In this thrilling film, producer Andrew Niccol presents Yuri Orlov(played by Nicholas Cage) as an arms dealer who confronts the morality of his work as he is being chased by an Interpool agent Danie struwig, who will do anything in his power to bring down the virtuous looking crime lord.

 

The sub genres of the film are crime and war. This is because the director illustrates Yuri Orlov as n arms dealer who sells treacherous weapons to dictators in less economically developed countries, where having the most weapons means having the most power. For instance, in the film Yuri Orlov sells arms to Joseph Mohmoh a notoriously incept leader during the sierra liona civil war around 1992.

 

At glance, from the first image within the key frame of the opening sequence the audience can learn who the main character is. I know this because the wide shot type has a text saying “NICOLAS CAGE” The fact it s in capitals indicates this person is a major performer in the film. Furthermore, the beneath this name we can see a variety of depleted uranium, which may hint the film involves a lot of bullets or weapons.

 

Secondly, the second image from the key frame was taken at a high angle shot, in a weapons factory. This is image is equilibrium because at the moment nothing is happening or being showed wrong, everything is how it’s supposed to be in a weapons factory. The setting may hint that there will be a lot of presence of bullets within the film because; if in the opening scene we can see a factory producing the bullets maybe in the film we will see the bullets being used. In addition, this shot type is a deep focus as the pressure machine which is close to the camera sticks out as well as the background of men working in a weapons factory. The pressure machine may relate to the robustness of the bullet to the pressure machine.

 

Thirdly, the third image in the key frame is taken at a very low angle shot with a bullet in the middle and the title of the film “Lord of war” in the middle of the bullet. There is very little natural lighting in the image, this maybe because the shot was taken inside a factory. The fact a bullet is small but in the in the icon the low angled shot type portrays the bullet very immense to suggest the force of it as big as the bullet shown.  What is more, the bold text “Lord of war” is in the middle of the bullet and this may indicate the person with the most bullets is the `Lord of war’.

 

Moving on, the fourth image is taken at a point of view shot as well as a close up. The set was taken at a bullets factory because we can see workers handling bullets as well as a line of bullets going down towards boxes, to be stored. The effect of the shot types makes the bullets the subject of the setting. Also, we can a bold text on the side stating “BRIDGET MOYHAN.” The fact it is written in capitals may suggest this performer is important in the film.

 

The fifth image in the key frame is taken at a deep focus shot. In the picture, you can see a Russian soldier (the actor is wearing a Soviet Union uniform) looking at a load of bullets in a tray illicitly, while in the background you can see two other soldiers having a conversation. The facial expression of the soldier looking down at the tray looks like a smirk and this may foreshadow the film has to do with soldiers perhaps taking or stealing arms. There is a lot of natural lighting in this image, but the lighting is mainly focused on the soldier looking down at the bullet.

 

The sixth image on the key frame is taken at a worms eye view shot. From the icon, you can see a pile of bullets scattered on the floor, very alike to the bullets found in image 5. The setting seems to be in an underprivileged area because you can see burnt cars and broken windows in the background. The effect of the bullets being the same from the previous shot, raises enigma codes. Furthermore, we can see men in the background with them holding weapons. The men don’t look like military soldiers, but more like poor civilians because one of them isn’t wearing any shoes, and has torn clothes. This may suggest the setting is in a less economically developed country.

 

The seventh image in the key frame was taken at an extreme close up shot. The icon shows someone picking up a bullet using their finger and thumb, whilst behind them we can see loads of scattered bullets. This shot is restricted narration as the audience have limited access her to what is happening & why is there so many bullets on the floor.

 

The eighth image in the key frame is taken at a medium close up shot. The director is showing a bullet move in slow motion past an area which looks like a war zone. This is because, we can see abandoned homes as well as a burnt car & further in the distance we can see a man holding a gun. This creates enigma codes because the audience would be thinking where is the bullet going to go and land, will it just hit the wall at the end or possibly someone. 

 

Lastly, the final image is taken at a close up shot and a point of view shot. This is because; we can a bullet in slow motion heading toward an innocent young boys head. The effect of the close up creates sympathy for the boy because the audience knows he will die as soon as the bullet reaches his forehead. This image may foreshadow that during the film innocent people will be killed by bullets.

 

Throughout the opening sequence, the director raises a serious of enigma`s. For example, in key frame five you can see a soldier looking cunningly at a tray of bullets and in the next opening sequence we see bullets scattered and possibly civilians using the bullets in action. This raises the question; can we trust our militaries with our countries arms? How do we know they won’t sell bullets and weapons to vulnerable countries whose dictators by stock of arms?