Textual analysis of The Bone Collector

This is my textual analysis of the film 'The Bone Collector' starring Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington.

 

Firstly the typography is very old fashioned and reminds me of old American style films. I think the writing style is quite typical of the 1990's. It is also quite sharp and clear fitting with the style of the rest of the opening credits. The writing is also in a cool shade of blue, making it stand out from the old fashioned black and white background images.

The images and writing we see on the opening credits could be vital to our understanding of the film. We see words like "cop convicted" "scene of the crime". The "scene of the crime" writing looks like it is printed on a book, which could foreshadow that events that may happen in the film could be based on a book or the book could be vital to the plot. 

The name here could represent a character to come.

At the beginning of the title we see an image of a man in a suit carrying a woman limp in his arms. This could represent the gender empowerment or issues that may be presented in this film. We have a lot of similar shots of a man in the same suit, maybe to subtly present to the audience that the rest of the plot will revolve around one man who has committed many murders. 

There are also a lot of flashing lights and blurred images in the opening credits. A lot of cutaways are used to present the movement through history and time. They have also used an opacity so they can layer images on top of each other, creating a cautiousness and uncertainty for the audience. In this particular image we see a mans hands with gloves on under the title of the film "the bone collector". Here it becomes clear to us that these pair of hands most likely belong to the killer and that he is the "bone collector". The use of white gloves creates a medical feel to the film as they are usually used in hospitals or labs. Maybe it could also be presenting the different characteristics of the killer, by wearing the gloves it makes him seem very cautious and intelligent, as he knows not to leave traces of himself behind.

The soundtrack to the credits is very eerie and melancholy. It has no detectable instruments helping to maintain that uncertainty. Slowly as the credits progress, more noises and layers of instruments are brought into the soundtrack to create anticipation and build the tension, At the end of the credits just before the main film begins, we hear an intense deep scream of a man. It sounds like a psychotic scream of anger which could also tell us about situations to come or maybe it is to inform us that the killer is psychotic.