#film: rogue nation

[huntmavs]

happiest birthday to #ETHANHUNT, the man who always gets the job done.

[the-woman-upstairs]

Mentally, I’m still here:

[vcollies]

hi guys i need to be autistic about film scores for a second

so im rewatching mission impossible: rogue nation (for the third time in a week. don't mention it) and realized something about the non-diegetic music just before ethan goes into the opera: it features a flute. not just any flute, a bass flute!

this is most noticeable in the track starting right around the 3:40 mark. a few notes of the "mission impossible" theme is also played on bass flute at 4:40.

"now mav," you may be asking, "why do we care?" and to that i respond with two main reasons:

bass flute is a rare instrument to hear in film scores, mostly because it's a rare instrument in general. nearly every other time in the score when the typical mission impossible theme is played, it's introduced by your typical C flute, occasionally accompanied by piccolo trills. but this time, it's just one bar with a lone bass flute. why?

to answer the "why," it's highlighting joe kraemer's strike of genius in composing the score: he is using the instrument to foreshadow what comes next. the next scene shows a presumed musician getting his bass flute checked by security, and we later learn that there is a weapon hiding inside the flute (which, coming from a flute player, is a fantastic idea. nobody expects the bass flute!). by featuring the bass flute and having it play the mission impossible theme before we even see the plot-relevant bass flute in the film, we (the audience) are having something important alluded to us: this instrument is going to be relevant.

film composers love to do this; sprinkling blatant foreshadowing into their scores, telling the audience what's coming next in a way that the majority of viewers won't ever pick up. this is probably going to send me into yet another rewatch of the film where i try to find more silly little tidbits in the music.

anyways. that was a brief analysis of the importance of one singular instrument in a movie that came out a decade ago. thanks for letting me yap.

[rebeccasteventaylor]

I’m so sorry - but I have another thing about the symbolism of clothes in Rogue Nation, and how they reflect Ethan’s attention and how it changed…

So when we see Ilsa she is in that glorious yellow dress

It’s bright and draws attention and is obviously showing that Ilsa, right now, is drawing Ethan’s attention - it’s designed to make Ethan look (there’s a possibility that Ilsa might even know Ethan is there as Lane guessed he would be). But it’s very much ‘Ethan, look!’

(It also looks really revealing but isn’t as revealing as it looks - very Ilsa)

But as the movie goes on Ilsa’s clothes get darker and darker as Ethan’s attention begins to focus elsewhere…

As Benji’s clothes go from concealment to brighter and brighter until he is standing in that train station in bright red that can be seen across the station.

The draw of Ethan’s attention has gone from ‘look at Ilsa’ to ‘pay attention to Benji!’ The focus - the brightest point in Ethan’s sight goes from Ilsa to Benji.

And now - the colours.

Ilsa’s colour is yellow - which in nature is a warning colour. Especially given that band of black - it’s the colours of a wasp. And she doesn’t have any yellow after that moment.

Benji’s colour is red. The colour of hearts and love. (Unfortunately also blood).

And Benji often has a touch of red in his outfit after that - a shade, a hint, even red adjacent colours like purple.

EDIT - just checked - Benji��s outfits all have a touch of red in Fallout, even if it’s just a thread in the check pattern or an attachment on a bag

Ilsa’s warning yellow disappears. Benji’s colour of love is always there somehow, even when very faint

[rebeccafergusonfan]

Rebecca Ferguson | Young Hollywood & Interview | 2015

[nemmet]

drew the one and only benji mission impossible as a gift for a friend!!! ❤️💥

[breachofpromise]

ethan & benji’s silent conversations throughout the series are so lovely, my goodness. they’re so sickeningly sweet, the way they can understand one another with just a look.

[filmtitle]

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

[pedroam-bang]

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

[liass-21]

watching the beginning of rogue nation for fic research… god i love this film

[saltyfilmmajor]

I just spent 10 minutes thinking about how I could make spectre good

[huntmavs]

#ETHANHUNT, the guy who refuses to make sacrifices that would harm others, yet he willingly makes sacrifices that would harm him.

[the-woman-upstairs]

All of us Benthan shippers seeing the forehead touch in the Final Reckoning trailer:

[nine-frames]

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, 2016.

Dir. & Writ. Christopher McQuarrie | DOP Robert Elswit

[faustilsa]

"well,you know ‘killer thigh move’ does happen time to time"

‘’.. I love action movies. Because I love dance I love movement, so I specifically love watching choreography in fighting and seeing how people work’..’

[rebeccafergusonfan]

Rebecca Ferguson | Interviews