City of god

What is the importance of mise-en-scene and or sound in creating meaning and generating response in the films that you have studied?

I think that the mise-en-scene is really important in the film City of god. I think that the importance of mise-en-scene is apparent in one of the starting and ending scenes. in this scene it shows the character Lil-dice sat with the tender trio, Goose, Clipper and Shaggy, in this scene lil-dice is sat at the top of a pile of bricks this is an important aspect of the mise-en-scene because these bricks, to me, represent the building blocks to the city of god and because of Lil-dices positioning on these blocks it not only shows his power over the tender trio but also fore shadows what is going to come, that he will have the power over the city of god, also in this scene there is a lot of light and there is a clear sky, this could mean that there is hope for the future. Later in the film after his friend Benny dies, (his best friend and good influence) the mise-en-scene shows him with his back agains a wall made of the initial building blocks that he sat on, this shows meaning to me because it is almost like he is on top of the city ruling over it, but also means that he has completely turned his back on the City, like he doesn't really care about it anymore. The sky and the whole look of the film is an awful lot darker as well, this could mean that there isn't hope anymore and just shows the recurring motif that no matter what you do you can't escape from it.

Another scene that really emphasises the importance of mine-en-scene in this film is, "The story of the apartment." The beginning of this scene shows a very well furnished, well decorated apartment filled with food, owned by a woman,"Dona zelia" selling drugs to support her family at this time it was the early 60s when women had more power, there is a static camera used, i think that this is used to make the deterioration of the apartment more apparent, this montage sequence is the first one that you see in the film and because of its use of cross dissolves, i think that it was used to show the progression of time and shows you how long it takes for the apartment to deteriorate, later in the sequence there becomes less furniture, the wallpaper is replaced with nude posters of woman and instead of a bread knife on the cloth covered table, there is a meat cleaver sticking out of it, to me it just shows how quickly things can escalate in the city of god. Also in this scene you see the slow deterioration of domestication, to me it shows the animalistic nature of the people who live there, you can't domesticate a wild animal and as the take continues you can see the the people taking over get more and more malicious. I think that this scene in a way portrays what happens throughout the whole film, things slowly get worse and worse until it is almost unliveable.

Research catalogue

Dysfunctional families are a common theme in Steven Spielberg's films, does this make him an auteur?

Item 1- 'E.T.'(film)-1982

This is my focus film, for me this defines Steven Spielberg as an auteur. It backs up my idea of how he uses dysfunctional families in his work, a lot of the things that happened in his childhood are reflected in this film. There is a divorced family in e.t. just like in Spielberg's childhood, dysfunctional families are a common theme within Spielberg's films and I think that this theme is very apparent in 'E.T.'

Item 2- 'A.I.' (film)-2001

I picked this because it shows again the use of dysfunctional families, this wasn't originally Spielberg's but you can tell that the film is his, and I think that the narrative shows his presence as an auteur. Throughout the main protagonist is trying to be reunited with his family that is now dysfunctional, this is a recurring theme in a lot of Spielberg's films and that's why I think that this film backs up my theory.

Item 3- 'The Colour Purple', (film)-1985

This film is really helpful because it not only repeats the theme and backs up my theory, the story is of a woman who has to live in a dysfunctional family and how she overcomes this. It was Spielberg's first serious film which I think helped to define him as an auteur because he then later went on to make such films as Schindler's list.

Item 4- Spielberg A Retrospective, Richard Schicknel (book)

I found the information in this book to be really useful it explains a lot about his life and the relation between his personal life and his films which really helps me to make connections and backs up the theory that Spielberg is an auteur, I found that the most useful was page 1 and the chapter The Colour Purple. I will be using quotes from this in my presentation script.

Item 5- Pocket Essentials Steven Spielberg, James Clarke(book)

I found that the most helpful part of the book was the chapter 'To Fly', starting from page 40 to page 43. it was helpful because the information in this chapter backed up my ideas of Spielberg being an auteur, it has lots of information about his film e.t. which in my opinion is the most useful film for backing up my argument of him being an auteur, because of its representation of dysfunctional families. I didn't find the rest of this book that helpful but I will use quotes from other sections of this book in my presentation script.

Item 6- Steven and Stanley. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW5RJz6YvpI (interview)

In this interview there are a lot of helpful quotations that will be useful for me to use with in my presentation script, it also discusses how Spielberg made A.I. his own even though it was originally Stanley Kubrick's, this backs up my argument that Spielberg is an auteur.

