Filmography Notes on the Opening Scene of the Darjeeling Limited

Fast paced Indian music builds tension even before the opening credits have stopped rolling Establishing shot indian city, while not revealed as india at this point the viewer associates the architecture as foreign in some exotic location, one car on the road, depth created by background being out of focus and leading lines created by the road. High angle extreme long shot, zoom to reveal tracking shot of taxi cab and people in exotic attire and foreign style tricycle cabs, gives the viewer more information about setting while the tracking of the car establishes the subject of viewingInside the cab we have a rig attached to car on passenger side tracking shot representing the perspective of the passenger reveals the fare meter in the right third of the shot letting the viewer know that the car is a cab, the frame is balanced by cars and people on the left side of the street opposite the cab far meter, the frame quick pans to create a fast pacing and to reveal taxicab driver. he has a beard and is wearing a turban, a signifier of India from a western viewpoint, also is a frame within a frame because of drivers side window.From inside the car the camera is mounted on the dashboard of the cab to show the audience the passenger, Bill Murray. The taxi driver is placed in the left third while the passenger is placed in the right third, the cabs frame serves as leading lines creating depth in the frame His business man attire contrasts the taxicab driver's outfit and the setting, showing he is a foreigner in this country, the reckless maneuvering of the cab, honking and engine sounds, and the frantic look on his face tells the audience that the passenger is worried about being somewhere on time.Low angle tracking shot behind the car creates a tension and intensity by creating a feeling of the car moving faster as the camera moves further away, honking and motorcycle engine noise fading in and out create the illusion of the speed of the taxicab Close up on cab driver, then zooms in again to extreme close up to allow the audience to focus on the cab drivers intense focus, facial expressions help viewers to feel the emotions the director wishes to convey, here his intense expression and the background flying by in the frame of the window.Next shot is from bill Murray's perspective, over the shoulder shot over the cab driver looking out the center of the windshield as they race thru the busy city street, frame within a frame, shot is balanced by colorful awnings, signs, and tall buildings on the right and people in bright clothing walking on the opposite side of the street. The cab fare meter also rests on the bottom left to balance out the cab driver and steering wheel who are on the right.The camera then flips around to reveal the anxious look on bill Murray's face as he checks his watch again revealing that he is on some sort of deadline creating tension and fast pacing in the scene the back window is once again a frame within a frame and the cam era is placed at slightly below eye level, shot then switches to the cab drivers point of view though lowered to about his chest level, the steering wheel is revealed to have a symmetrical shrine like set up of beads and small paintings of people and a temple, the steering wheel frames the entire shrine like setup, the drivers hand is balanced by the red sticker on the right of the dashboard, outside of the windshield colorful and exotic scenery can be seen, shadows of cars created by natural lighting and the yellow guardrail separating the street create leading lines giving depth to the background.The next shot is a tracking shot at the front of the cab, the shot has incredible depth thanks to the leading lines of the buildings lining the street, frame centered on the taxicab as it barely misses motorcyclists and medians, close up on bill Murray's character placed in the right third of the shot, his face still showing distress, the camera then continues to bounce rapidly from the s ame shots in and around the cab to promote the sense of urgency until the cab pulls up to the entrance of a train station, the camera takes a static shot as the cab pulls in to be centered in the frame, people in vibrant Indian garb are placed evenly on either side of the car as It pulls in creating a well balanced closed frame with depth being created by the awning of the train station and the lines it creates, people also placed in foreground and background, otherwise flat frame, very still photo-like shotAs Murray's character exits the car the camera is positioned outside the cab and zoomed in on the face of the driver, the zoom is slowly pulled out to represent the movement of the subject as the passenger flees from the cab in too much of a hurry to pay, the cabbie angrily shakes his fist and screams in Indian, another indicator of setting in the opening scene The camera then follows Murray's character through the train station, in first a handheld tracking shot to create the ef fect of running like the character does and then a dolly tracking shot, people are placed in the foreground to create the feeling of crowdedness at the station and the camera follows keeping a 45 degree angle behind the subject to create leading lines in the station, the subject is also always kept in the right third to create a more interesting shot.At the ticket counter the camera is behind, people's heads cropped tightly in the frame to again create the feeling of crowdedness of the train station, the positioning of the camera gives the audience the feel of standing in line as Murray's character barges on and cuts to the front of the line saying â€Å"that's my train† finally reveals to the audience what the conflict is in this scene, pointing off screen, the characters actions and the cropping of people and the fence of the ticket counter create an open frame that leads to the next shot of the train pulling away from the station, then a sudden pan to the businessman runni ng into the frame, chasing the train ,to maintain the fast and urgent pacing. A handheld tracking shot follows Murray as he runs along the boarding platform after the train he was trying to catch, as Murray runs past the camera, the camera pans to follow behind him and reveals the train, moving slightly faster than the businessman can run The next shot then frames the back of the caboose and an Indian boy standing in the right third of the frame, the camera slowly tilts down to reveal the name of the train â€Å"the Darjeeling limited† and also the title of the movie An extreme close up profile of Murray's character as he screams wait! Wait!Murray's head hides a younger man, adrien Brody, who comes into view as he runs slightly faster past Murray. They exchange glances as brody outruns murray in a mad dash for the train. While the audience has been lead to believe that the businessman was the protagonist we were to follow on this adventure he instead falls behind Fast paced I ndian music cuts out and a slower song this time tomorrow by the kinks begins to play, the next shot is a slow motion dolly tracking shot following the train in the left third of the frame as brody's character, peter enters into the frame from the right, he catches up to the back of the train, throws his bags on, and hoists himself on the train.Natural light brightly illuminates the background, the shot is slightly over exposed to augment the intensity of the sun in the shot, His eyes can be seen looking off screen and then a close up reveals a sympathetic look on peters face, he pulls up his glasses showing that he is looking at something, the camera flips around to his perspective in a dolly shot or mount on the back of the train, the train tracks and boarding platform lead our eyes back to the businessman who has been left behind by the train, Murray's character looks exhausted and disgusted. Another close up of Peter, he smiles, grateful that he did not end up like the businessm an, also here we can see shadows closely, because of the natural lighting used throughout the lighting techniques were somewhat limited The slowing of the music and the slow motion shots bring the pacing of the film back down to the signature slow and deliberate pacing of Wes Anderson films