The Equalizer Opening Scene Analysis

The opening begins with an establishing shot of a city, the silent sound of background music help to fill the silence it then does a harsh cut to the view of the city from the angle of the protagonist's apartment, the serious background music is used to show the audience that he is a serious character even before he is even made an appearance in  the movie. The camera then begins to zoom out and pan around the seemingly spotless apartment. As it zooms from shot it shows an alarm going off and the time 7:30 on the digital clock, this shows then audience that the protagonist must not have been up that long but has already made his bed and made his way towards his bathroom. The bedroom is clean, the living room is spotless with books placed neatly vertical on bookshelves and the kitchen is also shown to be clean and tidy. This is done to show the audience that this character has a sense of OCD as everything is placed neatly and in its proper place, from the looks of the apartment it shows the audience that this man has what could be classed as a 'normal' life as it has all the essentials and luxuries that you would expect your average person to have, however it looks too normal in a way, making the audience feel as though this man has had a very different life in the past.

As the camera pans it shows the protagonist in the dark of the bathroom with only the light shining in the window to make it brighter. The fact that the bathroom is darker compared to the rest of the apartment can be a symbol to the life the protagonist used to have before pursuing a normal life. The next few shots then proceed to show his morning routine by using close ups to give the audience an even greater idea of type of person this character is. A close up of him shaving his head can be a clue to the fact the protagonist used to work in the black ops, the next shot is of the protagonist making a healthy milkshake with a range of fruits, this is used to show the audience that this man cares about his health allowing people to make a positive assumption that this man can be considered a very strong and healthy person, the next shot is of the protagonist cleaning his shoes thoroughly with a toothbrush, this reinforces to the audience that the protagonist likes to be presentable and to feel clean in along with his surroundings. The shot then changes to an over the shoulder view of the protagonist in the mirror, he seems to be wearing normal clothing, however his shirt tucked in is used to show to audience again that this character likes to look presentable.

The shot then becomes an extreme close up of the protagonists watch and from the looks of it he has been timing himself on how long it takes him to get ready for the day ahead, it's as if the protagonist has made it a sort of time trial that he needs to be beat each morning he wakes up. This will be the protagonists motif as he will be shown timing himself with the stopwatch through the movie. The music that plays in the background  is used to help set the serious tone to the audience and to also show them that the protagonist is a serious character. An enigma is created as it would draw the audience into the story as to why he has become the person he is now and what lead up to events of of this opening scene.

The scene then transitions to the protagonists commute to work via train along with everyone else to further enforce the idea that the protagonist has an average life like everyone else. The scene then transitions to a construction supply warehouse and the protagonist is shown to be an employee of this company, this is used to further the enigma and create further mystery about who he was, furthermore it is shown that he hasn't worked there for many as a fellow younger employee asks the protagonist if he didn't have to push dolly's at his old job. The following scene then presents a low angle shot to make the audience feel as though they too are also an employee in the staff room and then pans it to follow the protagonist make his way to a sit.

The following shots are a mix of medium, close up and over the shoulder shots as the protagonist begins to converse with a man, throughout the 180 degree is followed to make sure the audience is immersed, however it is to also make the audience feel as though they are intruding on the conversation. The protagonist is shown to be a helpful character to those in need as the other individual is getting help from the protagonist to lose weight by eating healthy as he desires to become a security guard.

There is then an establishing shot of the kind of surrounding area the protagonist lives around, which is shown to be a friendly looking neighbourhood. The following shots then once again follow his routine but instead this time it's for after work, the motif of the protagonists watch is once again present showing him timing himself doing average chores such as cleaning the dishes. The idea of time is shown to be a major factor in this film as nearly most shots in the opening transition to showing the time on the clock, this is done to make the audience question as to why he acts the way he does and what reasons he has for wanting to be as efficient as possible, making the audience question the protagonists backstory and what happened to him in the past to cause him to either get fired or leave his previous job.