Film Analysis - Week 5
Dr. No (1962) - Directed by Terence Young
Dr. No (1962) - Directed by Terence Young
The first of the incredible famous and successful ‘James Bond’ series of films. This film capitalised on the Action/Crime genre and was one of the first to show audiences this entirely new outlook on films. Prior to the 1960’s, Crime films were mainly focused around very dark and unsettling topics, with practically no element of tension or fast paced action as we seen in many Action/Crime films nowadays. Many crime films were Noir, literally meaning dark and lacking much excitement. We take this genre for granted and see it several times in today’s film such as in The Fast and The Furious, Batman and Bourne series’. Dr. No and all other James Bond films are based on the stories of war veteran Ian Fleming, who created the tale of an MI6 agent with ‘a licence to kill’. This film, like many other James Bond films which share very similar narratives and ideas, has themes of romance, power, violence, misdirection and authority.
Comparing modern James Bond films to this film can be very difficult as any newer film in the series has the luxury of assuming that audiences have seen films in the genre before, considering the fact that this film had to introduce a franchise, which at the time the film makers most likely weren’t aware of. The film follows the protagonist, Mr. James Bond (Sean Connery) an agent at England’s MI6 who travels to Jamaica after the death of a fellow agent. Here he rendezvous with an agent from the American CIA and they follow the investigation of the deceased agent. The film has a very strong performance from all the character but most notably the protagonist. He is made to seem like ‘the good guy’, perfection around every corner, who makes no mistakes and has an element of class that a 60’s audience would definitely respect. The cultural differences between 50 years of this film being made shows a real difference in expectations among the crowds, the technical aspects of the film may also seem a little underwhelming for modern James Bond fans, but it is understandable for the time and may have even seemed revolutionary at one point. Although much of the technology we use nowadays to create realistic and believable scenes is not present in this film, it drove film makers to create everything using practical sets and locations. The film crew actually flew to Jamaica in order to film Dr. No, something which would most likely be created through the use of visual effects today.
Perhaps an insignificant bit of analysis which I noticed shows the contrast between editing techniques which Dr. No and many other films currently is that the transition between scenes is a cross-fade, in which the current shot fades to black while the next shot fades from black. The two overlap leaving a small moment in which both shots are visible, this is known as a cross-fade. Fades are used very rarely nowadays because they can seem very slow and a fast cut with no delay between scenes is easier and much more well paced. The film was most likely shot on 35mm and cut using literal ‘cuts’ in the film compared to the digital sense in which films are cut nowadays. The fade between shots in earlier films was probably due to the physical overlapping or swapping of film rolls through the projector.
Comparing modern James Bond films to this film can be very difficult as any newer film in the series has the luxury of assuming that audiences have seen films in the genre before, considering the fact that this film had to introduce a franchise, which at the time the film makers most likely weren’t aware of. The film follows the protagonist, Mr. James Bond (Sean Connery) an agent at England’s MI6 who travels to Jamaica after the death of a fellow agent. Here he rendezvous with an agent from the American CIA and they follow the investigation of the deceased agent. The film has a very strong performance from all the character but most notably the protagonist. He is made to seem like ‘the good guy’, perfection around every corner, who makes no mistakes and has an element of class that a 60’s audience would definitely respect. The cultural differences between 50 years of this film being made shows a real difference in expectations among the crowds, the technical aspects of the film may also seem a little underwhelming for modern James Bond fans, but it is understandable for the time and may have even seemed revolutionary at one point. Although much of the technology we use nowadays to create realistic and believable scenes is not present in this film, it drove film makers to create everything using practical sets and locations. The film crew actually flew to Jamaica in order to film Dr. No, something which would most likely be created through the use of visual effects today.
Perhaps an insignificant bit of analysis which I noticed shows the contrast between editing techniques which Dr. No and many other films currently is that the transition between scenes is a cross-fade, in which the current shot fades to black while the next shot fades from black. The two overlap leaving a small moment in which both shots are visible, this is known as a cross-fade. Fades are used very rarely nowadays because they can seem very slow and a fast cut with no delay between scenes is easier and much more well paced. The film was most likely shot on 35mm and cut using literal ‘cuts’ in the film compared to the digital sense in which films are cut nowadays. The fade between shots in earlier films was probably due to the physical overlapping or swapping of film rolls through the projector.
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