Introduction
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Director: James Mangold
Producer: Cathy Konrad
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Releasing
Budget: $ 28,000,000
Worldwide box office: $ 90,300,000
Synopsis: The film follows ten strangers in an isolated motel at night where a big storm prevents them from traveling to their destinations. These people were then killed off mysteriously one by one. Strangely, a room key is found beside every corpse with numbers counting down from 10. While the people alive were figuring out why people got killed and who killed them, in a parallel story, a murderer, Malcolm Rivers awaits a verdict at a crucial trial that will determine whether he will be executed for his crimes.
Film Opening Sequence
Clip Duration: 07:48
Start Point: 00:00
End Point: 07:48
Genre Studies
“Identity” was able to establish its genre through the 7-minute opening sequence. With the genre of mystery, the movie successfully raises the enigmas throughout the beginning few minutes. A few subtle additions were made to the scene to bring up the tension for the thriller genre as well as to build up the emotions for the upcoming events in the movie.
At first, the choice of having idents as the upper layer of the scene is not so much of a great choice as it creates a distraction for the audience. During the first 3 minutes of the opening sequence, a lot of elements happen all at once like sound, music, lighting, idents, and images, therefore making the audience are confused about what they should focus on. The typography used was also not suitable since it didn’t stand out. Despite the creative way of introducing the title, the audience will likely be attracted by the running scene and will miss those details.
Making up for the idents, the lighting that is used complements very well the genre of mystery and thriller. All of the scenes have low-key lighting which adds a mysterious vibe to them. Moreover, the different tint of colors for specific scene helps to bring in the emotions and builds up the tension for the movie.
Besides the lighting, music, and sound was one of my favorite part of the opening sequence. A variety of sounds were heard in different situations and played an important role in the genre of the film. In most thriller movies, abrupt sounds were used most frequently for the purpose of a jump scare. However in “Identity”, abrupt sounds only appear near the end of the 7-minute sequence, which acts as an alarm for the whole movie and tells the viewers that it is a thriller movie. All the sound that appeared before was only used to raise the emotions of the audience, preparing them for the upcoming events.
I’ve also spotted that “Identity” uses a significantly large amount of close-up shots, mostly to capture the change in emotions of the characters like shock, scared, frightened. This is something that the “Black Swan” opening sequence has not shown very clearly as it focuses more on the surroundings and dance movements. Aside from close-up, establishing and depth-of-field shots are also used frequently.
Setting up the atmosphere is very important for the thriller and mystery genre, therefore a lot of establishing shots are used in the opening sequence, like the motel shot. While depth of field appears mostly during an event where the the movie wants audience to focus on a specific object, that could possibly be a hint for the case.
Analysis
Idents
A lot of different idents were used in the opening sequence of Identity. There are a total of 6 idents that appear before the movie title. These 6 idents were designed to fade in and out, as an ident fades out, a specific letter stays back and disappears later. After the introduction of the 6 idents, the letter that stays back is spelled out as "IDENTT", despite the word having no meaning, it is read out loud as Identity. This is a very creative way to symbolize the movie title by using other idents to do so. As the title of the movie, Identity appears, it all fades in as one but fades out separately, emphasizing the different identities of a character. After that, approximately 30 idents appear and they are all credited to people who contributed to the making of the movie. The idents are laid on top of the running scene, and when the scene appears with a lot of information, the idents stop appearing for the audience to fully focus on what is happening on the scene. The idents started to appear when the screen was black, to the scene where a motel was introduced.
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Typography
In the opening sequence, the title of the movie is introduced in between other idents. The font that is used for Identity is called "Terminax Std Regular". This is a narrow, tall font that looks very skinny and is generally hard for the audience to read. On the screen, it also appears small and overlaps with the currently running scene, therefore, it is difficult for viewers to focus on the title and other idents. It is quite rare for films to apply this type of typography to their title as it is too simple which doesn't attract the audiences. The simplicity of the title fails to represent the genre or the theme of the movie. Identity is a mystery thriller genre and by the typography used, we are unable to recognize the genre of the film. Moreover, the color applied is plain white and while it does contrast with the background to stand out, it doesn't help to bring out the mystery or thriller genre. Overall, it isn't a good choice of font to use for the genre.
