Gun Barrel Sequence
The James Bond film series is a British series of spy films based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond (code designation "007"), who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. The gun barrel sequence is the signature device featured in nearly every film of the series. Shot from the point-of-view of a presumed assassin, it features British MI6 agent James Bond walking, turning and then shooting directly at camera, causing blood to run down the screen. The visuals are accompanied by the James Bond Theme, composed by Monty Norman.
Originally designed by Maurice Binder, the sequence has featured in every James Bond film produced by Eon Productions and, although retaining the same basic elements, it has evolved noticeably throughout the series. It is one of the most immediately recognizable elements of the franchise and has featured heavily in marketing material for the films and their spin-offs.
British media historian James Chapman suggests that the sequence is a significant part of the James Bond mythos because it "foregrounds the motif of looking, which is central to the spy genre."
Read more about Gun Barrel Sequence: Description, Origins, Costume, Music, Other Uses, Parodies
Famous quotes containing the words gun, barrel and/or sequence:
“Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?”
—Harvey Thew, screenwriter, John Bright, screenwriter, and Lowell Sherman. Lady Lou (Mae West)
“I do not know if you remember the tale of the girl who saves the ship under mutiny by sitting on the powder barrel with her lighted torch ... and all the time knowing that it is empty? This has seemed to me a charming image of the women of my time. There they were, keeping the world in order ... by sitting on the mystery of life, and knowing themselves that there was no mystery.”
—Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen] (1885–1962)
“Reminiscences, even extensive ones, do not always amount to an autobiography.... For autobiography has to do with time, with sequence and what makes up the continuous flow of life. Here, I am talking of a space, of moments and discontinuities. For even if months and years appear here, it is in the form they have in the moment of recollection. This strange form—it may be called fleeting or eternal—is in neither case the stuff that life is made of.”
—Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)