Shot by shot analysis of 'Lord of War'

1. Lord of War
Shot by shot analysis

2. The whole of screen is filled with used bullets; the
connotations of this include death, destruction and
anger.

3. The camera moves upwards and we see a man standing
on these bullets. There is smoke in the shot suggesting
this is a war torn country. The man is dressed in a black
suit and has a brief case, from this we gather he has
something to do with bullets. Black could also have
conations of death.

4. As the camera zooms in for a medium close up. We now
here Nicholas cage start to talk to us directly, this is called
breaking the 4th wall. It helps the audience to engage with
what he is saying. He is also wearing a red tie with suit, this
has further conations of this sign could be blood and death.

5. In this frame we can see him smoking a cigarette. As he is
talking, he tells us there are enough arms for one in 12
people. He says this casually as if its good and then has a
casual toke. He then says calmly, how do we arm the other
11. The way which he spoke suggests he doesn’t care for the
death and destruction, but instead maybe something like
profit.

6. The scene suddenly changes and we are shown this very
metallic place. We can take that this is probably a factory
but we aren’t certain what for. Nicholas cage also comes up
in font we might see on the side box’s carrying weapons.
For a while there aren’t really cuts, and for a while it is just
a long shot.

7. The camera appears to go into a machine of some kind.
We can hear the sound of the machine stamping down
onto the copper and the camera follows the copper as it
goes into the machine. The music being played is calm
but relevant to the movie however it almost doesn’t suit
the factory surrounding and this is why it fits and creates
contrast.

8. We are now know this copper is being made into bullets.
The bullet takes up the screen which shows its
impertinence, yet again we have connotations of death
popping up this time with the sign being the bullet. The title
‘lord of war’ appears over the bullets. The ‘lord’ and the
‘war’ are in capitals to highlight them and to bring them to
the audiences attention.

9. In this frame the camera is showing the first person view of the
bullet if you like. There are bullets all over a conveyer belt
suggesting this is a munitions factory. The way in which the two
characters are inspecting the bullets is very calm, and reflects
attitudes towards weapons being relaxed despite their ability to
kill. The lighting is at the back with the bullet facing it, this may
suggest the bullets journey in the world. The bullet is self is also
well lit and is in the centre of the screen to help your eyes focus
on it.

10. This shot shows the bullet has been picked up, the
sound is diegetic and we hear it quite clearly being
picked almost like we are hearing what the bullet
would be hearing. We are shown a man looking at the
bullet, his facial expressions tell us he is bored and
bullets seem everyday to him. We have to notice his
ethnicity, and we can see he is white, therefore most
likely from a western country.

11. We can see that the bullet is now in a crate amongst other bullets. We
can hear the hammer shutting another box in front. We can gather these
crates of munitions are about to be sent off somewhere. The dark dingy
lighting suggest misery, sadness and maybe anger.

12. He crate was box up and has now been opened again, we see a man dressed in
uniform, wearing uniform that suggest he is part of the Soviet Union. The filter
used carries on to create this very dingy cold feel. The man’s face, yet again is
very expressionless showing that he is used to seeing bullets a lot which reflects
many people’s relaxed attitude to arms and warfare. We see that the character is
in a port, we know this because of the ship and also the sound of seagulls. we
now wonder where they are to be transported next.

13. The crate is opened and we see yet again that we are in a port.
You can see that the ethnicity of the characters has changed. We
now know there has been some dodgy transaction. This scene
is far lighter than previous frames; this may symbolize the end of
the journey for the bullet.

14. The bullet is tipped onto the floor; we can see a man collecting
to bullets. We can here the sound of guns firing quite
frequently; this suggests that the bullet has arrived in a
warzone.

15. The screen is nearly entirely black with a circle of light in the
top middle of the screen, this shows the guns barrel. Down the
barrel there is a red building, connotations again to do with
blood, death and injury. We can still hear gun firing, reminding
us that this is a warzone.

16. The camera follows the bullet as it leaves the gun. It is in the
centre of the screen, the shot I believe is a wide shot.

17. The flash of the gun draws our eyes, we can see that the person is
wearing red, this is a sign with connotations of blood and death.
There is also red drapes behind the person on the right.

18. This shot we see the persons face, we can see that they are
young and also have a emotionless face, this shows us
again some peoples relaxed attitudes to warfare. The
bullet we can see is going to kill him. As the bullet is
travelling we hear the sound of the air passing the bullet
and the music cuts for effect.