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A recording tape is first seen with the name of the patient: Malcolm Rivers and the name of a doctor, Dr.Mallick. After that, a wrinkled, brown paper is seen with teared-up edges and unreadable scribbles. Just then, a table with a recording player and different shades of brown paper are laid randomly on it. This scene could connotate that there is a case that is currently being solved as a recording tape is used to listen to a recording with papers and notes on the side for information.
According to Barthes's theory, the case could be seen as complicated as the papers look messy and untidy, showing that it has been crumbled and used much time. Then, an old-looking male character appears on screen with his eyebrows furrowed. The reflection on these glasses shows that he is examining the papers and the evidence that is collected. This further confirms that the case he is solving is not an easy type. Based on the information from the recording tapes, audiences could partly guess the identity of the man, who is probably Dr.Mallick.
The screen continues to show pictures of a woman with blood surrounding her, a man was also seen dead, together with a few more pictures with the same content. Newspapers and reports later appear on the screen and the whole table is packed with a different range of media, which symbolize the evidence of the case and show that the case is packed with information. A series of murder scene photos appear on a screen, connotating that the patient that Dr.Mallick is investigating, Malcolm Rivers, is a murderer.
When the scene cuts into a close-up of Dr.Mallick's note, we can partly observe what is written on it: "fractured psych..." and "source of evil". These words describe Malcolm Rivers, hinting to the audience that the murderer suffers from a psychological disorder. The writing on paper continues but this time, Dr.Mallick draws a diagram with circles that are each label: ID 1, ID 2, ID 3,... Linking this with the previous scene, the connotation of it is that Malcolm suffers from dissociative identity disorder. These circles are then later crossed out by Dr.Mallick, emphasizing that he is figuring out Malcolm's real ID. This part of the opening sequence showcases fully the genre of thriller and mystery of the movie and helps to make up for the typography used for the idents. Moreover, the 2 minutes of the sequence is the underlayer of the idents so if the typography used is unable to attract the viewers, they could still be able to understand the genre of the film through the scenes that are played under it.
After introducing Dr.Mallick and his activity, the scene switches to a man named Gary, who was disturbed by a call at night and something urgent was waiting for him. Based on Gary's outfit, a long brown mantel on the outside with a formal shirt and tie on the inside symbolizes that he is a middle-class man. The briefcase he is carrying by his side connotates that he is an office worker. An umbrella was also seen in his hand, punctuating the rainy weather. Furthermore, the act of waking up in the middle of the night and being all dressed shows that he is a professional and responsible person, as Barthes's theory suggests. While on the phone, the scene cuts to another man who looks significantly older than Gary and is a hot-headed person. This is an example of binary opposition between a young man who could remain calm in any urgent situation with an old man who is hot-tempered and could hardly talk normally without shouting or cursing at the other person.
The scene is then cut into a shot at a motel at night, in the middle of a storm. Then, lightning strikes, connotating that something bad will happen here. The scene cuts to a television displaying a show and based on its quality, audiences could tell that the signal of the motel is not in good condition due to the storm. Then, a man is seen watching the TV while drinking liquor, looking very hyped up about the show as well as the drink. As he hears a car coming into the motel, he immediately turns back and hides the alcohol away, this action connotates that he is someone who lacks integrity and doesn’t want people to know that he might be a bit unconscious. The door then slams open and a man is seen carrying a woman, looking very urgent, according to his facial expression. The blood stains on the couple’s clothes emphasize that they just got into an accident and the woman is severely injured, the man therefore looks extremely worried and wants to ask for help from the motel owner, the drinking guy.
The scene then recalls back in time when the man was driving in the rain. His facial expression of furrowed eyebrows and actions of constantly blinking, adjusting glasses, and tapping the steering wheel connotates that he is nervous. Suddenly, the car’s tire bursts and the man becomes even more nervous, trying to take care of the situation. A ring on his ring finger shows that he is married to the woman sitting beside him. As he stops the car, he turns to ask his wife and son if they are alright, emphasizing that he is a caring person.
