Alana Roberts

Thriller Analysis – Ronin

The clip starts by fading in, and the slow speed conveys time, perhaps suggesting that history is coming back to life as the film title has a historical context. We see a series of shots of text on the screen, giving us background information about the film before it begins. The text is in a white font against a black background. These two colours contrast greatly, and could suggest some sort of battle with the black and white representing two different sides as they clash together. The colours of black and white also signify good and evil and therefore could suggest a battle involving good against evil. The font of the text is quite an ancient looking font, and looks almost like calligraphy, or that it has been painted. This implies that someone has taken time and care over it as something like calligraphy requires a lot of effort.

We hear drums, which sound almost like a build up to something, which implies a sense of excitement as a drum roll – up is often used before something important is announced. The drums also suggest a battle as drums are often used when portraying great historical battles. We also hear low singing, almost like religious chanting. This suggests that there may be an element of religion in this film, and also gives the sense of being in unison, as the low chanting is similar to a choir of monks. We hear a sound similar to a blade, indicating danger as knives are often used in crimes, murders etc. The blade could also be a sword blade, again fitting in with the battle theme as swords were a key weapon in historical battles. The blade sound continues to get louder, almost suggesting that danger is coming closer as the blade signifies danger to the audience.

The cuts also fade in and out of each other seamlessly. This suggests that history is continuing as the ancient looking font representing history seems to flow from one shot to the other without any breaks, therefore giving a continuous feel.

We then see the title of the film, ‘Ronin’, appear on the screen. A cut is used to this title rather than a fade, which makes it seem much more abrupt as throughout the rest of the sequence we see the

different texts on the screen fade in to each other. This suggests that the Ronin do not fit in with the rest of the Samurai as the sharpness of the cut contrasts to smooth flowing feeling created by the use of fade previously, linking to the ideology of the Ronin: they are outcasts as they have been rejected by the Samurai. The title, ‘Ronin’, is in an old – looking font which looks almost like

calligraphy. This could be a reference to the ideology of Japanese culture as they are quite well known for art and things such as calligraphy, therefore fitting in with the theme of the Japanese Samurai soldiers. The font also looks as if it has been carved out by a knife or sword, as it is rough looking and has jagged edges. This could also be a reference to the Ronin as they would use swords and knifes as their weapons. The background is red, which connotes danger, blood and therefore death, but also love and passion. The connotations of danger and death would immediately suggest that the Ronin are likely to be involved in fighting and battles, but as the font carved by a weapon would imply battle, and then placed upon the red background could suggest that the Ronin will fight

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for love and passion. The music becomes much higher pitched during this shot, suggesting that they are praising the Ronin as the high notes reflect a hymn or song of worship sung commonly in churches. This contrasts to what we as the audience expect as we have just learnt that the Ronin are failed Samurai soldiers that have been outcast, therefore we would not expect them to be praised in any way. The audiences feelings about the Ronin will therefore be quite negative at the beginning of this film, however as the music is praising and contrasts to our feelings, it perhaps signifies that the Ronin will be the opposite to what we expect.

This is then followed by a fade in to a shot of a church, signifying religion, suggesting a link between the Ronin and religion as the fade gives a continuous feel. The shot of the church is a long shot, which lets us see how the building towers well above the rest of the city, so our attention is immediately drawn to it. This implies that perhaps religion is dominant over the modern day society as we can see the scale of the church compared to the other buildings. However, the long shot of the church could also convey a sense of distance between the modern day society and religion as the church is in the background of the shot and therefore distant from the camera. We see that there is a great deal of light upon the church, the connotations of which are God, life, hope, innocence and good. The light could also suggest an importance for religion as it highlights the church causing it to stand out against the dark background of the night sky. This contrasts greatly to the image of the Samurai soldiers: so far as the audience we have gained feelings of death, battle and rejection. The feeling of rejection is significant in conveying the idea of Ronin being outcasts: they are rejected and therefore not wanted. The long shot of the church also conveys the move between cultures as we go from the Buddhist monk-like chanting of the opening sequence, to the dominance and light of the Christian church in modern day society, perhaps suggesting that people like the Ronin – outcasts - exist in different cultures and in the modern day.

