Opening of 'The Third Man' Notes

These notes were taken during lessons as we were watching the opening to The Third Man. These notes give small detail on the setting, lighting, sound/dialogue and shot types/camera work. These are the things that I and fellow students in my class has noted during the opening.

• Starts with voice over (narrator is English)
• Western music playing in background.
• Film Set- Vienna - Austria, war, black market

How does the sequence introduce ideas that are unsettling or to do with evil/morality?

War (vienna (metaphor) Criminal activity)-Voice over

Mise En Scene
Lighting
Colour
Set
Character
Props

Notes
Two Big Churches
Colours Dark/Light
'Vienna' late 40s audience
Classical (statues)
Ruff (Black Market)
Dead body floating (really Black) (dark evil)
(real news futage)
Bombed buildings
Naration - 'I was gonna tell ya'

How does the opening of the Third man establish the atmosphere/theme/mood and expctations?

Setting
-Gothic -architecture- dark/mysterious
-In Vienna-heavaly bombed
-Big Staircases- morality metaphor
-Graveyard
-Churches- Mortality/good and evil
-Spaced
-Winter- snow - Darkness

Shot types/camera work
- Flicks between different shots of vienna-Bustiling
-Documentary-Like wase news footage- Real and Relevant

Lighting
- White faces at funeral surrounded by darkness
-White vs Dark
-Dark and low intensity
-Dark city & light sky
-Floating body - death/ww2

Sound/Dialogue/V.O
-Lowers voice to discuss black market
-Cheerful music- Contrasts
-Conflicting Lauguage- isolation