Analysing Opening Scenes and Setting - 'Cliffhanger'

The first opening scene I am going to look at in terms of setting is 'Cliffhanger'.

The dramatic non-diegetic music and the amplified diegetic sounds of helicopter blades whirring, suggest that the setting may be remote and dangerous, and this is confirmed with the opening shot of the helicopter and the remote setting of snow-capped mountains in the background.

The helicopter is loosely framed, suggesting vulnerability in such a harsh environment, and the extreme long shots of the mountains make the area look vast and foreboding, despite the beauty of the snow. A cut to another extreme long shot of the landscape shows a huge over-hanging rockface, with the tiny silhouette of a man hanging off it. The landscape is so vast that it dwarfs the man, making him look vulnerable. Arcing low angle shots have a dizzying effect on the spectator, but because the man seems to dominate the landscape, we get a sense of his skill. Here, the director is using the landscape to signify information to the audience about character; he is brave, highly skilled, fearless.

The dialogue between characters in the helicopter and the control tower, indicates how dangerous the environment is and, therefore by implication, how skilled the man on the cliff-face is. Long shots of the rock face show that the man is hanging off the cliff with one hand, wearing a vest and shorts; his actions and his costume indicate that he is confident in this environment.