Hunger Games: Catching Fire Film Opening

Analysis Post Apocalyptic

Shots/Angles/movement

The first shot of the opening scene is an establishing shot. It is a helicopter view of the setting. It is shown on the screen for quite a long

time and the movement of the camera is slow. It continues to go over the top of the forest. This introduces to the audience where the film is set.

It suddenly cuts to a mid shot of a person. The audience doesn’t know who this person

is yet. This shot identifies the setting as well as the person.

Her positioning is right in the centre so that the audience’s

eyes are drawn to her as she is the main

focus.

The third shot introduces the

character (the main character, Katniss). It is a close up of her

so that the audience can see clearly who she is and see her facial expressions.

Match on action is used in these two shots. Her turning around to fire, and then another character introduced telling her to calm

down. The shot on the left is a close up showing the action and the shot on the right is an over the shoulder shot showing her point of view. The bow and arrow is still present in the left hand corner to

show it is her. There is a mid shot of the male character (Gale).

Shot, reverse shot is shown when the two characters exchange dialogue for the first

time.

Both camera shots are close ups and the angles are straight onwards.

There is a long continuous shot of the two walking down the stones. It a wide angle shot which shows them and the scenery. The camera is at a slight low

angle. Match on action is used throughout to continue the shots at a different angle.

It cuts from a close up

of her targeting

something and then it cuts to an over the shoulder

shot to see her point of

view.

This wide shot of Katniss and Gale going under the

fence is an example of good composition: it shows

leading lines and rule of thirds to make the angle

look more interesting.

The last shot is another wide angle view which shows the two going off into the distance. It is a high angle

shot that looks down on them.

Lighting

The lighting in the mise en scene of The Hunger Game: Catching Fire, is quite dark. There Is a grey

tone/tinge to the scenery. The darkness represents that the world they live in now is dark, empty and

the people that live there are poor.

Narrative and theories

The Hunger Games follows Propp’s theory: that it has characters to suit each title.

• Hero• Villain• Dispatcher• Donor• Helper (there is no helper in this film)

• Heroine• False Hero

Hero

Katniss Everdeen

Stereotypically, male characters are usually the heroes as they are seen as more dominant, brave and strong, however, Katniss is the main character

who is portrayed as the hero.

Villain

Oppositions in the game & president snow

President snow is the villain as he controls the

games and shows no sympathy throughout.

The opposition players are also the villains as they are the enemies.

Dispatcher

Cinna

The dispatcher sends the hero off to show and prove their worth. It is usually the

father who is the dispatcher, in this case it is designer. He stands by Katniss and boosts

her confidence in the games.

Donor

HaymitchHe helps Katniss – gives advice, prepares her for the games. He provides her with a

gift on her journey.

Heroine

Peeta

The heroine is commonly known as the princess and is usually a female. In the Hunger Games, Peeta is the heroine.

The heroine is known for falling in love with the hero, just like how Peeta falls in love with Katniss.

False Hero

Seneca Crane

The false hero acts as if they are on the ‘good’ side but actually takes advantage and betrays the hero.

In this film, Seneca being the game maker, acts as if he is trying to help the people in the game but instead makes it harder for them

by complicating and disrupting the game system.