Ready Player One is a Steven Spielberg movie, released in 2018 and when addressing the opening scene
there is a lot you can gather about the genre and hints at the narrative from the film making devices used.
The setting immediately draws you in with a chaotic, unfamiliar layout. As it begins with the main character’s narration of his story, we become hooked on his character and the camera establishes the setting as he moves through his neighbourhood. They’re all using virtual reality which we see through windows of caravans and houses stacked on top of each other.
As well as the unfamiliar way of living we see there are also drones delivering pizza which again suggests the futuristic style of film and we start to assume the theme of the movie. What I found engaging was how editors created the virtual reality world, switching from live action to animation when in the virtual reality world. We are introduced to the ‘oasis’ which is where we, as an audience, get dragged into the sci-fi fantasy of their virtual reality world.
As he states in his dialogue he was born in 2027, we know the film is set in the future after people ‘stopped trying to fix problems’. He later says he lives in Columbus, Ohio in 2045. He climbs into what looks like his hideout or secret place made from cars stacked on top of another (other illustration of a realistic future with cars in the past). The setting then changes, without him going anywhere, into the virtual reality world. We see a POV shot of what our character sees when he puts on the headset. To ensure the audience knows where/ what the oasis is, the dialogue explains the concept whilst introducing us to a new (animated) setting.
After watching the opening scene, we can establish aspects of the tone and genre of the movie:
- The genre is sci-fi with a hint of adventure or action
- A fictional concept in the future
- The tone seems uplifting due to the music ‘Jump’ (Van Halen)
- To contrast to the soundtrack, there is a grey/dull colour to the opening scene suggesting a polluted, machine oriented environment
- The tone from the neighbourhood is chaotic and everyone seems preoccupied with this alternate life they create for themselves
We can also tell it’s a sci-fi due to:
- The establishing shot of the city where people’s homes are jumbled together, surrounded by scaffolding
- The way the camera follows our character making sure to display the neighbourhood and how virtual reality is a key theme in this film
- The music along with ambient sound juxtaposes the misery of the polluted area being covered up by electronic devices e.g. adverts on a massive bill board etc
- The colours of technology they're using (contrasting with the plain colour scheme of their lives) are made up of blue’s, purples, and red’s
We don’t know much about any other characters aside from Wade, who we can assume is the protagonist of the film. We can also tell from the short camera duration on other characters (e.g. his neighbours) as well as little amount of dialogue, that they’re not as important. From Wade’s dialogue at the beginning he seems like a normal teenage boy living in a world he’s learnt to accept but there’s something intriguing about him to us, like he doesn’t agree with the system he lives by but it helps to lure us into his character. The story line could be all about what happens in the virtual world or how it changes them in the real world to fix their problems. Maybe it’s an identity cover up that soon everyone tries to reveal. It has many ways to go but I think it would be following Wade’s character.
I believe it could be highly successful if done well, which with Spielberg it obviously will. The concept of the virtual reality world being a place for people in the real world to escape to, is such a great idea as although it’s a fictional story it still relates to today’s world. Maybe it could be interpreted as a parallel to social media- how we create a new life/persona to escape the harsh realities of everyday life. Possibly that’s reading too much into it but the story has so many directions to go in that I’m sure will be successful as we can already see through the editing and design elements of the animation done so immaculately.
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