Analysis of Die Hard 4.0

Die hard 4.0 starring Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long and Maggie Q.

The 4 min intro of this movie tells the viewers what the narrative is going to be about. The hacker is giving the woman a secret code that could be used to brake into the FBI information centre.

The movie starts with a camera moving down the office full of computers and ends the motion when reaches the hacker which is an establishing shot. There is point of view shot of what the boy is doing on the computer. The computers shows the audience ‘unlocking password/ user connection…’ which gives us an idea he is doing something bad alone in the room full of computers. The camera zooms in showing the details of what is happening on the screen. At the same time there are actors name come up and disappear in a modern way, this shows the audience the movies genre which is action/ thriller. There is a short take of the hacker looking back and then camera fades in to the women he is sending the information to. The music sets the mood which we as audience see that they are doing something not right and will cause action in the story line. The camera moves into the computers screen again to show what the woman sees this is a point of view shot again. The name of the movie appears on the screen white coloured on the black background which stands and catches audience attention. There are some sound effects when the movies name comes up and goes off as well as the when actors names appear and disappear on the dark background. There is a jump cut used between the hackers and the women’s conversation through the phone.

The camera now movies slowly to the other hacker. There is a cross cutting transition used showing his computer screen. In between these shot and long takes there camera fades out into the actors names on the dark background. There are a lot of visual effects showing the information and setting the narrative, what the movie is going to be about. The dialogue is used between the women and the other hacker, talking about if it is legal or not. The music tells the views that it is an illegal operation because the music is slow and creates tension. There is a diegetic sound thought the opening scene, we can hear the sound of them typing on the computers.

Short take of a location which is an establishing shot, following by a point of view shot of the man playing a game. When the hacker hits the delete button and we see the red light, this tells the audience something is going to happen and creates tension and suspense. A long shot of the house on fire and the camera fades out. There is post production and superimposition used during a shot take of images on the computer screen. The close up of the camera of the woman typing, showing the details, followed by match on action. An establishing shot used from the air, which could be an aerial shot of the location and country. This tells the viewers the movie is set in the USA.

The music is very loud and evil when the camera moves from the top of the building where there are a lot of computers and big screens which looks like an information centre, this creates tension, suspense and confusion.
This shot might suggest to the audience that this movie could be in the future because of all the updated technologies used. A close up of mans facial expression is shown. The camera follows the action as the characters move to the other room. There is a background sound of computers, people talking and phones ringing.

The editing used in this opening scene is very modern and professional. There were a lot of transitions used. The effects used in the scenes were effective. However, there were not a lot of camera angles and compositions used.

Mirzo Y