A look into the Apocalypse Now opening scene

Without a doubt the opening to Apocalypse Now uses the most stylised aesthetics in its treatment of film form. Like Platoon it has a very powerful opener with its treatment of war depicting a man who has already seen war and been changed by it. The first scene in the movie begins with an extreme wide shot consisting of green palm trees. The same shot is held as non diegetic music, the beginning of the song The End by The Doors is played over top of the shot which adds to the mood. The diagetic sound of helicopter which gets louder as it is supposedly getting closer to the shot creates a sense of place for the viewer and realism. What then follows is a napalm strike over the trees in our still viewing wide framed, long shot. The stark contrast with the green natural palm trees we were just witnessing portrays a clear dehumanizing effect. Next is a pan to the right which shows the extent of the napalm and the destruction to the forest. The gradual fade in of our protagonists face with the overlapping of images behind this creates a link between the imagery of fire and helicopters with the protagonist. This interesting style of overlapping images in the frame helps us understand what is going through the head of this character, it foreshadows what's to come in the film and helps set the mood for the scene. Its looks similar to a flashback but unlike a flashback which only shows the past this method of Mese en Scene puts us more into real time with a characters thoughts or feelings. Here in this first part of a long scene is the beginning of the characterisation of our protagonist and also one of the major themes in the story; the dehumanizing effects of war.

After this part of the scene we return to a normal shot, a close up of protagonists face. The music has stopped now and there is then a cut to a Point of view shot of the ceiling showing only fans. The sound we here in this point of view shot is of a helicopters rotor spinning. The sound is clear and feels as if it is close to the viewer like the fans are. This technique again shows how unstable this character is. Its also interesting because the sound is non diegetic as It is just the imagination of the characters point of view. The view then tilts down showing the viewer and the character the setting, of a small motel room. It cuts back to the close up of his face then back to a point of view shot this time facing a pair of blinds and the point of view shot moves towards these blinds with the character. The sound of helicopters rotors are still heard right up until our character looks outside and gains a sense of where is he. 'Saigon, shit I'm still only in Saigon' is the narration we hear which portrays everything the opening scene has been trying to show: a man who is going insane and is already changed as a result of war.

A look into the opening scene missing the very last narration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU0DxJVWhGw

Works Cited:

Apocalypse Now. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Zoetrope Studiods , 1979. Film

Corrigan, Timothy and Patricia White. The Film Experience: An Introduction. Third Edition. New York: Bedford/St Martin’s, 2012. Print.