Textual Analysis Part 1: A Fistful of Dollars

A Fistful of Dollars 

(Note: I was unable to find the beginning scene on its own. I instead analyzed the first scene, from 2:30 to 5:32)

Genre: It is set in the desert, as is immediately revealed. This is a staple of the Western genre, and very few true Westerns are not set in the desert. The rider on horseback is also a genre-defining feature of the genre. His costume, the distinctive poncho worn by Clint Eastwood as well as the iconic cowboy hat are more elements of the genre. The use of long, uninterrupted shots is again part of the Western genre, which makes them distinctive from the majority of popular film genres, as is the lack of speech.

Narrative: The story is linear, as this is a simple and straightforward telling of the story. Westerns are rarely complicated, and other than a blurring of the strict morality of a main character tend to be very black and white, so the linear narrative adds to this simplicity of narrative.

Location: The opening reveals that the film is set in the Old West, revealed by the desert surroundings, period costumes and lawless bandits firing on the child.

Characters: The cowboy, presumably the film's protagonist, is represented as morally indifferent to the events of the film's villains. When they shoot at the boy he just watches, and minds his own business when they look at him. This is an unconventional main character for most genres but a considerably common one in the Spaghetti Western.

Voiceover: There is no narration, which adds to the enigmatic feel of the story. It is unclear who any of the characters are in the opening or what is going on, but it is assumed this will be revealed later to some extent.

Pacing: The opening is very slow paced. The pace increases slightly but is still quite slow when the bandits attack the child, and this drawn out feeling provides more tension and enigma to the scene.

On-screen graphics, captions: After the opening credits there are no on-screen captions.

Editing & post-production: Hard cuts are used and there is no fading. This grounds the scene in reality and adds to the suspense of the scene. Shot/reverse shot is used in the wordless exchanges between characters i.e. the bandit and cowboy. The cuts follow the soundtrack creating a flow to the scene.  No CGI or digital effects are used, grounding the piece in reality and adding verisimilitude.

Music and sound effects: The music adds meaning to the scene, representing the atmosphere and emotions of the wordless characters. Diegetic sounds add to creating the film's reality to immerse the viewer.

Camerawork: mostly wide shots are used at first to establish location and special awareness then close ups to reveal emotion and to create tension between characters (for example, when the cowboy and bandit look at each other.) An over the shoulder shot from the Bandits perspective is used to show that he has seen the cowboy.