The Inside Man

The Inside Man Dir. Spike Lee

This film is a 2006 American crime thriller. It was directed by Spike Lee and was produced by Imagine Entertainment, Film works and was distributed by Universal Pictures. The films budget was $45 million, but the box office was $184.4 million.

The scene opens with the credits of Universal Pictures and the company Imagine entertainment. Just over 30 seconds into the film, we see a white man saying “My name is Dalton Russell” introducing himself to the audience. This was a direct approach to the audience called breaking the 4th wall, it makes the audience feel more involved and intrigued to see what he’s going to do or say next by drawing them in more. He also says “pay attention to my words”, which again shows the audience that the he is talking directly to the audience. Performance is shown as Dalton uses his dialogue to indulge his audience,within minutes. The use of the phrase “I don’t repeat myself” could connote that he is a straight to the the point type of person.

Mis en scene is used to show that behind Dalton it's pitch black with a bright light focused on him, making it look like he is in an interrogation room or is under the spotlight in a play so all the attention is on him, however it could suggest that he is in prison connoting that he is a criminal, showing a sort of threat and his motive behind the storyline. This scene was shown through a close up shot of Dalton, focusing on his emotionless expression, showing us the time of character he is to this film.