According to Barthes’s theory, the choice of a roadster that looks a bit old and damaged could show that the driver is a free-spirited person who hates being restrained. The woman then wanted to smoke and started searching for something in the car’s compartment. When audiences are wondering about what she is finding, the screen switches to a scene where she is using a lighter, accentuating the object she is looking for. As the screen switches to a medium-wide shot, the woman is seen with an old man on a bed while she is wearing a lingering, this whole image connotates that the woman is probably a prostitute. The scene then switches back to her finding the lighter in the suitcase at the back of the car. Since she is driving a roadster, her clothes then fly out of the car and one of her shoes lands on the ground, causing the incident for the man’s family.
The scene came back to the man fixing his car, while his wife came out to help him cover the rain. After a while, she came to the back to check on their son, showing that she is a caring mother and the couple are good parents. The son sat inside the car and decided to sit further away, possibly to look at his mom fully and the mom repeated his action to play with him. Unfortunately, as she stepped back, a car was driving fast and was unable to brake which hit the woman, causing her to be injured like the scene in the motel.
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Mise-en-scene*
There are 4 utilizing arrangements of the mise-en-scenes during the opening sequence. While there are differences, the few similarities of the scenes are the weather that is set for the whole movie, a rainy, stormy one with lighting strikes here and there, setting the general atmosphere which is cold and dark. The other factor that appears in all the scenes is the use of low-key lighting, this helps to add a mysterious vibe and punctuates the genre of the movie to be mystery and thriller.
The first scene is set in a dark room with yellow lighting. Papers, notes, newspapers, and reports are laid all over the table, representing that an investigation is happening. The diegetic sound of a man speaking is also heard from the recording tape and by the name on it, we can identify that the man is Malcolm Rivers who is being investigated by Dr.Mallick. A different source of light caused by the lighting also adds in flashes that create a scary atmosphere in the room. The thunderstorm comes with the diegetic sound of a thunderstorm and emphasizes that the weather outside is very bad. Despite the low-key lighting and the flashes, the yellow color light helps soften down the intense feel and brings warmth to the room. The contrast of the lightning and the room light represents that Dr.Mallick is comfortable working in stormy weather and is not much affected.
The second scene is set in a motel at night, also during a big storm. The color scheme of this scene is completely different from the scene with Dr.Mallik. A green tint is applied throughout this scene which creates a dangerous, sickening feeling. The set in the storm at night with the diegetic sound of thunderstorms adds more to the scariness of the motel. The motel is located in an isolated area with bushes and trees surrounding it, further emphasizing the dangerousness of the place.
The scene then switches to the inside of the motel and a series of diegetic sounds of a television show, clapping, and liquid pouring is heard when the owner of the motel enjoys a show while chucking on liquor. During this scene, audiences can observe the setting and see that the place is quite untidy and owned by a drunk guy. Only part of the ‘receptionist’ is seen but based on the arrangement of objects, the motel is clearly not a good shelter.
The 3rd scene includes 3 different time frames but is generally set in a car while driving on the road. These scenes are spatially and temporally linked by the cross-cutting convention. The first time frame is the scene of a family including a man, a woman, and their son, Timothee. This is a recall before the woman got into the accident. The color scheme is set to be a blueish-grey color, punctuating the somber and suspenseful feeling for the audience and also the rainy weather. This is a very suitable choice of tint and helps to support the genre.
During the scene, the man seems extremely nervous and the grey tint supports the emotions of the character. Soft lighting is applied in this scene, to soften down the tension caused by the color scheme. Moreover, the outside weather is rainy with no natural light, which is also one of the causes of the soft light that is seen. The car is a small space compared to others but audiences can identify that the family’s car is tidy despite having a small kid. The car is also shown from the outside and it looks very clean. This 2 image connotates that this is a neat and tidy family.
