Now You See Me Opening Scene Analysis

Now You See Me is a Crime/Mystery Thriller staring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco. In the opening sequence of this film you meet four main characters who will feature throughout the film.

In the first scene you will meet Daniel Atlas, it begins with a close up shot of him holding a deck of cards with the dialogue being him explaining to someone what he is about to for his next magic trick, after he is finished explaining the camera will then be positioned behind him creating the over the shoulder angle so that you can see the woman he is talking to in this shot, the woman and the crowd around her are all in focus while the person who is just left to the camera has been placed out of focus, this could have been done so that you know who Atlas is aiming his conversation to. The camera will then go back to a close up of him however the camera will begin to slowly focus onto the deck of cards in his hand to indicate to the viewer what to look at during this scene, as the focus goes to the deck of cards Atlas goes out of focus however continues to talk. The camera will then show a close up of the woman in front of him with four people in the crowd being focused on and the rest being out of focus, the woman doesn't have much dialogue in this scene however at the beginning of this shot you can still hear the dialogue from Atlas however we can see the reaction of the woman and the crowd in front of him. You will then see a back and forth eye-line match shots which run for 4 seconds in the scene, the back and forth close ups will feature small dialogue being shared between the two main characters in the shot. After this Atlas brings out the cards showing them to the woman and the audience behind her, the camera pans down from a close up of Atlas then down to the cards focusing onto the cards, after this scene that was about 1 second long it will go onto another eye line match of the two characters exchanging dialogue for a few seconds of the scene then the camera goes to being a mid range shot of Atlas throwing the cards up into the air with the crowd in surprise with the camera panning up and the cards fall down to the ground showing the apartment building with the number of the cards showing up within the lights in the apartments. The camera will then cut back down to the woman and the rest of the crowd in shock then another cut to the building with a high up pan around the building before another cut to the crowd clapping.

After the first scene in the film it will then cut to the next scene to meet the next main character. The camera is in a close up shot showing the poster of a man called Merritt McKinney with the camera zooming out to show him hypnotising a woman as a part of his act. After this different cuts used to go into different camera angles showing Merritt and the couple who paid to see his act. It then goes to an over the shoulder shot behind Merritt to show the man that he is talking to, the two exchange some dialogue with the over the shoulder shots from Merritt and the man until a side shot showing all three characters in the scene is used with Merritt on the left, the woman in the middle out of focus and the man on the right. After this another over the shoulder shot is used to show Merritt talking then it will go into a fast paced extreme close ups that lasts 2 seconds with extreme close ups on the mans face including his eyes, mouth and the side of his face, the extreme close ups is used so that it emphasises the reaction to each letter that Merritt says to him, after his reaction has forced him to reveal a letter another extreme close up pan shows the mans reaction to the names that Merritt is saying so we can see his reaction to the names. After Merritt finds a name it does a close up shot of the woman attempting to answer him as she was put under hypnosis. After this there is a continuous use of the over the shoulder shots and different cuts used to show the dialogue exchanged between the two characters. In this scene the use of close ups and over the shoulder shots were popular as they used this type of shot mainly for the important parts of the scene.

The camera pans around a shot of New York with the shot focusing on the bridge and on a yellow boat that is driving down the river, this shot lasts for about 2 seconds before cutting to Jack on the boat walking out the door, in this scene a sound bridge is used as you can hear the dialogue of the character talking even though we are currently not on that scene yet as he is walking up the steps to the top deck of the boat. As he reaches the top deck it cuts to show him talking to the crowd of people, this is a long shot as you can see most of his body in the shot, 3 rows of people and the landscape behind him, after a few seconds of dialogue it then cuts to show people on the boat turn around within interest of what he is talking about. There is also another cut to him this time with a mid range camera angle showing him hold up a spoon showing it to the crowd of people around him, this shot is about 2 seconds long before a pan down another mid range shot of him hitting the spoon against a metal railing to prove the spoon he will use for his magic trick is real, it quickly pans up before another cut to a long shot of him talking to the crowd explaining what he is about to do and how they will be involved in the trick. After the dialogue it cuts to a close up shot of him supposedly bending the spoon with his mind, this lasts for about 2 seconds before an over the shoulder shot so that we can see the reaction of the audience watching the trick. After he bends the spoon he lifts it up with the crowd of people clapping and a close up of the bent spoon in his hand. A man from the crowd approaches him and pulls the spoon from his back pocket in an extreme close up shot, in this sequence we see an extreme close up shot of the man grabbing the spoon from his back pocket and a extreme close up of their hands interlocking as if he was trying to stop him. A two shot is used after
this scene to show the two men exchanging dialogue then a cut to a over the shoulder shot to show a spectator talking to Jack. After Jack gives the man money it cuts to the bottom of the stairs showing Jack leaving the top deck.

A cut is used to go to the next scene with the camera panning around from the front of Henley Reeves to the back of her showing the crowd around her, it then cuts to a close up of people in the crowd cheering with another cut to a clock up on the wall with the camera zooming in towards it then another cut to show the tank above her with a pan down to show her underneath. An extreme close up is used to show her feet with the chains attached then another extreme close up of her hands together with chains. A quick cut from her to the clock beginning to count down then back to her falling into a tank for water all used in a close up style to show her reaction as she goes into the water. A short pan begins to show that she is in the tank of water with a quick cut of her fumbling with the chains on her wrists then another quick cut to a long shot of her in the tank then another quick cut to an extreme close up of her face underwater. After this quick sequence it goes to a medium shot of her showing the crowd her wrists free from the chains. A slanted shot is used to show the clock that is up on the wall counting down then a cut from the clock goes to show the tank above her. A long shot is used again to show her fumble around with the chains that are holding her legs down while the crowd is cheering however during this long shot you can see her begin to panic as the crowd slowly stops
cheering. A medium shot pan is used to show her hitting against the glass and the spectators begin to panic as a cut goes to the clock showing she doesn't have much time left before the tank of piranhas is
dropped. An extreme close up is used to show her underwater pointing to something that may break the glass for her to escape. A medium shot is used to show the crowd running around trying to help her out with a cut to a man hitting the glass with something however this doesn't break the glass. Another cut to a medium shot of the clock going down then to a close up of her pulling herself free at the last minute, an overhead shot is used to show her getting out of the water then a medium shot of
the piranhas being released on top of her while hearing her screaming after this. A close up is used to show her panic as she is pushed back underwater with the piranhas swimming around her, a long shot is used after this scene to show the crowd panic as you hear Henley screaming with water gushing back on to her, a quick cut is used to go to a close up of her scrambling around then a medium shot of the crowd hitting the glass, another cut is used to go to an extreme close up camera shot of her underwater up against the glass trying to get out.