The camera tilts and pans across the city, which causes the audience to feel as if they are God as we are looking down onto the city and the church from a high position in which He is believed to be. The use of panning causes the audience to feel as if they are searching the scene as the camera moves from one side to the other. The name ‘Paris’ appears on the screen, which is widely known as the city of love and culture, which again contrasts to what we expect of the Ronin and could again imply that the warriors fight for love, similar to the title sequence. A sense of moving forward is also suggested, as the use of the long shot lets the audience see from the use of lights and the buildings that it is modern day Paris, therefore we have gone from information about Feudal Japan to the present day, suggesting that perhaps the Ronin are now a thing of the past and we have moved on from old cultures and ideologies. We see in the shot that it is night time, which is very conventional of a thriller film and seems more secretive as everything is hidden and unseen in the darkness. A sense of danger is also implied as the night is usually associated with crime and violence. We hear a marching drum beat, reminiscent of a battle march, in the background which implies that the battle of the Ronin has continued on to the present day, and the sword sound when the name ‘Paris’ comes up suggests feelings not of love, but of weapons and fighting.

We then see a mysterious stranger walking down some stairs in an alleyway, with the long shot conveying to the audience that the rest of the area around him is deserted and that there is no one

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around to rescue him. The use of the long shot could also imply that this man is perhaps powerless as he is very small compared to the surroundings creating a lack of dominance. The feeling of loneliness is continued again when a sorrowful type of music starts up: it is in the minor key which reflects sadness, and only a single clarinet is playing, creating a sense of isolation. We see graffiti on the walls in the background when the man is walking down the stairs, which reflects

the painted writing of the Ronin at the beginning of the film but is not regarded as a beautiful thing, it is regarded as vandalism. This therefore represents the change to the modern day: once painted writing such as that of the Japanese culture was valued and appreciated, whereas now in society people use it to damage a property and is much more careless.

The camera tracks the man down the stairs, therefore mirroring as if we as the audience are watching him, but could also suggest that this man is powerful as he controls the camera movements: the camera follows him, and the camera being positioned in front of the man suggests that we as the audience are guiding him forwards and causes the audience to feel a part of what is happening rather than looking upon it. This mysterious man is wearing a hat which hides most of his face, making him appear generally more threatening as we cannot see his emotions and what he is feeling, however could also imply that he is trying to protect himself by pulling his head down low – he is trying to shield himself or cover himself up. He is wearing a long jacket buttoned right up, which is very conventional, and implies that perhaps he is hiding something from us underneath it, which causes the audience again to feel threatened by him and feel a sense of unease as his character gives nothing away about what he is going to do or whether he is good or evil – there is a strong sense of ambiguity.

The camera then cuts to a close up of the man’s face looking past the camera, obviously watching something. However the close up implies that us as the audience are mirroring his actions: we are watching him, watching something else. It also suggests that we are not interested in anything that he is watching, we are only concerned with him as his face fills the whole shot. We see that his face is half in dark and half in light, signifying good and evil, again suggesting an air of ambiguity about the intentions of this character as we do not have an idea about whether he is our villain or a good character as of yet: this man does not look like a hero as he does not have a conventional appearance of a hero; he is covered up and hiding his face, whereas a hero would be likely to be confidently striding down the alleyway. Therefore, the audience again feel a sense of unease as we do not know who the villain is.

It is raining in the shot. Water often signifies purity and is cleansing, therefore as the man is so covered up he is shielding himself from it, suggesting he is not pure and perhaps evil. This is also pathetic fallacy, as the rain mirrors the emotions at the current point in the film: depression and gloom. The camera then cuts to behind the man, which implies that he is now leading us as he is in front of the camera, and the focus has now switched from watching him closely to an over the shoulder shot which lets us focus on what he is watching. A wall is in centre shot here, which almost

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acts as a barrier protecting us as it is between us and the man and the rest of the street, however it also leads our focus down the line of the wall directly towards a van in the street below. We see that the street below is much lighter, whereas this man is stood away from it in the darkness and shadows, making him appear much more shady, mysterious and threatening.

