Research into openings of action films: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation was the second film I analysed as part of my research into existing film openings - here, I have begun to notice similarities in this opening and Spectre's, such as the slow reveal of characters and the costume.

Code and Conventions	Findings	Textual evidence
Creation of enigma	The scene is set and we are introduced to two of the characters through a call and one of them popping up in grass fields, communicating to the audience that they’re involved in a mission	1.04 – a grass field with trees in the distance, a voice calls Benji at 1.14-1.18 – this character is revealed at 1.19, when he pops up in a grass disguise in a field.
Introduction to characters	Benji is shown to be in a field in a grass disguise, while Brandt is fully revealed to be in a surveillance room when the light brightens to properly reveal his face (having initially been shown to be in the scene through a diegetic voiceover). The third character to be introduced, Luther (who is at the top of a signal tower in Malaysia), informs Brandt of the mission progress through telecoms, before Ethan Hunt arrives to help Benji.	1.13 – ‘Benji? Benji, do you copy? Benji?’ 1.19 - Benji appears in grass, wearing a disguise to camouflage with the environment. 1.43 – ‘We’re working on it’ 2.59 – Ethan runs up a hill and towards the plane, before jumping on it
Setting up plot	Location name is shown when the film opens to a field of grass to introduce the film, the setting/scene and the mission that will be taking place.	1.05 – ‘Minsk, Belarus’
Pace and rhythm Editing/mise en scene/camera shots	Slow panning has been used at the beginning to set the scene and create a peaceful atmosphere and continues when we first see Benji until we are shown a close-up of him. The close-up allows us to focus on what he is up to, i.e. spying on a plane through binoculars; the audience can further see events through Benji’s eyes in an eyeline match, followed by a point of view shot. Fast cross cutting takes place between Benji, Brandt and Luther to convey the importance of shutting down the plane and later the tension when Benji is unable to do so and Brandt covers his face with one of his hands, showing that he has lost hope in the mission – this is when crane is used to go up a hill that Ethan has run up from the other side; he is shown to be the only solution to the problem and therefore a saviour. Brandt and Ethan wear suits, though the latter does not wear a tie – this piece of mise en scene suggests that Brandt takes his appearance more seriously than Ethan, although they can both be seen to be formal, business-like people.	Panning continues from 1.05 until 1.21. Cross cutting takes place between 1.23-2.58 and cuts amongst Benji, Brandt and Luther. 1.22 – close up of Benji in the grass. 1.24 – binocular POV shot. 1.28 – Brandt’s introduction. 1.53 – Brandt puts a hand in front of his face. 2.59 – camera moves up a hill via crane to coincide with Ethan reaching the top.
Mood and tone (non-diegetic music)	Intense music begins when Benji gets up from the grass and subsequently corresponds with Brandt and Luther while trying to hack into the plane’s system – a sense of importance is created for the audience and conveyed through the urgency in Brandt’s voice. When Ethan arrives, the Mission Impossible theme starts to play, before stopping when he gets on the plane and beginning again when he releases the missile package’s parachute.	1.18 – beginning of intense non-diegetic music, lasts until 2.59, when the main part of the Mission Impossible theme begins to play until 4.45 and resumes from the very beginning at 5.11.