Taken

This story is about a 17 year old girl called Kim who goes away with her friend to Paris, as her and her friend come out of the airport they car share a taxi ride with a local who is going there way. They reach their destination and begin to unpack their stuff. As Kim rings her dad to let him know she is there and is safe she enters the bathroom and and witnesses her friend being abducted as she watches through the window. On the phone to her dad he tells her to hide under the bed and with the experiences he remember from his old job, he then tells her he will come get her, then she is taken by the abductors.

Liam Neeson plays her father Bryan. Bryan use to be part of Central Intelligence Agency, this background gives him the necessary skills and equipment needed to achieve the realism of this film. Bryan goes in search for his daughter and comes across many obstacles that create excitement and a high intensity throughout the film. The film uses a range of shot from the close ups of the head when on the phone and all the detail shown in Kim's face knowing she will be taken. Also many long shots of chase scenes on foot showing point of view shots as if you're running with them.

As the story progresses it turns out her abductors are part of the slave trade and he has 96 hours before she is put into the system and Bryan will never be able to track her. The sense of time slipping away i also enjoy in this film as it always keeps a sense of emergency and danger.

The director of Taken is Pierre Morel who also directed The Transporter and Before Sunset. Pierre uses the theme of having real life problems such as abduction and then creating a leading role that is capable of defeating the system and reaching the given objective. The shots and angles borderline the sense of standed continuity at the start but as the film progresses the editing brings intensity by switching to montage. The use of jump cuts in his chase scenes and parallel editing to show urgency in the the climax of the story. We hope to achieve the same style of film/editing to show realism but also create intensity to our own film beginning.