Summer task - Casino Royale vs L.A. Confidential

                          Casino Royale vs L.A. Confidential 

  These are two types of movies , different genres. Casino Royale is Action , Thriller and Adventure 

where as L.A. Confidential is Crime , Drama and Mystery. Therefore there are a lot of differences between them. They start in a specific way that will make the viewer engage into the movie in the way that the director wanted them to. 

  Differences :

• The way that the director decides to show the credits are very important and can be very different. In this case Casino Royale wants you to concentrate on the setting and the characters; Rather than be distracted by the credits while the film is being run at the same time. This results in the start of the film being very significant and important to ensure the rest of the movie is more understandable. On the other hand it is obvious that L.A. Confidential has an entirely different introduction. The director wanted to present information about the location of the film and to give a 'flavor' of the bad guy / the criminal of the film. This is also important because in Casino Royale there is no narrator, we instantly know who the bad guy is. However L.A. Confidential explains and shows the bad guys character and why he is recognised for being bad. 
• Mise-en-scene is also very different between these films. In Casino Royale the main character is presented almost instantly, and you immediately know who the bad guy is out of the two characters. Where as L.A. Confidential does not show you any important characters straight away only small parts towards the end of the introductory sequence. Additionally the colours and sets that are used are completely different. In Casino Royale it is filmed totally in black and white and this creates a strong feeling in support that it is set in eastern Europe in the 21st century within a high technology building; rather than the feeling generated by the colourful Los Angeles of the 1950s. 
• During the two parts of the movie, they both show the past but in a totally different way.  L.A. Confidential shows the past through news reels and photographs , opposed to Casino Royale that skips from present to past  in what appears as 'live footage'.
• The usage of music is different. In Casino Royale there is no music, except for the part of the past during the fight scene to emphasis the speed and desperation of the man being chased by '007' In contrast L.A. Confidential there is happy and positive 'big band' and blues music playing throughout thus creating a 'All is good' in Los Angeles mood. Similarly to the narrator's tone of voice which does not change even when explaining the 'All good in Los Angeles' to the criminal side of the city.

Similarities : 

• Both movies start by showing  the two 'sides' of life - 'Good & Evil' 
• They both show a sense of importance of the characters, and their high status. (Wealthy men in suits) 
• They give out a sense of mystery and secretive behaviour in both scenes 
• Lots of noir elements.

How does the chiaroscuro lighting add to the connotations, meanings and themes in these clips?

  The whole scene of Casino Royale is filmed in black and white , therefore we can notice the effect of chiaroscuro lighting throughout. The black and white contrast adds to the whole theme and mood of the clip by creating a dark and secretive mood, Chiaroscuro lighting creates alot of shadows which may symbolize an 'evil within' mood. With noir elements in them, such as the clothing of the characters adds to the secretive theme with wealthy people being evil. When James Bond is sitting in complete darkness but his face it may be emphasizing that even though he is there to perform an evil act it may be for the good. Whereas the man sitting across him has an opposite effect, he has some light surrounding him but not as much on his face. This could be emphasizing that he may look good from the outside , but is evil within. The same effect can be seen in the flashback in the fighting scene, however not with the use of shadows but clothing. Black being evil and white being good James is wearing a black suit with a white shirt but the man hes chasing is wearing a white shirt but a black T-shirt again emphasizing the evil within. All the by standers that are watching the Cricket game are wearing white and the bad guy might be trying to fit in. 

 In the clip of L.A. Confidential the director uses chiaroscuro lighting in the flashbacks that are suppose to give an imagine to the audience of the great side of the city and also the bad side. The first part of the clip where the narrator is describing the good side of the city the director uses black and white flashbacks but there is a high contrast between the two colours where white is much more dominant to the eye to emphasize the good. However when the narrator starts to describe and explain the evil side of the city the black is the dominant colour surrounding the scenes and using the white colour to emphasize the bad things such as the drugs and the money from the illegal actions.