at the absolute height of its
enthusiasm, drilling in the protagonists victory, and how this was merely a
vacation to him. The non-diegetic sound of the music begins to be drowned out
by the sound of a helicopter propeller, to which a cut is made to a mid-shot
looking up towards a black helicopter. Another cut is then made to close-up of
the side of the helicopter, where a man in a black suit appears to fire a
rocket in the ground near the protagonist (the camera travels with the rocket
and remains at a close-up with it for a few seconds) to which the helicopter
suddenly flies away. A shot then occurs of the protagonist crewing the end off
of the rocket revealing a pair of sunglasses. There is then a cut to a close-up
of his face, where he gives a cheeky smile then dons the sunglasses, all whilst
the non-diegetic sound of the movies theme begins to play in the background.
The theme is an adrenaline pumping electric guitar riff, which fills the
audience with anticipation for the action soon to unravel. The camera goes to a
point of view shot of the protagonist wearing the glasses, which are revealed
to be a gadget informing the character of a mission he has been selected for.
From time to time, the camera cuts to a close up orbiting shot of the
protagonists face, but it mainly focuses on the point of view shot. A voice
explains the mission he has been selected for, to which an automated voice
declares that “this message will self-destruct in 5 seconds”, a typical
convention in spy movies. The protagonist removes the glasses, throwing them
away as they explode (also muttering a one liner), and through the explosion
the title of the movie begins to construct itself, as the heavy electric guitar
riff continues to play. The sound of the theme, combined with the aw formed by
the C.G.I special effects of the movie’s title work excellently hand in hand to
get people adrenaline flowing, ready for the movie to get started.
