Homework: Comment on the technical features in the opening of Anna Karenina.

Essentially, there are an abundance of technical features in the opening of Anna Karenina. The scene opens with the diegetic sound of people talking and a fade in from black to a golden stage. Gold has connotations of wealth and expense - a theme that is continued throughout the opening. The talking is then faded out and a loud non-diegetic orchestral soundtrack begins. Immediately, the audience is made to feel as if they are a member of the audience watching a play because there is an establishing shot of the stage. In the following scene, the camera tracks around a seated and standing character who is holding a red cape. The audience could perceive the colour red to mean danger or violence due to it's connotations; this is emphasised when the standing member places it over the seated member to shave him. At this point the audience still believe that a play is commencing but with time it becomes apparent that it is not a play.

Panning out and tracking movement shots are frequently used in the opening to convey a sense of confusion about the location and what's happening. Significantly, this could be to interest the audience member with some action or, alternatively, to build suspense as to what's happening. In contrast to this however, one thought the editing was relatively slow to begin with and the speed of the jump cuts increased over time. Perhaps this is because more characters were being introduced after time so there were more angles and composition types to shoot. Action match and point of view shots allowed the audience to track a central male character at the outset which aided the smooth flow and continuity of the film opening.

In terms of mise-en-scene, there is a lot to be commented on about the costume, props, set design and colour. It is obvious that the characters are very wealthy due to their costumes - the male character wears a blue suit with a red band (showing he is of great importance) and the female character wears an extravagant purple dress (purple has connotations of Royalty and wealth). Their wealth is also shown in a number of other ways like the props. There are many golden, luxurious-looking items which all signify that the central characters are very wealthy. In addition to this, it is clear that they are from a different origin to the English audience because foreign phrases can be heard in the diegetic speech and the background of the stage setting appears to be a period Russian city. Furthermore, the lighting behind the sheet in the scene with Anna and her son mirrors the effect that young children get when they're telling secrets. Crucially, this could be interpreted as foreshadowing to the secrets that Anna keeps about her adultery in the latter scenes.