Once Upon A Time In America

Director: Sergio Leone
Writer: Harry Grey

Opening Sequence
- First signifier - non-diagetic sound (not within the mise-en-scene). Music is 'God Bless America' - ironic as it's saying the opposite to what it actually means, suggesting that God does not bless America at all!
- Another non-diagetic sound - footsteps in the background. The footsteps suggest anxiety. Because you cannot see them, they make you feel anxious and fearful.
- Shadowed figure - close-up shot (establishing shot), suggests the thriller genre. Close-up of a shadowed female figure in a doorway > framing her as such, often implying that she is 'done for'!
- Noir lighting and chiaroscuro lighting (meaning light on dark effect) to suggest illusion or nightmare...
- The film contains a femme fatale, which can be a very important signifier of a thriller film
- Within just 2 minutes of film, the director has utilised signifiers extremely well and therefore set the scene for the rest of the film.
- Non-diagetic sound (music) playing in the background throughout the entire opening scene, ideal for creating specific moods within the opening.
- 'Crooked cop' - ALSO another signifier. Low-angle shot of the cop, makes him look superior and more powerful.
- Phone ringing on screen (so at first diagetic sound) then cuts to another scene with phone still ringing (non-diagetic). Phone ringing is used as a 'soundbridge' to transfer from one scene to another.
- Sepia lighting, used to make the atmosphere seem as if it is set in the past - to suggest a sense of change in time during a flashback.
- Lift shaft is used to signify chlostrephobia - very enclosed space.