When the screen cuts into another set also including the car, it showcases a woman driving a roadster. Based on Straussian theory, the choice of the car of the family and the woman contrast with each other just like their personality. While the family seems to keep their car new and organized, the woman drives a damaged and old car, with her luggage stuffed in the back. The choice of sound to listen to while driving also highlights their difference. While the family is hearing the news on the radio, the woman chooses to listen to a rock song. The interior of her car is red in color, symbolizing courage and sexuality, which perfectly fits with her personality and occupation. This scene is also the only scene with no rain and happens before the storm, therefore, audiences can spot the golden hour as the sun sets. Moreover, a strike of lighting is also seen when she drives away, a harbinger of the upcoming big storm.
After that, the scene returns to the family while they are fixing their tires. The time frame in this scene is in the evening when the surroundings are fully covered in blackness and it is set outside of the car. The couple were conversing while the man (now revealed as George) continued to fix the tire. There are various sources of light coming from the street light and since it is at night, the white color light creates a contrast to the dark space, bringing up the mysterious feeling.
Before the mom gets hit, the car lights hit her first, hinting that she will be hit. The 3 scene with the presence of the car is arranged for audiences to understand the story and not by the time that the scene happens. Due to that reason, the diegetic background sound of the rain kept getting cut off when the scene switched to the woman driving.
The 4th scene is set in a dark room, with a woman and an old man. Despite having a very short screen-timed, the scene achieves success in describing the woman's job and her personality. Soft lighting is used in this scene, caused by the candle and the light coming from the windows. Based on the yellow light, we can partly guess that the scene happens either when the sun rises or sets. Audiences could observe the room as a normal hotel room but the man is tied to the bed, connotating the woman is bold, powerful, and dominant which complements her red car interior as well. Throughout the scene, she is seen singing to a song, to seduce the man.
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Camera techniques*
The movie starts off with a close-up shot of a recording tape, followed by wrinkled paper, cutouts, notes, fingerprints, and a series of information related to the investigation of Malcolm Rivers, a murderer. The close-up is used to show clearly all the important parts of the case for audiences to have a brief understanding of it. After that, a big close-up shot introduces Dr.Mallick, and thanks to the shot, we can tell that he is a middle-aged man with a beard who looks a bit confused and serious. The screen then cuts into a close-up shot, showing part of his suit and the background with thunderstorms. This use of shot helps the viewer to have an overview of the surroundings of Dr.Mallick. The shot then cuts into a middle close-up to show Dr. Mallick's activity, which is investigating the case of Malcom Rivers. After another series of close-ups of the evidence, the camera uses an extreme close-up shot to reveal Dr.Mallick's eye which looks like he is planning on doing something (could be bad or good).
Then, the scene cuts to a shallow depth of field of a telephone and as a hand reaches to answer, the shot switches to a deep depth of field, introducing Gary, who is answering the phone. This use of the camera shows that the telephone interrupts Gary’s sleep, causing him to interact with the phone, causing the camera to change from focusing only on the telephone to focusing on him instead. The scene cuts into a wide shot of Gary walking in a hallway and viewers could be able to observe his outfit to know more about his occupation.
As he walks closer to the camera, the shot changes to a close-up shot, showcasing Gary’s changes in emotion as he talks on the phone. When the scene cuts into another character also in a close-up shot, Straussian theory is seen between the 2 characters. When Gary has fairly clear, smooth skin and looks young, the character on the phone with him is totally opposite with wrinkles on his face, which seems significantly older than Gary.
The scene changed into an establishing shot of a motel on a stormy night. The shot helps to set the atmosphere of all the events that will happen at the place. Due to the rainy weather, storms, and lighting, as well as the bushes of trees and the lack of light in the area, the scene looks scary, lonely, somber, and sickening. The shot then shows a close-up of the sign and a corner of the motel. This helps to further emphasize the location and the situation of it, which is a motel in the rain.
