The Prestige

Today we watched the opening scene of The Prestige. To apply the rule of Roland Barthes, his theory of 5 narrative codes can be seen. Symbolic code is applied with the dark colours at the beginning to show mysterious unclear surroundings. Also the birds are used as a prop to usually symbolise peace and an animal of freedom but in this scene they are trapped in a cage which juxtapositions. The rest of the room around is pretty dull and dark however the birds are bright yellow this is attracting the most of your attention. There is also Enigma code clearly shown at the end when the man has fallen into the water chamber and is clearly locked and struggling to get out. This makes the audience question why he is in the chamber and whether he will ever get out.