Research - S.W.A.T

Analysis of the opening scene to S.W.A.T

• Between 00.33-00.44 we see the titles some up in a bold blue font. This suggests police as blue is the police lights colour. Also as the titles come up there is the sound of a police woman across the radio and police lights flashing on the screen which make the word 'swat' this shows the viewer that this film is about the police and especially the branch 'swat'.
• From 00.47 - 00.50 the camera pans up over the Hollywood sign to show a group of helicopters flying over Hollywood. This camera shot not only shows were the film is based but also shows the scale of the event that is unfolding as we can see five helicopters flying of in the distance. 
• The camera work between 00.51-01.01 is very shaky and poor quality with lots of zooms in and out. This has been done to make it seem like your actually there witnessing this event, a film reporter or just a bystander with a hand held camera. This puts the viewer right into the action from the moment the film begins. 
• 01.02 shows a shot of a helicopter in flight over the action scene with a search camera on the front. Then the camera shot flicks to a car were two men are shooting from at 01.04. This gives the impression that that helicopter was filming or looking at these guys as this technique makes the viewer think that we are looking from the helicopters point of view.
• 01.04 to 01.06 is an example of match on action because we see the man firring the AK47 and then the next frame is looking at the police car and we see the bullets from the gun hit the windscreen of the car. 
• At 01.12 the camera is pointing at a man firring a gun. The shot is a medium close up and is from the ground looking up at him. This shows this character to be powerful and giving the impression that he is winning the fire fight.
• At 01.20 the director is obeying the rule of thirds. What is also interesting about this frame is that it is an extreme close up of the character, this frame gives the impression that he is very aggressive and 'in your face'. It is as if he is shouting the commands at the viewer.
• The quick camera movement between 01:22 and 01.26 gives the impression of action and danger to the viewer. 
• At 01.36 the camera angle is high above the SWAT truck, this camera angle gives the viewer a view of the word 'swat' on the top of the truck, this shows that swat is the main theme in the film.
• At 01.37 the music of the film starts to kick in when we see the SWAT team kit up in a helicopter this suggests to the viewer that these are the heroes of the film and that they are there to kick ass!!