Within the first scene of the movie we see a close up of Simon sitting on a train with his eyes closed suggesting he is in his own thoughts, he lighting within the scene keeps shifting from complete darkness to very little light, this suggests to the audience the Simon's mind is troubled, the location is very dark to match the atmosphere. A man approaches Simon and tells him he is in his seat, the shot is taken from behind the man therefore, we never see his face creating this idea of mystery, he is wearing all black which can suggest he is a bad omen, he is warning the audience from the start this character is a villain. We see a mid shot of the man talking to Simon, the shot is framed so that we cannot see the mans face, he has the exact same build as Simon which suggests to an audience that he is the doppelganger, this allows us to see the first juxtaposition between the characters, Simon is quiet and kept to himself, even in an entirely empty subway he gives up his seat just because someone told him to. The scene uses very slow shots and slow movements, I believe this was done in order to make the sequence almost dream like, it is as though his will isn't quite his own. A shot of a subway mirror is used, the mirror is split showing him two warped images of himself, this links to Lacan's theory showing truth in the mirror stage, it allows us to identify with the reflection, here both reflections are warped and weird suggesting he sees himself in an unappealing light and desires to become someone other than himself. The use of a zoom shot slowly zooms into Simons' face as he stares intently into the next subway cart. Being forced out his seat by what we assume is his double brings him closest to the object of his desires than he has ever been before. Hannah is in the next cart over, she is facing his direction however, her eyes are closed showing that even when she is close to him she cannot see him, he is invisible to her yet she is all he sees. The shot of Hannah is framed in such a way to make her the centre of attention, she is placed in the centre of the scene framed within the window of the subway cart, even as the cart sways she gently flows within the scene reflecting her elegance.
The director of the film Richard Ayoade says the film was set in a version of reality which seemed "obsolete and inescapable and had a sort of dreamy no specific quality" this s because there is something fable like about doppelgangers they are something that cannot exist in the real world it is something that is merely a subconscious example of how ones desires can be pushed into creating a version of themselves which is better. James is sort of ego-less he is unburdened by all the things which make Simons life hard, this is why he is the version of himself the Simon wants to live up to, this can be seen when they are in the diner scene together. Within this scene we see Simon struggle to talk to the mean waitress whereas James is forthright forcing the waitress to get him food which isn't even on the menu. In this scene the shots taken of Simon the shot is taken from a higher angle making him look weak and powerless however, when the camera turns to James, it is shot from a lower angle making him look more confident and powerful. The lighting on Simons face within the scene seems to be very bright, there are not shadows on his face which make him look angel like, suggesting he is a good character, on James however, the use of edge lighting has formed shadows under the cheek and along the side of the face making him seem more aggressive and scary, although to an audience he seems a little mysterious and eerie to Simon he is a reflection of what he wants to become, he wants to become this forthright character.
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