There is than a motivated cut to a woman getting out of a car. This cut suggests to us that the woman and man have a link - the man must have been watching her as we as the audience are following what he is watching at this point in time. We feel worried for this woman, she is vulnerable

and alone in a street late at night, and we have already perceived that this man watching her seems to be quite threatening, hiding away in shadows. We begin to think of stereotypical ideas such as the man is stalking her or is going to hurt her, therefore causing us to feel in an uneasy position as we are mirroring the man’s movements at the moment and therefore mirroring

what we may believe at this point to be stalking a vulnerable, targeted woman. We then see a mid shot of the woman looking round at something, which does not allow her to connect to us and conveys that she is perhaps unsure of this place and feels uncomfortable. The car door also appears to block her from us as she is stood behind it; therefore we feel that she is alone and therefore vulnerable. Her appearance also portrays her to be fragile: she has blonde hair and is wrapped up in thick coats, all very stereotypical conventions of a woman in danger. However, the camera then tracks her away from the car door the same as the man, implying that she has just as much power as him as the same camera movement is used. We see her lean back into the car to speak to the driver which again implies she is on edge and that her mind is preoccupied as normally she could have just spoken to him as she got out of the car. The driver of the car is very dark and shadowy, and we do not see his face, which again creates a sense of unease as we cannot see the person’s face or emotions, and the use of shadow and darkness is immediately associated with evil.

The camera then tracks the woman from behind which implies that we are following her, making us again feel uncomfortable as we do not want to be in the man’s position if he is stalking her. However, the camera then cuts away to the man again and we see that he has not actually moved and therefore isn’t following the woman; therefore maybe he isn’t as bad as we first think. He is in more light in this shot, which reflects our opinion of him: we now see him in a more positive light as we know he is not actually following the woman. Samurai music is in the background in this shot, suggesting that there is some sort of link between them and this man, perhaps his actions will be similar to that of the Samurai, hence the music. This cut suggests to us that the man is perhaps waiting for something else as we see he has not moved from his position, and also creates confusion about why we seem to be following the woman if it wasn’t from the man’s perspective. Us following the woman from a different perspective could suggest that we are part of the action, rather than just watching from somebody else’s point of view.

We then cut back to the woman again inside the bar, but this time the camera follows her from the side rather than behind. This suggests that we are watching her again, but also suggests a different

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person is watching her as it is from a different angle, a different person’s point of view. This implies that more than one person is watching her, that everybody is watching her, therefore she is in danger. There are many sounds of cymbals reverberating, suggesting the frantic nature of the situation, and acting as a warning to the audience as we know she is being watched. The cymbals could also signify shivers or even sharp intakes of breath, suggesting we as the audience are beginning to panic about the danger the woman is in. Nevertheless, she is in the bar now which is extremely light compared to the darkness of outside which implies that she is in a safer place now, as the light signifies good.

This is then followed by a cut to the woman at the bar and the camera is positioned as if we are sat at the bar. A mid shot of the woman is used again which suggests that we are still very distant from her and haven’t connected with her yet, we only know she is being watched and not quite why. Our attention is drawn to another man sat next to us right at the edge of the frame, in the foreground. He is dressed all in black which immediately suggests that he is evil, and we can see clearly that he is watching the woman at the bar. As it is a long shot, we can see the other people in the background and they appear very small and therefore insignificant compared to this man in the foreground. They do not know this woman is being watching and so can’t help protect her, therefore we as the audience feel more responsible for her as we seem to be the only ones aware of the situation.

We see a mid shot of the man sat at the bar, which suggests that he is not connecting with us as it is not a close up, perhaps because he is so concerned with watching this woman. The mid shot allows

us to see that the background behind him is blurry, which implies he finds nothing else significant at that moment other than watching the woman. We see he is looking past the camera, which worries us even more as we cannot see what exactly he is looking at. During the shot there is a sword sound similar to those of the beginning sequence suggesting that he is going to hurt

the woman as a sword is a well-known weapon. This is then followed by a quick cut to a mid shot of the woman. The repetition of the mid shot implies it to be a copy of what the man is doing and therefore represents her realisation that he is looking at her as she recognises his actions. The cut was also very quick and abrupt, which suggests the woman’s panic after realising she is being watched as the sharpness signifies a sense of shock. We see her take off her dark coat: she is wearing much lighter colours underneath which connote a sense of innocence about her and imply that she is a good person. Similar camera movements such as tracking suggest that we as the audience are watching her at the same time as the man sat at the bar as we are mirroring his actions, therefore making us feel as if we are just as threatening as him as we are copying everything he does. However, we could be mirroring the man’s action because we feel responsible for the woman as at this point we seem to be the only people who know she is being watched. Therefore, we copy the man’s every move to make sure that she is protected.

