Harry Buckle - Thriller analysis - Sin City

As the opening begins, it appears that both the female character and the male character are both protagonists, but, because the woman's dress is the only thing in colour, she is more of a protagonist or antagonist that the man is.

• Characters
  - The female character is, as the scene continues, clearly a victim and ,therefore, is less likely to be an antagonist than the man. This, along with the fact that she seems to be important enough to have colour, which makes her stand out in the scene, makes the spectator think that she is reliant to the story.
  - The male character seems to be just as likely to be a protagonist, as he is also describing what is happening from his point of view as a narrator. He then causes confusion to the spectator, as he then tells her that he will keep her safe, shot her and then still holds her as she dies like he still cares.
• Narrative
  - The Calm, bass-filled voice of the male character describing what is happening is contrapuntal when paired with the sudden shock of him shooting the female character.
  - The Dialogue exchanged between them is minimalistic and, again, contrapuntal, as they are just have small talk, which elevates to talking about the female character getting into trouble.
• Editing + Camera Work
  - With the dialogue being minimalistic, it allows the cinematography to be more varied than just constant over the shoulder shots of whoever's turn it is to speak. 
  - The contrast of the woman's red dress and the Film Noir colouring of the rest of the setting, helps the spectator assign her as the subject of the scene.
  -When the male character says "it's your eyes" her eyes, flash green for a second. this may indicate that she likes what he's saying, or just shows what he's talking about.
• Mise en scene
  -The female character hugs herself occasionally, which shows that she is in a vulnerable state. As the male character approaches her and they begin their dialogue, she looks collective and confident, but by the end of the male character's speech about what he sees in her eyes, she is panicked and appears to be weak.
  -Her dress and her lipstick being the only coloured elements of mise en scene in the opening scene, shows her relevance in this storyline to the spectator. It can also be seen as symbolic and it is a mark for the male character, like the cliché laser pointer of a sniper rifle on someone's head in a action movie to indicate they are going to die in a matter on seconds. 
• Sound
  - While the Voice over of the male character is very clear, the actual dialogue is slightly unclear. This might be in relation to the Film Noir setting and the black and white films of 40's, i.e. Casablanca.
  
  In conclusion, the fact that the entire scene is spent on making the spectator think that these two are both major protagonists, makes the shock of the gunshot even more shocking, even though it isn't clear what has happened.