Complete analysis of the film Taken I

Taken

Taken is a thriller which keeps the audience constantly on the edge of their seat. As Bryan Mills playes by Liam Neeson, ex CIA agent uses his unique skill set in order to help track down his young naive daughter. Ex Agent Mills' daughter Kim, manages to convince her reluctant father to allow her to travel to Paris with her friend Amanda. When the girls arrive in Paris they share a cab with a stranger during conversation Amanda lets it slip that they are alone in Paris. Using this information an Albanian gang of human traffickers kidnap the girls. Kim has just enough time to call her father and give him information about their capture. Her father, Liam Neeson briefly speaks to one of the kidnappers, where he uses the infamous speak;

'I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.'

The kidnapper wishes him "good luck," so Bryan Mills begins his trip to Paris to search for his daughter and her friend.

Mise-en-Scene

The initial scene shows a young girl of five years of age. With what appears to be her mother in  a ‘home video’ shown by the poor quality filming. The scene then cuts to a man in a poorly lit room opening his showing it Is a flashback and we have now cut to the present day. Throughout this titles are appearing and fading. In a large square shaped font, all in capital letters, this represents Liam Neeson’s characters personality as he is sharp, appears at face value much like the text. It becomes obvious of what the film is going to entail, a family being taken away from each other
 much like Bryan Mills played by Liam Neeson being
 distant from his family. the light then changes dramatically,
 this may signify his mood as If he is upset and feeling alone
whilst at his home, in comparison to the bright light as he
 begins his trip to see his daughter.

Sound

The sound during the opening sequence Is diegetic, whilst listening to the ‘home movie’ this creates a sense of verisimilitude much like when someone is recollecting a memory. This is also shown through the high pitch sci-fi noise. The sound continues to be diegetic as Liam Neeson's character approaches the electronics store in his car. For example cars passing, the closing of car doors. when entering the shop he and the shop owner exchange dialogue as if they are close friends and Liam Neeson uses the shop often.

Editing

During the opening sequence of Taken, the first piece of editing used includes the fade of the titles as they fade into the beginning of the film. Shortly followed by the quick cuts between the home movie and the shot of Liam Neeson sat in a low lit room this informs the audience that this is simply a flashback. Another significant piece of editing in this sequence is the extreme close up on the photo of his daughter, this follows the extreme close up of what seems to be an advertisement for a new singing machine. Showing there is a connection. This sequence then
 cuts to Neeson driving his car to the electronics
shop, the cut forms a time lapse cutting out the journey
 to the store. The next form of editing used is a shot reverse
 shot showing the conversation between Liam Neeson and
 the shop attendant this allows the audience to understand
the conversation in more depth. The Final shot used is a
point of view shot over the shoulder of the shop
 attendant looking up towards Neeson's character showing
 he is at a level of stature and strength.

Camera

During the opening sequence of the film taken several different camera shots are used in order to create tension, and mystery. Keeping the viewers hooked for the entirety of the film. For example the extreme close ups on the candle shaped as a number five during the flashback as this shows the memories Neeson's character shares with his daughter. As Neesons' character comes out of his flashback there is a close up showing the emotion in his face, showing his disappointment as he misses spending time with his daughter who is older and he no longer lives with. The shot then changes to an establishing shot of the room the character is sat in. Showing his life style. With take away Chinese food pots on the table. A mid shot is then used in order to show the emotion felt towards his daughter as he then is shown looking at an old photo of her, and placing it onto the table followed by a sigh. Extreme close ups are then used both to show the advertisement for the singing machine he has been pondering over buying his daughter for some time, and a close up of his daughters photograph. Once his character arrives at the electronics shop, an establishing shot is used again to show the conversation between the two men, Neeson and the shop assistant, closeps are then used during a shot reverse shot order in order to help the audience understand the conversation in more depth.

List of all titles:

Twentieth century fox presents

A europacorp, M6 Films, Grive productions co production

With the participation of Canalt,TPS star and M6

Liam neeson

A film by Piere moorson

Written by Luc Besson and Robert mark Kamen

TAKEN