We then cut back to the mysterious man outside the bar again, reminding us that he is still out there whilst this is happening. We are still unsure of him as the lighting is still very dark and shadowy signifying threat in contrast to the bright light of the bar. This is then followed by a low angle long shot of him finally walking down the stairs. The use of the low angle implies that he is superior to us and has a higher power, therefore we might assume that he will protect the woman as he is

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portrayed as being powerful in this shot. However, the long shot conveys him to be still very small in the shot, and could imply that he is perhaps powerless to protect the woman on his own. Therefore we are still left unsure as to what role he has in relation to this woman and whether he will protect her or not. As he walks down the stairs in the shot, we see the lit up church in the background at the top of the stairs, signifying heaven, and the bar in the foreground at the bottom of the stairs, signifying hell as there is much more shadow and darkness here. As the man walks down towards the bar, it is implied by the positions of the church and bar, that he is walking down towards hell.

The camera then quickly cuts to another new man, however we hear his footsteps before we actually see him. This suggests that this man is perhaps quite secretive, as we do not see him at all at first. However, this could also imply that he is ahead of us as we cannot even see him but know that he is there. The quick cut could suggest to the audience an air of urgency about the way in which he is walking, perhaps that he is doing something important and the audience are therefore curious as to what it is. The camera tracks this new man now in a similar way to before and as he walks the single clarinet music starts up, again implying a sense of isolation and loneliness. This man is also wearing similar clothes to the other mysterious man on the stairs, which suggests that they are perhaps working together and the audience get a sense of them being in unison even though they are apart with the use of the same techniques for both of them, A strong drum beat also comes in with this new man, perhaps reflecting a battle drum beat similar to that start of the film suggesting that action is about to take place, or it could also resemble a strong heartbeat, suggesting either an air of panic about him or maybe even excitement and nerves, as a heart beats faster and heavier at these times. The tracking used on him is much quicker than with the other man and the woman, again highlighting a sense of urgency about his actions, which contrasts greatly to the slow pace in which the other man on the stairs seems to be moving, perhaps suggesting that they both have different intentions at this point.

We track this new man into the bar, which we didn’t with the woman. An over the shoulder shot is used, which suggests that we are following him and are almost peeking over his shoulder at what is going on. We are much closer to him than we have been with the other two characters and it is therefore implied that this man is almost protecting us by the way in which he stands in front of the camera. We see that the women and this new man connect straight away as they make

eye contact. Therefore, we as the audience get a sense of familiarity between them and assume that they know each other. A long shot is used here show that the man previously watching the woman at the bar has moved, but we can still see him in the background. This still suggests a sense of threat as he is always there in the background, but by having this new man in the foreground making eye contact with the woman we therefore assume that he is a warning to her and that he is a good character. We see in the background the man smoking a cigarette during this shot and as he does so we hear the familiar sword sound again. This suggests that the new man and the woman haven’t realised that someone is watching them, which causes the audience to feel nervous as we do know they are being watched, so we feel almost responsible to save them. At this point the drumming becomes louder and faster mimicking a heart beating faster, perhaps representing the audience’s

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heartbeats and nerves, therefore signifying a sense of panic for the audience as we know he is watching them.

This is then followed by a cut to a close up of the new man, which suggests that he has realised that something is wrong as we are closer to his face. A motivated cut to the other man in the background follows, which implies that we are now from the new man’s point of view; we are in his position. This suggests that he is now suspicious of this man as well as the audience as we are now both looking at him. We see a mid shot of this man, adding to the suspicion as we cannot see his whole body and so do not know exactly what he is doing, but we see that he is smoking directly in front of a no smoking sign, suggesting that he is a rebellious character as he does not conform to the rules and seems to have a disregard for them. This could also suggest a sense of selfishness for the man as his disregard for the rules is not respecting others or society – he only cares about himself. The camera cuts between the woman, the new man and the other man using mid shots for all of them, suggesting that they all have some sort of connection at that moment: we as the audience can see it but the woman is still oblivious to the fact she seems to be being closely watched as she is looking down in the mid shot, which makes her seem more vulnerable as she is less aware of what is happening around her. However, the mid shot could make her seem less vulnerable as we are not too close to her face and therefore not too close to her emotions.