Item 7- A Cinema Of Loneliness by Robert Kolker, (book)

I found this book helpful, in the book it shows analysed photographs of scenes from my focus films. This is helpful because it shows how he uses different shots to express family problems, and this relates to my question by telling me that he does use dysfunctional families.

Item 8- http://www.theyshootpictures.com/spielbergsteven.htm (article)

I found this article relatively helpful, some of the content in this article backs up my question and helps me to argue my point. I found one particular quote that states that Spielberg does use dysfunctional families with in a lot of his films, this quote will be used in my presentation script.

Item 9- Steven Spielberg on his 29 films, from Duel to bridge if spies- telegraph- (picture gallery.)

Although this doesn't necessarily help me answer my proposal a lot of the quotes that are found on this slide show will be helpful for my presentation script, because I can use the pictures from the slide on the projector.

Item 10-A. I and Spielberg 1- (article)

I think that this can be helpful because there are points in here that argue for and against reasons why Spielberg made his films the way that he did. This is useful to me because I can use some of the ideas from this article to back up my point of view.

Item 11- http://sensesofcinema.com/2006/great-directors/spielberg/ (article)

This is incredibly useful; the article discusses what makes Spielberg an auteur. A section in this article is from the perspective of John Baxter who is one of Spielberg's biographers. He has a huge insight as to why Spielberg makes films the way that he does. I think that it will be really helpful to use quotes from him in my presentation script.

Item 12- http://time.com/3544502/spielberg-movies/ (documentary/ article)

The first paragraph of this article is really good, it completely backs up my ideas that he uses dysfunctional families in his films and that this makes him an auteur. This article explains lots of different ways that Spielberg is an auteur but this specific paragraph is really useful to me as I will and can use it in my presentation script to prove my opinion.

Item 13- Spielberg- 'The Culture Show' BBC2 (documentary) 2006

The documentary discusses lots of different films that Spielberg has made, although it does talk about my films completely. Spielberg mentions details about my focus films and also other films he has made that have a similar theme to the ones I have chosen to discuss. Spielberg also discusses how he represents family in his work. This will be really useful when I come to write my presentation script as it has really good quotes relevant to my question. Spielberg also relates my focus film to his real life, this is really helpful because it proves my argument.

Item 14- 'Teach Yourself Film Studies' by Warren Buckland (2010)

This book discusses what makes a director an auteur, it is extremely helpful to me as it goes into detail about what makes someone an auteur. It has information that I can use to back up my argument and it also has lots of useful quotes that I will use in my presentation script.

Item 15 - Rejected items.

'Schindler's List'- I was going to use this film as an example however I thought that The Colour Purple was a little more appropriate as it was his first serious film and I think that it was more useful to answer my question than Schindler's List.

The Passions and Techniques of Spielberg. (an analysis by Steven Benedict)- I did find this useful but I don't think that it helps answer my question and therefore I rejected it. The analysis does talk about what Spielberg did production wise but didn't go into much detail to why he did something, it didn't discuss the relation of his films to his own life.

Steven Spielberg by Paul Bullock (article the director’s chair)- I think that this was helpful, it explains why he might make the films the way he does and it does ink to his childhood however I don't think that this helps answer my question of whether his use of dysfunctional families makes him an auteur.

Steven Spielberg's techniques and themes by Steven Benedict- Although I found this you tube video helpful because it did back up my idea that Seven Spielberg is an auteur, it showed it in a way that wouldn't be helpful in answering my question. It highlighted how his religious and spiritual themes made him an auteur were as I think that dysfunctional families do have a big part in it also.

A2 presentation script: Spielberg

Dysfunctional families are a common theme in Stephen Spielberg’s films, does this make him an auteur?

projector: Images of Steven Spielberg (item 9), and question shown underneath.

speaker: An auteur is a film director who influences their films so much that they rank as their author. "Directors who show a consistency in style and theme are called auteur's." (item 14) In my personal opinion I think that Spielberg’s experiences throughout his life really affect the way in which he directs his films, I think that he put a lot of what happened in his personal family life into his work, this is what I found out...

speaker: The first film that I thought really emphasised a dysfunctional family was E.T. In this film there shows a family without a dad and it seems that E.T. comes along as a father figure for Elliot, " E.T. becomes a surrogate father and friend to Elliot whose father in the story has divorced his mother." This quote backs up my idea a lot,"(item 5) when he was young his parents divorced he still included the divorce in his film E.T. which makes me think more that he is an auteur. (item 1) "Steven Spielberg’s films tend to convey a certain “heaviness” with regard to adult life but joy and belief with regard to the children. He is at his most effective in his films that focus on childhood, such as E.T. (item 8) because I know that this kind of thing happened when he was a child it makes me think that because he put his own life experiences into his films that he is an auteur.

