Inception- Opening Scene

Camera and editing- The opening scene begins with a series of extreme close up shots of the sea, this emphasises the power of the waves enabling the audience to imagine the pain the character washed up by the waves must have been through.
The slow motion shots of the children playing in the sand from the character's point of view, foreshadows the importance of young children later on
Throughout the beginning of opening scene, the camera moves slowly between the different shots, which sets the narrative at a slow pace, conversely the pace begins to speed up when the security guards enter and the man is taken, introducing the common theme of thriller films- crime.
The slow paced opening scene is an effective way to start to create tension, and it suggests the scene is building towards something and the audience are wanting to know what is going to happen, and what the scene is leading to.

Sound- The scene opens with a series of slow  non-diegetic background notes, blending together to create eerie background music which matches the slow pace of the camera shots. During the scene around the table, there is minimal sound used however in the background, a few low notes, and played quietly in the background to continue building the tension.

Mise en Scene- The first time we see the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio, his costume is very basic with his messy hair, and makeup has been used to create faint bruises to suggest the intensity of what he has been through out at sea. The landscape is very natural, with nothing but the sea and the sand within the shot. Next there is a large contrast from the natural landscape and basic costume, to the highly expensive room where everything is coloured gold, which is the colour of wealth and all of the characters are wearing suits.

This opening scene, has been highly beneficial to watch to see a way in which the pace of the shots is used to build tension. However the mise en scene has not really been that useful as this is a high budget film and I wouldn't be able to create the same contrast in wealth and landscape.