The film which I will present my Close Textual Analysis will be Paul Verhoeven's 1997 sci-fi "Starship Troopers". The sequence which I will focus most of my analysis on is the opening sequence of the film. The beginning point of this sequence is shown by the Federal Network advisement image, informing us that this sequence is going to be some form of news broadcast. The end point of this sequence is shown through the diegetic camera work on planet Klandathu. The camera has been knocked to the ground due to the camera operator being killed by the bugs. The camera is positioned awkwardly on the main character, Johnny Rico. Here the end point is shown by the camera becoming static and hearing Johnny Rico screaming "oh god, oh god", finally the camera goes blank. We can understand that this is a complete sequence as each cut from one scene is directly relating to the previous scene. The sequence simply flows; there is also a continuous narrator who is explaining what is going on. Also the next sequence starts by using the blankness of the camera. Using this blankness it states "one year earlier".
             The narrative operation that I will elaborate on will be the mise-en-scene elements of the sequence. The opening sequence of Verhoeven's Starship Troopers endows the film to have a "narrative image" in the likeness of television serials or cinema previews. We the audience are immediately engaged with controversy. Through this type of narrative image it is evident that the audience as a whole is engaged by the enigma of the story, this is created through the diegetic camera work on planet Klandathu that reveals the main character 'Johnny Rico'. Yet he is presented to us as being killed in action. However time manipulation is seen to create an audience cheat here due to the flash forward showing that Johnny Rico in fact survived the attack. The way in which Verhoeven grabs the audience&...