The opening sequence of the film reservoir dogs depicts eight men eating breakfast at a diner. Six of the eight men are wearing matching suits this almost signifies almost a uniform and that there is no real difference between the men. At the beginning of the scene you here Mr Brown discusses his comparative analysis on Madonna's "Like a Virgin", as if fades up from black.
All the sound in the section of film I am analyzing is diagetic. As the conversation between the eight men continues the camera pans around the circle, from the outside, the mise en scene alternates between a close up of the person talking and other people’s reactions. It is made clear that a few of the men at in the diner are smoking, not only does this signify that it was set during a period where it was acceptable for a person to smoke inside, but it also signified typical gang behavior. Joe then interrupts the discussion about Madonna and this is also when the camera stops panning and is stationary, showing a close up of Joe. As for the camera movement during the discussion between Joe and Mr. White, the camera jumps between the two people depending on who is talking. This not only helps the audience understand who is talking but shows the face which carries a lot of emotion.
As for the dialect used, from their accent you can tell that they are from America and because of the setting, and the slang and swearing used you get the impression either they have had little or no education, in addition to that, this reinforces the idea of gangs. We also can tell that the setting in terms of time period is not modern as some of the props on the table in the diner represent objects from a older period, for example the mobile phone is very big and in height is the same size at a bottle. The bottles also signify again more typical gang behaviour as it is set in the morning as they are having breakfast but yet have already started drinking.
After the discussion between Joe and Mr. White the camera starts to pan again around the circle. Once again Joe interrupts them, and they all immediately listen to him, this represents Joe’s powers in the group and huarache. Except for the wide shots of Joe a large percentage of the shots are over the shoulder shots that then show close ups of head and shoulders, again signifies that Joe is different from the other men there. When Mr. Pink is forced to give up a tip, the camera changed between the two people in the conversation. The eight men really stand out in the setting, the diner, as there is a strong juxtaposition between the light white walls of the diner and the dark serious suits that the men are wearing. This implies they are out of place and perhaps should not be there. In addition to this, again when the conversation takes place about Mr. Pink giving up a tip, the camera jumps from each character as they speak, this is so the audience is able to get a clear image of their facial expression and what their reactions are to the conversation. At this moment all the close up head shots are clearly shown that it is over the shoulder, not only does this show us what the person is seeing himself but also it reminds us that the men are sitting in a circle because of the setting. The camera focuses on the people in the mise en sene, the background and the foreground is out of focus, this shows they are the most important thing in that frame and they are the main focal point of attention.
After the conversation about Mr. Pink leaving a tip, Joe then interrupts again. The camera then shows a wide shot, this is the first time that we get to see the whole table itself and everybody sat at it. The shot is slightly higher than eye level but this allows us to see over the heads of people at the table.
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