Casino Royale vs L.A. Noire

Media Studies Summer Task

What are the similarities and differences between two clips?

1. Casino Royale opening scene, http://youtu.be/HNvzNWuzI9Y

2. L.A. Noire Upon Reflection, http://youtu.be/HQyWNFBK94Q

The opening scene to Casino Royale sees a long shot establish the somewhat luxurious, overseas location of Prague, Czech Republic, immediately connoting an upper-class mise en scene to the audience. The clip has been rendered black and white, again adding to the obvious classical sophistication of the occasion and the events that we expect to follow. By quickly asserting a classy, elitist, more intellectual setting – through chic costumes and modern props – the viewer will be enabled to grasp the archetypal representation of James Bond, the protagonist. Although a man of action who frequently finds himself exposed to the hidden uglier side of life, he maintains great refinement and elegance, reinforcing the upmarket genre at which the film is pitched. The perpetual tastefulness of Bond’s world that is consequentially created helps an audience indulge in escapism, which perhaps heightens audience appeal.

In a similar sort of way to which the greyscale filter featured in Casino Royale addresses connotations of high-class living and wealth, the voiceover introduced at the start of L.A. Noire forms an equal environment of much desired stylishness, culture and riches, but allows the gamer to acknowledge the nasty side of the city as well. Though arguably Hollywood and the majority of Los Angeles are lathered in more glamorousness than Casino Royale’s still-very-plush set, combined with the opening soundtrack of casual jazz and expensive attire, James Bond deals with deviants and rogues in situations enveloped in extra class and quality. The lighting in the villain’s office in the first video is heavily shadowed, making the antihero appear enigmatic, mysterious and unpredictable. Once more, L.A. Noire’s mise en scene shared shadowy scenery, alluding to comparable dark connotations of evil and the unknown.

Stereotypes are never challenged in the short duration of either audiovisuals. For example, when Bond confronts the antagonist in his office, he both outsmarts and outwits the older man with smooth ease, and in doing so does not oppose conventional archetypes of ageism and the young beating the elderly due to the relative aid of faster physical and mental capacity. The generic views reinforced instead of broken in L.A. Noire are probably more subtle, but still exist. Like many action-adventure thrillers (games as well as films) in the media, women are marginalised massively. Whilst the Casino Royale clip achieves this by excluding female presence virtually entirely, L.A. Noire depicts the female inhabitants of the city as ‘dreamers’, which, when contrasted beside hard-boiled male cops and fearless male criminals, becomes almost discriminatory, as it advocates the female population to be perceived as obstructions – maybe to male success – as well as trophy figures for after they have ultimately succeeded.

Uniting all women negatively and categorising them as one absolute is a pattern that lots of patriarchal media copies. Underestimating a woman’s capability to perform tough, often physically demanding challenges, and ability to handle weapons of destruction implies that the route most scenes in L.A. Noire descended into are simply too difficult and too violent for females to endure, which isn’t wholly accurate. Likewise, the beginning of Casino Royale’s opening sequence entails little speech and a lack of sound, but falls hastily into violence, reiterating to its viewers that the films target audience is male-dominated. Each exotic set – Prague, and Lahore in Pakistan – contain patriarchal populations and offer as much opportunity of danger as they boast luxury and glamour. This yet further states the predominant gender orientation of the film and suggests that men are somewhat socially superior to women, who cannot be found so readily experiencing the finer things in life within the extract. Alternatively, L.A. Noire paints an unfair image of females by applying a parallel concept; the ladies in Los Angeles appear to be the only residents with enough freedom from duties to indulge in acts requiring little responsibility, such as watching movies at the cinema. This results in them seeming careless and serving no greater purpose than that of distracting hardworking men from advancing as they deserve.

Both extracts utilise rather differing camera angles and shot types. Casino Royale cuts straight to a low angle shot of the antagonist, from roughly the shoulders up, after the long establishing shot referenced previously sets the scene. By cutting practically instantaneously to the primary source of threat, the audience can gain insight into the power and superiority of Bond’s opposition. He is, because of the shot type selected, portrayed taller, stronger, almost omniscient, and omnipotent, enforcing from the off the jeopardy he can impose and place people in. Even in latter scenes, in which he can be seen conversing with Bond, low angle shots are still used in order to remind the audience that at the present time he still has the upper hand over the protagonist.

Violence and representation: Fighting commences in a public toilet,
resulting in the death of a foreign man

Rockstar Games, publisher of L.A. Noire, opted to install fewer close up shots on the other hand. Their absence meant that despite the player actually undergoing a more interactive experience while playing the game, it doesn’t feel it in comparison to watching Casino Royale, which incorporates close ups to include the audience in the action as oppose to ones positioned farther away to see situations as a bystander. Viewers might feel that they are experiencing at the same time as James Bond, but observing their character in L.A. Noire, despite the latter being the game of the two.

Another feature that differs between Casino Royale and L.A. Noire, distinguishing James Bond – our known and loved, loyal protagonist – from the cop characters in the second clip is the fact that he leaps into the heart of the action while they piece together what remains of it. Bond, who global audiences are familiar with, believe him to do the right thing almost always and automatically – we know him to be brave and good, but the cops you are to play as in L.A. Noire are less reliable and trustworthy.

With the addition of fast-paced editing, the fight scene in which Bond catches the man fleeing him produces even more archetypal roles for the audience to internalise. As the discord unravels and develops a tendency to get messy, more hand-held filming is included (jumpy camerawork was previously present as the pray took off running, trying to escape his predator – the protagonist – as he pursued him upstairs and through a hall of doorways), constructing a chaotic, hazardous sense of panic as the conflict continues to death. The compositions resume balance after the captor is killed. The defeat, however, further reinforces traditional stereotypes of foreigners in action-adventure thrillers. While the native protagonist exits the scene as more of a hero than he was when he entered it, the foreign man drowned in the attack dies having been outsmarted and outwitted by Bond, just like the elderly villain he later goes onto beat also. A birds-eye-view angle is inserted in amidst the battle too, placing viewers in ‘control’ of the hectic scene, for they can see both parties involved with more

Escapism and reality: Gun possession is glorified in both extracts,
as handling weapons becomes normality

clarity than either parties can make out one another. Contrastingly, in L.A. Noire, when one out of the two protagonists is ambushed by a suspected murderer they are questioning, medium close ups are the only shot type employed. As the section reaches disequilibrium, the viewer remains at a distance from the action – only when the disagreement is resolved are close ups used again.