Analysis of the film Divergent

Opening scene of divergent

What genre indicators are there?

The genre of the film is a science fiction. It shows us that it is set in the future as they have a massive fence surrounding there city, so we can only infer that it is in the future as we do not have that in our time now. Also the citizens are split into groups and whichever group you are in you have to wear a special outfit. This also indicates that it is in the future because that does not happen now.

What questions are the audience encouraged to ask themselves about character/narrative?

The audience may be thinking will there be a happy ending, if you was living in that world what group would you be put in, would you be happy living there or would you hate it, is this an accurate sight into what the future may look like.

What do we find out?

We find out that the public have now been split into different groups depending on what you believe and what you are capable of doing. We also get the impression that the narrator/main character will get involve with the group that protect the city, the soldiers, as I get the feeling something will happen and they will have to save the city or fight or do something in that direction. The opening 2 minutes doesn’t really give much away, it is very hard to try and infer what is going to happen.

How is the music ambient sound used and what mood is created?

At the very start we hear very dramatic music, this creates a curious/worried mood as they do not know if something bad is going to happen right at the start or if they are going to make us wait. It carries on for a good minute or 2 and then suddenly stops, this shocks us as we don’t know why it has stopped so suddenly, but then the main character starts to narrate. She starts to tell us the basics but does not give much away so leaves us guessing what is going to happen throughout the film.

What camera shots stand out for you and what is their effect or appeal?

There are many establishing shots used in the opening scene, this is effective because it gives us a real feel of what the setting looks like and where it is. There are also some medium which show the different groups this is effective because it shows us how different they all look from each other and gives you an idea of what type of people would fit in where.