When the hotel owner is introduced while he is drinking, a shallow depth of field is applied, allowing audiences to have an overview of how the motel looks from the inside, confirming that the atmosphere is similar to how it is set outside. As the owner heard a car coming, he immediately hid the liquor and the shot also changed into a low-angle shot diminishing his power as he was scared to be caught drinking. A Dutch tilt is also applied as he is surprised by the appearance of the injured couple, emphasizing both his unconsciousness due to alcohol and his frightened feelings.
A man is then seen driving and the close-up shot is used to capture his nervous feeling. Then, a series of close-ups is used to show the changes in emotions of the 3 characters in the car. From the look of disappointment of Timothee, the couple’s son when he is told to put down his toy, to the look of satisfaction when the wife hears her husband ensure that he can continue driving. When the car started shaking, the shot immediately switched to a wide shot from the outside of the car, emphasizing the incident that affected the tire. The shot also further shows the stormy weather and the whole shot gives the audience an uncomfortable feeling. After that, a series of close-up shots are applied, showing that the couple is worried for Timothee.
For the introduction of the new character, a close-up shot is used to show her old, damaged, and dirty roadster which then tilts up into a medium-wide shot of her driving it. This shot helps viewers to identify the woman’s personality and the cloudy weather, emphasizing that this scene happens before the incident of the family. By using a point-of-view shot when showing the open compartment, audiences are able to understand that she is searching for something. A close-up of her face showcases her changes in emotion as she realizes she forgot her lighter somewhere. As she recalls her memory, a tracking shot is used on her, capturing her actions as she puts away the lighter into her luggage. Then, a shallow depth of field is used, focusing on the high heel on the road as she drives away.
The scene switches to the man fixing the tire, while the woman is going to check their son inside the car. Shot-reverse-shot is applied for this scene, capturing the mom and son interaction from inside and outside of the car through the glass. The moment the mom got hit by the car, it is shot from the point of view of her son, which could set the audience in the situation of Timothee and helps to raise the emotion of scare and frighten of not only the character but the viewer as well as they are currently experiencing what Timothee experienced.
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Sound*
The movie uses a lot of different sounds that are used to complement the genre and help the audience understand the context of the movie better. Right at the beginning of the film, a non-diegetic sound is heard, of a man talking in an incomprehensible way. As the recording tape is revealed, the sound then becomes diegetic as it comes from the recording tape. It is also heard that the man (Malcolm Rivers) in the recording is being investigated. As Dr.Mallick presses the button on the recording tape, a diegetic sound is heard which represents that the audio is fast forward.
During this scene, non-diegetic instrumental music is also heard which brings in the scariness of the scene. The background music also gets more tense. When asked about his mother, Malcolm revealed that “I remember my mom was a whore.” The way he speaks about his mom could also show that he might have had a childhood trauma with his mom. A newspaper about a boy being abandoned by his mom in a local motel appears on screen as Malcolm is asked “How long did she keep you there?” to which he answers, “As long as she is busy.”
This shows that Malcolm was once abandoned by his mother, causing him to have childhood trauma. . Malcolm later reveals through the recording that the day the murder happened, May 10th, was his birthday. The scene then ends with Dr.Mallick asking “Who am I speaking to right now? What should I call you?” and Malcolm responds with “Call me whatever you want.” This could emphasize that there is more than 1 identity inside of Malcolm, leading Dr.Mallick to ask which identity is he speaking to.
The scene then cuts and a diegetic sound of the telephone is heard. Then, a man picks up the phone, and the conversation reveals that the man is Gary. The person on the phone calls Gary’s name while breathing heavily which could represent how urgent and important the call is. Just when the person is about to inform Gary what happened, the scene cuts to Gary being on the phone with a different person, repeating what he heard from the previous phone call to him. Seems like the conversation was to inform about the midnight hearing of Malcolm’s case as a diary was found by the defense side. When the scene cuts to the person on the phone, a lightning strike happens and causes a loud noise, this adds more tension to the scene and emphasizes how shocked the man on the phone is when he hears the situation. The conversation between them continues as Gary provides more information, internal diegetic sound is heard from his phone as only he can hear what the man is speaking.
