Product research: No Country for Old Men

The film starts with a voice over of a sheriff telling us about his life and changes he has seen in the town. The first five seconds of the voice over the screen is completely black creating a sense of uncertainty because it is unusual to have a blank screen in a movie. The non-diegetic sound of the sheriff is then placed with a montage of abandoned places and landmarks of the desert. This gives the sheriff a powerful edge and a god complex. In montage we see earlier in the film are all wide shots with straight cuts. The montage also seems to be documenting the sun rise which could reflect the storyline such as; the story starts off in a bad place but ends with hope. You can also hear the faint sound of the wind which not only emphasis how deserted the desert is but also creates a sense of realisms.

Suspense is created by the use of different close ups used to introduce the main characters. In the case of Anton Chigurh we see close ups of the back of his head and his hands by doing this it makes it harder for the audience to guess what he is thinking or what he is going to do because we cant see his face.

The first time we see his face is when he is killing the cop in the station, by doing this the directors are tell us the kind of man he is. The next time we see is face (which you cant see in this extract) is when he is killing the driver he pulled over. They use a lot of close-ups and high shots to create an air of power around him.

After watching this movie we thought it will be a good idea is we incorporate a voice over at the beginning to give the audience a bit of background information.