Narc - Opening

The film ‘Narc’ is about when a path goes cold on a murder investigation, causing an undercover narcotics officer to be forced back into murder investigations, to help solve the case. The opening of ‘Narc’ is extremely effective as it focuses mostly on the main character, Nick Tellis (played by Jason Patric). The opening of ‘Narc’ is set mostly in the daytime, in which Nick Tellis is thinking quietly, and then it just springs into action with a flashback, with a fast tempo rhythm, of Nick Tellis chasing a criminal. 

In the opening of ‘Narc’, sound, mise-en-scene, camera and editing are used.

Sound is used to create tension and to get the audience thinking of what is going to happen next in the film, as the non-diegetic incidental music is used to create tension. The amount of dialogue used in the opening of ‘Narc’ gives the audience some indication of where the film will go. Also, there are many diegetic sounds used in the opening of ‘Narc’, such as the women and the baby screaming, the footsteps of Nick Tellis running after the criminal and the signs rattling, as Nick Tellis was running after the criminal (all in the flashback). Furthermore, in the opening of ‘Narc’, there is also a sound effect used, as Nick Tellis uses the gun to shot the criminal.

Mise-en-scene is used to create a sense of realism and to show the characters in the opening of ‘Narc’ are associated with realistic settings. In the opening of ‘Narc’, there are many different locations used to create a sense of realism, such as the interior of a domestic setting (flat and house), the interior of a working environment (working office), and a park, which are all real and simple settings in everyday life. The clothing that the characters are wearing are all associated with individuals in everyday life, as clothing such as suits (smart clothing), hats and casual clothing are worn by the characters in ‘Narc’. The props that the characters are using in the film are also all associated with individuals in everyday life, as props such as chairs and sofas are used in ‘Narc’, and the gun used in ‘Narc’ is also a prop used in the film.

The different camera shots used in the opening of ‘Narc’ show the facial expressions of the characters and what the characters are doing, as close-up shots are used to show Nick Tellis’ facial expressions, long shots are used to show Nick Tellis running after the criminal, and also medium shots are used to show the other characters in the shot, for example in the office when the officers are questioning Nick Tellis.

Editing is used in the opening of ‘Narc’ to help the film flow, in which jump cuts (from one scene to another, for example when Nick Tellis is thinking, and then the flashback occurs) and shot-reverse-shots (from one character to another) are used.