When the scene cuts to a motel shot at night, the sound of thunderstorms and rain happens all at the same time, diegetically. There was also a non-diegetic sound of perhaps a television show and a man’s voice in between. The scene then reveals a television, causing the sound to become diegetic and the man’s voice belongs to the person watching the show, who is the owner of the place. As he claps and pours himself a glass of alcohol, the sound of objects clinging onto each other and liquid pouring sound is heard.
Just then, the sound of a motor appears and the scene immediately cuts to a car, driving into the motel. When outside, the diegetic rain sound is significantly louder compared to the inside of the place. A loud sound happens when the man opens the door, carrying a woman in his hand. Right before the man talks, a thunderstorm is heard, signifying the emotion of the man and the shock of the motel owner. When the owner asked what happened, the man kept repeating “It was an accident, we had an accident.”
A weird non-diegetic sound of cars braking eventually gets louder and completely disappears when the scene cuts into a drive in the rain that happened before the accident. During this scene, different layers of sound are heard. First of all, is the sound of the wipers wiping the rain, then comes the news on the radio about the storms, and the sound of rain is also heard as the background layer.
Besides, a weird sound of numbers counting is also heard, it is later revealed the sound comes from a toy that Timothee, the couple’s son is playing with. At first, when the scene is filmed from the outside, the sound of wipers is significantly louder than others, as the scene cuts to inside the car, audiences are able to hear clearly the noise made by the toy and the radio. As the mom requested Timothee to put down his toy, the sound of objects clashing emphasized that Timothee had put the toy away.
The couple then talked with each other about changing drivers when the man suggested they could do so after the meal. When the inside of the car quiets down, diegetic sound happens and the car starts to move in a different direction. This sound helps the viewer to understand that something just happened to the car. At that moment, rain and thunderstorms get louder, hinting at the upcoming events. When the sound made by the tire gets softer, the car stops, and the sigh from the man confirms that they all are alright.
The man picks up the shoe from the tire and as he is thinking why it is there, a piece of loud music and the ‘whoosh’ sound effect transitions the scene into a woman driving. 2 main sounds are heard in this scene, the diegetic sound caused by the motor and a non-diegetic sound of a rock song. These sounds are added to describe the woman’s personality traits. Another ‘whoosh’ sound is heard as the scene cuts into a room where the woman lights up a cake.
This scene is the quietest scene since the start of the sequence, this is because the scene happens way before the rain and before the ‘disaster’. The diegetic sound of the woman singing is supported by a classical song that is heard in the background. As she picks up a piece of cake and licks it, the whimper from the man emphasizes that he is very satisfied with her.
An abrupt sound is then used to transition back to the woman as she tries to find the lighter in her back luggage. Then, a series of diegetic sounds of clothes flying off the car and her mumbling to curse since she had a cigarette in her mount and was unable to speak normally.
Then, a lightning strike hits and the scene switches to the man fixing the tire. The sound of rain and thunderstorms continues to dominate the screen while the couple has a short conversation about their son. Timothee then gets his mom’s attention by knocking on the door and a diegetic sound is heard.
The moment she stepped back when playing through the window with her son, a car at high speed hit her, causing an abrupt sound. When the moment happened, the sound completely took over the rain and the audience could only hear it hitting the woman, then braking immediately. The sequence ended with the sound of her falling onto the ground and the car stopped by her.
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Lighting
The movie applied low-key lighting to all of its scenes, which complements the thriller and mystery genre. At first, there are 2 sources of light, 1 comes from the yellow light in the room and one is caused by the lightning strikes from outside the window. These 2 sources of light contrast with each other as yellow light brings warmth to the room while lightning has a white light that raises the scariness of the scene.
When Dr.Mallick appears on screen, soft light is mainly seen due to the yellow light, however, sometimes hard light is used and is caused by the lightning strikes. When the evidence appears on screen, the lightning gets more intense which raises the tension for the movie. The lightning also gives the scene a high-key lighting for a second, before it switches back to low-key.