projector: Phone home scene (item 1)

speaker: In this scene you can see E.T. learning to talk English and asking to phone home, this scene makes me think that E.T really wants to be with his family, this also makes me think of when Spielberg was younger, “the films drama is driven largely by the main characters faith and desire to return home.” This is significant to me because when Steven Spielberg was young he moved around a lot with his dad’s job, and perhaps when he was young all he wanted to do was return home after moving to so many different places. However, it also says that E.T. was a substitute to a dad or a friend, this could be Spielberg’s way of saying that Elliot wanted his dad to come home, because of this it really makes you think that Spielberg is putting his own life into this film, which I think makes him an auteur. (item 5) This scene to me really portrays the connection between Spielberg's life and Elliot's life the film, making me think that he is an auteur.

projector: Elliot cuts his finger scene. (item 1)

speaker: In this scene you can see Elliot cutting his finger and e.t healing it, but what stand out the most for me in the scene is that Elliot's mom is Reading Peter Pan in the background. For me this is important because the story of Peter Pan is about a lost boy from a different world who take on the role of a father to the lost boys, I think that this is significant because I can’t see the same thing with E.T. and Elliot. This relates to my opinion that Spielberg is an auteur because he was away from home when he was a child, much like E.T. or Elliot. (item 1) “For me e.t was both the quintessential story of my childhood and at the same time the end of my childhood, it gave me the courage, based on its success, to start more adult subjects. E.T. gave me a free pass to fail." this quote really makes me believe that he is an auteur, because he actually states that he put his own life into this film. E.T. was a great experience for me because I wanted to be a dad after making it. I wasn’t a father and I kind of became a father to those three kids." this quote really does suggest that he put his life into this film and made it completely his own, I think that he got so connected to his own story that it changed him and I really believe that this backs up my opinion. (item 4)

projector: E.T. Leaving Earth scene. (item 1)

speaker: In this scene E. T’s family come back to take him home, which to me is a really important scene in the film as you can really see the connection between the life of Spielberg and the characters, what I mean by this is that in the film all E.T wanted to do was go home and be with his family, just like Spielberg when he was living with his father. All he wanted to do was go home and be with his family, (item 4) because of the way that Spielberg has put himself into this film, it really shows that he is an auteur.

Another film that shows Spielberg's use of dysfunctional family's is A.I. (Artificial intelligence) Having researched this film I have found that the original idea for A.I. was by Stanley Kubrick. Before he passed away he had been talking to Spielberg about the ideas that he had for the film and he had asked him to direct it. When Kubrick passed away, he did, I think that this is one of his more personal films, the whole theme of being loved and the feeling of belonging, when he started to produce the film he didn’t change any of the story but really put himself into it. (item 6)

projector: Imprinting on David scene (item 2)

speaker: I think that this scene is significant because it really shows a dysfunctional family, almost at its worst, the family is replacing their dying son with a robot and this scene where David imprints on the mother sets that in stone. Although Spielberg didn't include his own life experiences into this scene I do however think that it really emphasises how dysfunctional this family, which makes me think that my opinion of him being an auteur is correct because of his frequent repetition of style, by this I mean his continuous use of dysfunctional families. (item 2)

projector: Abandoning David scene (item 2)

speaker: This scene however differs from the previous one that I showed, in this scene David is being abandoned by his Mother rather than being destroyed. This scene makes me think of Spielberg's life. When Spielberg left with his father he felt abandoned by his mother, (item 6) this shows to me that my idea is correct. Spielberg put himself into this film with his use of dysfunctional families, I think that this shows he is an auteur. “I basically learnt to put more of my own experiences into my films for my characters in my pictures, I’m encouraged". this is quote of him admitting that he puts himself into his films which really backs up my theory and almost proves it. In A.I. his whole plan changed because not only did he have to use his own style of directing, in the sense that he wanted to put some of his own experiences into the film, he also felt that he had to use Stanley Kubrick’s style. For example using Stanley’s favourite lens in most of his shots when he was directing the film. Even thought when you watch it you can see a lot a Kubrick’s style you can tell that it’s a Spielberg film and I think that his ability to do that truly shows that he is an auteur. (item 6)

projector: Teddy and David trapped under the Ferris wheel scene (item 2)

