Post 10: Genre research on 'Taken'

Unfortunately I was unable to get the video footage for the opening sequence of 'Taken' onto my blog but here is my evaluation for the first minute or so of the film.

The initial scene has a nostalgic feel, this is created by a non-diegetic piano playing a slow sad tune over what is suggested to be a poor quality video clip - suggesting that the footage is old. Everyone is the video is happy and smiling, which contrasts from the non-diegetic music, the feeling of nostalgia suggests that the protagonist (or at least the character who we're seeing their perspective of the video) is a few years older than when the video was made. In the video the little girl opens the present of a horse, it is made clear - using the candle on the birthday cake - that the little girl is 5, this shows her innocence and vulnerability, this gives an ominous feel to the rest of the film and suggests to the audience that she will be involved in some accident or problem, etc. She is centred in the camera, which shows that she is the centre of attention, with her mother to the side and often left out of the footage all together. The camera jump cuts suddenly to what seems to be the protagonist waking up from a dream, the music comes to a stop as he turns the light on to get up. The empty take away boxes and the absence of his family in the initial surroundings suggest that he lives alone. The title 'Taken' appears next to a photograph of a young woman, she is shown to be happy and riding a horse (it is suggested that she is same person as the little girl with the use of the horse and the emotional connection the the protagonist). The title itself isn't some in-your-face, explosion-filled, masterpiece of animation that leaves you pinned to the back of your seat, instead it is simply faded in next to the picture of the young woman. Not only does the location of the word 'taken' next to the woman give a massive hint that she is the one about to be kidnapped, the lack of fancy showy effects shows the raw reality of the film - it's not a si-fi voyage through the stars, it's a film about human trafficking and a man fighting to get his daughter back.