Taken Film Clip Analysis

The first shot in the sequence is a mid-shot of the daughter. She is about to answer her phone to her father but the music is too loud. As she walks away, the camera tracks her from the front and follows her into the bathroom where it shows a mid close-up of her to show that she is worrying, as she has lied to her father. This shot makes you feel as if she is in some sort of trouble. This develops the story because it puts her in the situation that would allow the main character to gain some sort of goal in the story. This shot makes you feel as if she is in some sort of trouble.

The next shot shows a close-up of the daughter as she watches her friend being kidnapped. This has been used to show her reaction to the kidnapping and makes the situation intensify.

 The next shot I chose was a close-up of the father frantically pushing things aside to get to a briefcase which contains a recording device to connect to the phone. This shot was probably chosen to show how anxious he is about hearing that his daughter is in danger.

The next shot is a close-up of the father with his eyes closed as he tells his daughter she is going to be taken. This is used to show how uncomfortable and worried he is about the situation. This can create some emotion and let’s you know what his emotions are.

Next I chose another close-up of the father but this time he looks concentrated as he gives his daughter precise instructions for her to follow. This was used to show how much he knows about how to deal with these situations. This could create some sort of tension through the sequence.

The next shot is another close-up of the daughter while she is hiding under the bed. She is burying her head into the floor and crying. This shows us how terrified she is about what is happening. The story can move on from there because it shows us in how much danger she really is as her father is just as scared.

The next shot is another close-up of the father as he listens to the kidnappers voices to try and distinguish which nationality they are. This is used to show how focused he is. I have noticed that there are a lot of close-ups in this sequence; this is probably because there is a lot of emotion to show in such a traumatic event.  This helps with the narrative because it gives us an idea of the kind of people the kidnappers are.

The next shot is a low level medium close up of the kidnapper’s feet as they move to where the daughter is hidden. This is used to show that the level of danger she is in has escalated and it makes us feel tense.

Again there is another low-level medium close up of the kidnapper’s feet as they leave the room after searching for the daughter. This is used to show that the immediate danger to the girl is moving away from her. This makes us feel relieved that she is safe.

After this there is a close up of the father as he hears his daughter screaming over the phone whilst being kidnapped. This helps progress the narrative because it gives the character his purpose in the story. This shot is used, again, to show his emotion and reaction to this traumatic event. This makes us feel sad for the character as we can see how hurt he is from what is going on.