The Lost Highway- opening scene analysis

The first scene of the lost high way begins silently, this is to help create suspense and helps to keep the audience on the edge of their seat waiting to see whats going to happen in the film. The beginning is also very poorly lit, low key lighting. This connotes danger as if something bad is about to happen and it also fits with the theme of thriller. However even though the room the man is in is poorly lit when he goes over to the window outside is very bright and holds alot of light, this suggests that there is something mysterious about the building after the prolonged silence at the beginning of the extract a long non diegetic piece of music begins playing. The long prolonged notes help to create tension for the viewer and also adds an uneasy atmosphere. The music is then cut out by a loud sound of a buzzer coming from the door. Following this is an extreme close up of the buzzer. This emphases the fact the buzzer rang and shows the viewer what the character is concentrating on. There is also a close up of the main characters eyes and this is used to show the audience his emotion and how he looks very calm. When the male character goes over to the window there is a long point of view shot of the street where the man is looking. This allows the viewer to see what the character is seeing and to experience things from his point of view. Throughout the extract the dialogue is very minimal and this also helps to keep the viewer on edge as they are unsure of what is exactly going on. However the minimal dialogue that is spoken is very simple.