Layer Cake Opening Sequence Analysis

The film begins with an establishing shot of the back of a car. A voice-over is used which shows that whoever is speaking is the protagonist of the film, already putting the audience on his side. There is a reverse zoom from the back of the car which creates tension as the audience might expect something to happen and then there is a sudden explosion and the camera moves quicker as it shows an armed robbery taking place. This introduces the genre of this film as it is establishing the violence.

A graphic match is then used from one of the robber’s hair to someone else’s hair in a different scene. This scene now is a group of hippies, so this has established the theme of drugs in this film, showing the genre is a crime and thriller, and that somehow drugs are involved with the narrative.
Another graphic match is used from a hippie’s legs walking to a police officer’s legs walking down the corridor of a prison. A tracking shot is used across the prison and the inmates, also showing the characters from the previous scenes now in prison. This links drugs and criminals coming together, again showing the narrative of this film.
The scene then changes to a chemist/shop and as the voice-over says “me”, a character then walks into the shot. This shows that this character is the person who has been talking throughout this opening. He then says, “I’m not a gangster, I’m a business man.” This puts the audience on his side because the impression of a drug dealer is usually a bad representation, and is stereotypically a criminal and evil, someone you wouldn’t want to be associated with, therefore because he says he’s a business man it makes him sound more professional and smart. The audience know he is a drug dealer as he has been narrating through the film so far, telling the audience that it is his occupation, as well as working in a letting agency. He seems like a ‘nice’ drug dealer, as he presents himself smart by wearing a suit. He also says he’s “clean”, which shows he doesn’t take the drug himself, which shows he is respectable and professional. He is also well spoken and honest, putting the audience even more on his side because he doesn’t come off as a threat.
A crane/tracking shot is then used across a building, then tracking inside the window showing the protagonist with another character, sitting on a table. They are both wearing clinical masks over their mouths while sorting the drugs out. This shows that they are both professional in this job as they are safe. In the background of this scene, jazz music is used. This music is relaxing, which shows that the people in this scene are nothing to be afraid of and again puts the audience on this character’s side.
The music then stops and sirens start. This makes the audience have something to be worried about, as these alarming sounds connate as dangerous. As these sounds go on, another graphic match is used on an American police car to a police car in Amsterdam. This changes the scene and location effectively, showing that there is possibly a similarity between these locations. As the scene changes the music becomes more sinister, and the audience are introduced to some new characters at the same time. This shows that these characters are perhaps not to be trusted and are not on the same side of the protagonist the audience met earlier in this opening sequence. As the protagonist carries on in the voice-over, he says “stupid” and the camera then shows the group of people, which shows that these characters are stupid, because he said this as the audience are introduced to them.
The shot then crosscuts back to the protagonist and his companion in the building, and they are seen using scales to measure out the drugs. This shows that they are professionals in their job, making it seem like it’s not a crime.
It crosscuts back to Amsterdam, where a crane shot is used showing the group of people in a car trying to find greenhouses, and the crane shot shows lots of huge greenhouses right next to them. This shows that they are even more stupid which makes the audience not like them as much as the protagonist, who is represented as very smart.
There is another cross cut back to the protagonist in an office with several others. A tracking shot is used as he takes equal amounts of money out of a bag and gives them to the others. This shows the amount of money in their business and also shows that he is a good boss, as he gives everybody an equal amount of money, therefore he is represented as trustworthy and honest.
All the way through this opening sequence, the protagonist’s name is never given to the audience. This means that he is outsmarting the audience throughout the whole clip, making him superior over everybody.  

By completing this analysis I continued my learning further of the four technical codes and how they create understanding. Layer Cake is the first clip we looked at to analyse genres and this film is a thriller, so by analysing this opening made me understand what visual codes are needed to get across that the film is a thriller.