Film Analysis Essay on Ghost in the Shell: Cyborgs, Digital Transformation & Haunting Soundtrack

Introduction

The film, Ghost in the Shell, has different scenes with various shots. Importantly, the movie has an infamous opening comprising of a haunting soundtrack describing the making of a Cyborg and a robotic figure that comes out of a digital train. The opening scene prepares a reader that the movie will have Cyborgs evident from the transformation of the digital image to Kusanagi, one of the characters in the film. With this in mind, a viewer realizes that the figure is not human entirely. The second shot that follows the opening one can see a match cut of the character from the laboratory to her bedroom, and the shot ends when Kusanagi appears to be gazing at the Newport Skyline. The primary aim of this is to show an audience that the film contains a Cyborg in a non-existing city.

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As Kusanagi is viewing the city, a viewer can see the birds-eye view shot that sought to depict the "Newport City" and its features to a viewer. One is likely to notice the city through the neon vision-esque lens that later tilts towards one of the characters in the film, Kusanagi. At that time, Kusanagi is about to infiltrate a meeting directed at assassinating a diplomat. Kusanagi is listening in and later activates the 'thermoptic' camouflage that makes her turn invisible. A viewer can still track the character's actions since she is almost full invisible since she covers her face and slowly fades to the skyline of Newport City. The shots following the first scene are captivating to a reader since they depict some of the traits one would expect from the Cyborg and lead character, Kusanagi.

Further, these opening moments could be lost after a viewer views them initially. However, they possess some level of importance that makes them worth noting in this discussion. It is essential to understand that the shots of Kusanagi shown to the audience by the movie producer and director have a role to play in introducing the character to the viewers. Initially, it was clear to the audience that Kusanagi was not human. Instead, the fact that she can wake up from a bed and open her blinds just as humans make a viewer to try to understand what the character is rather than who she could be, which makes the movie more captivating. Besides, Kusanagi keeps asking herself what she is instead of who she is implying that the opening shots have a role to play in ensuring that a viewer gets in the lead character's head.

Consequently, the movie depicts the city from two viewpoints that attract a viewer differently. The town depicted in the film is fictional. Moreover, it contains some architecture and uses different symbols from the Chinese on the signboards, which makes it easy to say that the city is inspired by Hong Kong city of the modern day. By doing so, the movie appears to be universal. The second technique used to depict the fictional town is the interactions of the city and the lead character, Kusanagi. As mentioned in one of the shots above, Kusanagi is waking up in her apartment, and she stares at the city, which makes a reader see the un-impressive view of the town from Kusanagi's bedroom window. Mainly, this shows that understanding the city from Kusanagi's point of view will be essential in the film. It will help a reader understand the world that the character lived in after getting out of the laboratory.

Conclusion

By the end of this discussion, it is clear that all the shots described are interlinked and serve different purposes to a viewer. From the start, it is clear that a viewer will get more of the Cyborgs that introduce one to the lead character, Kusanagi. The second shot describes the city from two perspectives, that is the city itself and Kusanagi's point of view. The third shot describes some of the traits such as invisibility possessed by Kusanagi. The primary essence of these shots is to introduce a reader to the film, its characters and serenity as well. Such an understanding is likely to capture the interest of a viewer throughout of the movie since it results in the construction of some questions that require answers that can be derived to after watching the entire film. Therefore, one can conclude that the starting of opening shots of the film is captivating to the audience.