After that, the scene changed to Gary, talking to (probably) his senior on the phone. A lot of binary opposition is seen between Gary and the old man and lighting helps to partially represent it. The lighting used in Gary’s scene is a soft light and while there is lighting on his side too, it doesn’t reach Gary which shows that Gary is a good guy. In contrast, hard lighting is seen on the old man's side and is caused by the lightning strikes, his face is more defined due to the hard light as well. This change builds up the character as bad and evil.
As mentioned in the mise-en-scene part, the motel scene has a layer of green tint that creates a sick feeling and is generally used a lot in horror and thriller movies. In the establishing shot of the motel, 4 light banners stand out from far away but have no impact in brightening up the place. A doom light is also seen coming from inside the motel, this creates the effect of spookiness. 
The lightning strikes further emphasize the coldness of the place. Inside the motel, There are 2 main sources of light, yellow and white light. Despite the use of a yellow light beside the television, the space is still filled with somberness. In the scene where the motel owner is introduced, a white light is seen on the right-hand side of the screen, building up the emotion for the movie. The moment the man carried the injured woman into the motel, a series of lightning strikes, alarming the seriousness of the situation.
In the scene where the man drives in the rain, a blue and grey tint is used, giving the scene a gloomy feel to it. The color of the sky further emphasizes the emotion of the scene. The color creates the lack of connection between the character and the mood inside the car feels cold. Lightning has not started during this scene and therefore, soft light is applied throughout it. When the car had an incident with their tire, lightning started, alarming the characters and viewers for the upcoming (bad) events that could happen.
When the scene switches to the woman riding a roadster, it is during the golden hour when the sun sets and therefore the scene also uses soft lighting. As it cuts to the scene with her on the bed, beside a man, we can clearly observe that there is one source of light coming from the right-hand side of the screen. When the room is slowly revealed, we could identify that it is also during the golden hour but based on the time frame, this might be when the sun rises. The use of the golden hour for only this character could symbolize that she is in her ‘golden period of life’. This means that she currently feels a sense of contentment, happiness, and fulfillment in life. However, the golden hour that appeared in her scene was close to an end which meant that her ‘happy moment’ was about to end and bad events were to come. Similar to the family, as she drives away, lightning strikes which harbinger of the upcoming events.
The night comes and the man is still struggling to fix the tire. The use of low-key lighting is very dominant in this scene due to the lack of light and the surrounding darkness. There is a source of red light coming from the car but this red light has no impact on the characters. The family stops below a road light but the line only shines half of the car while the back has no light.
As the woman walks to the back to check on her son, she slowly walks away from the light, this could represent that she is walking away from the safe place to the dark, where she later got hit by a car. Just right before the accident happens, a flash of light shines on her, quickly alarming the viewers about what will happen next.
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Enigma
Throughout the 7-minute sequence, a lot of enigmas are raised for the audience. Most of the enigmas are raised in the first 3 minutes of the film as too much information appears on the screen at once in a short period of time and viewers have no chance to process what they have just seen. Together with what happens on screen, the recording investigation further adds to the confusion for the audience. When watching Identity for the first time, I also had a few enigmas: Who is Malcolm Rivers, who is the man investigating, what happened in the case, why are there so many reports and newspapers, why did he make up a poem as a kid, why did he said “Don’t beat around the bush” and why did he keep repeating “I remember my mom”. All these questions were later revealed during the film and helped to attract the audience to continue watching to get the answers.
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A lot of different idents were used in the opening sequence of Identity. There are a total of 6 idents that appear before the movie title. These 6 idents were designed to fade in and out, as an ident fades out, a specific letter stays back and disappears later. After the introduction of the 6 idents, the letter that stays back is spelled out as "IDENTT", despite the word having no meaning, it is read out loud as Identity. This is a very creative way to symbolize the movie title by using other idents to do so. As the title of the movie, Identity appears, it all fades in as one but fades out separately, emphasizing the different identities of a character. After that, approximately 30 idents appear and they are all credited to people who contributed to the making of the movie. The idents are laid on top of the running scene, and when the scene appears with a lot of information, the idents stop appearing for the audience to fully focus on what is happening on the scene. The idents started to appear when the screen was black, to the scene where a motel was introduced.