We then cut to a long shot of the other man still outside the bar. The long shot is used to show that he doesn’t link with the others as mid shots were used for them previously. Therefore, the audience

are still unsure of him, and the long shot could imply how distant we are as the audience from him in terms of connecting with him and gaining a clear picture of his character. The camera then cuts to a close up of him, which implies we are much closer to him but his face is expressionless so in a way we are not as he is giving nothing away. We see a point of view shot from his

perspective as he is watching the woman through a gap in the curtain through a window, still outside the bar. This again suggests he is watching the woman, and by looking through the curtains almost suggests that he is spying on her. The blade sound occurs yet again when he watches her, which suggests he is a danger to her after all as the blade represents some sort of weapon signifying death, and we see that she is in the light straight through the two curtains, highlighting her as a target. The stair rails stretching across the window are reminiscent of bars suggesting that the woman is trapped in the bar and we see that the new man, implied perhaps as the protection for her, has his back turned to the window through which the man is looking, suggesting that he is powerless to help her at this moment as he cannot see him watching through the window. The camera then cuts to a close up of the new man watching the woman, suggesting that he is so focused on her that he is oblivious to the fact that someone is watching out of the window. We then cut back outside again, suggesting that he is still present, but this time we are in front of him as he is watching the woman, suggesting that his actions are more important at this point as we are watching him rather than watching the woman from his perspective. We see a light go out behind him, perhaps foreshadowing a death in the bar as light signifies life, which was then extinguished,

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signifying death. A light also goes out yet again when he walks into the bar, creating quite an ominous feeling and suggesting that the death is coming closer as at first the light went out outside the bar, and now inside the bar and therefore closer to the characters. We continue to track him, which suggests an air of suspicion as it implies we are watching his every move closely. We see a long shot of him outside the bar again, in which there are stairs in the foreground which seem to block him from us. The use of the long shot creates more of a distance between him and the audience, and together with the stairs blocking him from us, it appears as if we are spying on him.

We then see a long shot of him in an alley way outside the bar, in which there has been an ellipses in time, suggesting that his actions are continuous and can’t be stopped. The long shot implies that he is less dominant of the camera than at the beginning of the film, and he walks away from the light becoming more silhouetted again creating a sense of threat as he is walking away from the hope and good signified by the light of the bar. Happier sounding music starts, which implies that he is beginning his action of saving the woman as the music sounds much more heroic and optimistic than the previous clarinet music. This confuses the audience as we suspected up until now that he was up to no good. The camera zooms into a close up of his face, indicating the realisation that he has got his plan together and is confident in it as the close up lets us see his emotion and his confident expression. We then see a point of view, panning shot which suggests he is looking around as if he is looking for something, and checking for any danger. This implies he is planning something as he is searching to check that it is safe to go ahead with it.

The camera tracks the man in the alleyway in a close up, which suggests we are watching his every move very closely as we can see his emotions and are very close to him by the use of the close up. The music becomes louder, which perhaps reflects this man’s growing nerves and anxiety as it is now more dominant. We see the man walk back and forth, and there is no editing during this shot. This contrasts to the previous fast editing, and makes the pace much slower. This mirrors his emotions and suggests that he is calm and controlled and perhaps planning something, as the pace has slowed down for him to think. However, there is then a fast cutaway to the gun, signifying danger and violence. It reminds us that the danger is still there even though there is an air of calm, and the close up is used to suggest that the gun in now more important than the man as it is dominant in the shot.

The camera then circles the man, almost as if we are watching him, but we are actually following where he is putting the gun. This suggests that violence is now more dominant is the camera is more

interested in the gun than him as it follows the gun rather than the man at this point. We see an over the shoulder shot of him, which suggests we are almost with him, his partner, rather than watching him as we are so close to him rather than just standing back at a distance watching. As he pulls the gun out we hear the familiar blade sound again, which is a reference to the

Ronin as it is parallel to the way they would pull their sword out, therefore suggesting danger to come as both the gun and a sword are commonly used weapons. We also hear very low drum beats, mimicking a heartbeat, therefore a realisation from the audience that there is some danger, as a

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heartbeat is usually associated with being nervous. The clarinet music also starts up yet again implying that this man is alone and isolated compared to others as the lonely music contrasts greatly to the bar full of people.

We then see a low angle shot of the gun hidden behind the crate. This suggests that there is more focus on the gun at this point as it is down on the floor whereas we can only see the man’s feet, suggesting a lack of importance for him here because we can only see part of his body. The gun is also in the light which connotes hope and rescue, perhaps for the woman, contrasting to the man walking into the darkness, again suggesting that he is bad, or evil. The fact that he leaves the gun behind could suggest to the audience that he is not going to save the woman as we thought, as it represents rescue for her. As the man walks away from the gun, a long shot is used, implying that a distance has been created between him and the audience, perhaps now that he has lost his gun.

