Indiana Jones and the last crusade Texual Analyses

The sequence begins with an establishing shot of a young Indiana Jones running out of a rocky desert hole. The connotation of the environment is secluded and dry suggesting Indiana Jones to be isolated and alone. The sound effect is dramatic and synchronize with Indiana Jones footstep signifying the tension and fear that young Indiana must be feeling. This is emphasized when the camera did a medium close up of him, showing his face to be rather frightened and worried as he looks around for his traveling companions. Indiana Jones is dressed in a scout uniform, thus giving us an idea as to his characteristics due to the fact that scouts are usually portrayed to be respectful and obey the rules set down for them to the point of absolutism.

The sense of danger that young Indiana faces is further emphasized as the camera did an over the shoulder shot to reveal the four men dressed in a rather cow boy looking costume chasing him in addition we are leaved to wonder why Indiana Jones is being chased. The fact that the four men are wearing cow boy dress also suggest the time in which the movie was set and the perhaps be in the USA, purely because cowboys tends to be US base citizens. The scene of the protagonist falling and missing the horse signifies the comedy of him misplacing the jump.

Indiana Jones is riding on a horse as opposed to his chaser who are on a car, showing clearly his chasers superiority in terms of speed. The filmmakers did a point of view/crane shot of Indiana Jones riding toward the steam train which is moving rather quickly, this suggest that the protagonist has a long way to go in other to catch the train. A tracing shot follows the motion of the stem engine moving very fast, this once again emphasizes the speed at which the train was moving and gives a sense of danger as the protagonist rides toward and jump on it.

The fact that there are snakes on the train reminds those of us that have seen previous Indiana jones movie before that he is afraid of snakes. The camera did a low angle shot of one of the chaser having a dialogue with young Indiana showing his superiority over the protagonist. Moreover there was a role reverse and over the shoulder shot of the protagonist having a dialogue with his chasers.The camera did a close shot of the cross that young Indiana was holding, suggesting it to be the key prob and the reason why he was being chased, the fact that the protagonist said “this should belong in a museum” infers that the cross has a historical significance.The end of the video shows the protagonist jumping in a box to hide from his chasers, the camera then cut to the train track to show a zooming shot of him running the opposite way of the train, leaving the audience to wonder how he got out of the box. The camera did  a close up shot of the face of the protagonist main chaser to show his amazement at Indiana jones skilful evasion of being captured.