Parallel editing is used to convey what is happening in the bar at the same time as the man in the alleyway. This suggests that the two places may be connected as the camera switches between both locations. The bright light in the bar contrasts with the darkness of the alleyway, implying that there is more security there, and that it is safer, more positive than the darkness signifying the danger of the alleyway. The camera zooms in to a close up of the new man’s face letting the audience see his emotion, which indicates a link between him and the man in the alleyway, as before he was linked with the woman by the use of eye contact. This causes the audience to feel unsure of what is happening as the different links between characters makes us wonder what connects them, and who we should focus on. There is then a motivated cut to the door of the bar as the alleyway man enters, which implies that the audience share the same feeling of suspicion as the new man as we are following his eye line, therefore mirroring his actions. There is then a very quick cut of the alleyway man entering the bar, which suggests a lack of focus on him and his behaviour as the camera doesn’t spend much time on him. This implies that the other’s reactions are more important at this point, perhaps because we know that the new man is suspicious of him.

We then see a matched cut, or a shot, reverse shot. This implies anxiety in the different characters as the camera flicks between different people in the bar as if someone is looking around in panic and is a typical convention of a thriller film. We realise that the woman, new man and the bar owner are together as they are in a mid shot in the foreground, whereas the alleyway man is blurry in a long shot suggesting a distance between them. The use of the mid shot for the three in the foreground suggests we as the audience are closer to them as the camera is physically closer to them, and the fact that we are closer to them in the foreground rather than the alleyway man in the background implies that we are on their side rather than his. However, the camera still tracks the alleyway man as he walks round the bar suggesting that we as the audience are still conscious of him as we know he was watching the others through the window and the camera follows his movement. It also suggests that the other three characters are all watching him in the same way as the camera follows him all the way around the bar, therefore implying that they have a unity. We then find ourselves staring at the other three as if from the alleyway man’s point of view, suggesting we are now on his side. This confuses the audience as we keep jumping from one side to the other so we are not sure whose side we are supposed to be on at this point, suggesting a

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lack of trust between the audience and the charcters. There is no sound in the bar, which represents a lack of certainty and awkwardness. The silence suggests the characters do not know what to think, as there are no clear sounds indicating any clear feelings. As there is no sound the audience is well aware of the sound of the phone ringing. This perhaps represents an alarm for the audience and warns them that there is some sort of danger approaching, as an alarm is usually associated with some sort of danger: the ringing sound is reminiscent of a fire alarm or warning sound. There is another motivated cut from the bar owner to the alleyway man, suggesting that he is still being watched, again suggesting that the others suspect him for something and so are watching his actions closely. The camera tracks him yet again but from the front, as if it is guiding him forwards. This suggests to the audience that we are in the place of his partner again, as leading him confirms that we are on his side, as it feels to the audience as if we are instigating his actions. He walks into the darkness, which again suggests vulnerability as he will not be able to anticipate what is coming as quickly.

As the alleyway man opens the door inside the bar, the camera spins around him, mirroring the movement with the gun. This suggests to the audience that he is aware he is being watched, and as

the camera movement is similar to when a person feels sick and the room spins, it reflects panic and a sense of being nervous. The blade sound is heard yet again, which reminds us that the gun is still outside the bar, as when we last heard the sound it was when he was placing the gun behind a crate. We see a point of view shot from the alleyway man’s perspective of double doors closed with

the rest of the bar behind it. The point of view shot suggests that we care about him, rather than the others as we are seeing things from his perspective, and it is implied that he is separated from the rest of the bar as the closed doors block him from it and act as a barrier for him, perhaps protecting him in some way.

Parallel editing is then used yet again as we cut back to the bar, displaying what is happening whilst the alley way man is in the toilet. As the camera keeps cutting between the different characters and their different locations, and the editing is not continuous, suggesting a lack of trust as we as the audience are focusing on all of the characters and what they are doing at once, rather than just one. We see a shot in which the camera is looking into the mirror, so that we can only see people’s reflections. This implies that all the characters may not be who they initially appear to be, as a reflection does not reveal the truth about a person. The camera is static until the owner takes an old woman out of the bar, suggesting that he is protecting the old woman by taking her out as he suspects the other two characters of something. The camera then tracks the woman as if we as the audience are keeping a close eye on her, suggesting that we feel responsible to protect her as she is left alone with the man who keeps watching her.