In this scene it shows Teddy and David trapped and then saved by aliens. The ending of A.I. for Kubrick was that David and teddy were trapped under the Ferris wheel in the sea, he wanted them to be trapped until their batteries ran out and then the credits would role. However, this did not happen, there is a lot of controversy about the ending because Spielberg put his own idea and twist into the film and added aliens to the end. Because of this fact I can’t help but think that he wanted to put more of himself into the film rather than making it a Kubrick film. (item 10) This makes him an auteur because even though it wasn’t entirely his film he still wanted to put himself into it. (item 6) In the end David got to spend one more day with his mother, the dream to be part of a functional family and to be loved came true, this to me relates to Spielberg's life making me think that he is an auteur.

Another example of a Spielberg film that includes dysfunctional families is The Colour Purple, (item 3)

projector: Celie and Nattie are split scene (item 3)

speaker: For me this is one of the most powerful scenes for showing dysfunction in families. Although this only relates to Spielberg slightly as he wasn't forced from his family, it does show a really, truly dysfunctional family at an extreme. I have used this film as one of my examples because this is the first serious film that Spielberg made. (item 4) By serious I mean the story is really hard hitting and emotional. This film to me really shows that he is an auteur because it doesn't matter what the genre of the film is, it still shows the same consistency in theme. (item 3) (item 14)

projector: "I don’t think that I could have made Schindler's List or empire of the sun without the colour purple, that would have been impossible I didn’t have the maturity, the craft and the emotional information. “(quote) (item 4)

speaker: This quote to me, (although I don’t think there is any relation between the film and Steven Spielberg’s childhood other than dysfunctional families) makes me think that Steven Spielberg is an auteur. Because of the severity of the plot of The Colour Purple I think that this film helped him to be an auteur because of the amazing films that he was mature enough to make after the production of The Colour Purple. (item 4) I think the fact that this film is almost entirely based on really dysfunctional family’s really helps me to answer my question. This film was one a Spielberg’s most emotional pictures, and I believe that he would have really had to think about his own family life and what was bad about it and then think about how much worse it could have been. I think that’s why Spielberg was the author to this film, he used it to mature himself, he made this film apart of himself which in my opinion makes him an auteur.

projector: Celie is reunited with her children scene (item 3)

speaker: This scene reminds me a lot of my focus scene because it has the same kind of ending. that ending being that E.T. goes home and is reunited with his family. This is just like the ending of The Colour Purple, this makes me think that Spielberg is an auteur because of the similarities in style and in themes. (item 14) It is so alike his other films even though has a completely different story and I think that his use of dysfunctional families in these films makes him an auteur.

projector: photographs from the book "cinema of loneliness". (item 7)

projector: photographs from Duel to bridge if spies- telegraph (item 9)

conclusion: " Hardly a single one of my films isn’t based on something that happened in my childhood."(item 4) This proves my argument, Spielberg himself has said that he uses his own experiences as a child in his film. I think that proves that he is an auteur. Going back to my original question, Dysfunctional families are a common theme in Stephen Spielberg’s films, does this make him an auteur? Yes, I believe it does, he puts parts of himself into all of his films and makes them his own, because of his consistency in style and theme, (item 14) I think that this makes him an auteur.

Molly Ryan

Case study 1 mocking jay part 1

directed by: Francis Lawrence

produced by: nina Jacobson and Jon kilik

screenplay: Danny strong and peter Craig

based on: mocking jay by suzanne collins

staring: Jennifer Lawrence

             josh Hutchinson

             liam hensworth

             woody harrison

             Elizabeth banks

             Julianne Moore

             Philip Seymour Hoffman

             jeffery wright

             Stanley tucci

             Donald sutherland

music by: james norton Howard

cinematography: jo williams

edited by: alan Edward bell

production company: lions gate and colour force

distrabuted by lions gate

release date: november 9th 2014

running time: 123minutes

country: usa 

language: english 

budget: $250 million (shared with part 2)

box office: $275 million 

i think that this film made lots of money at they box-office because its the 3rd film of the franchise and was originally a book series, they also separated mocking jay into two parts, making it seem more like an epic, this would intrigue people making them think that they must watch part one and part two, the movie was also publicised incredibly, persuading people to go and see the film. 

Jennifer Lawrence also seen in another famous franchise, ( playing mystic in days of future past and x-men first class) which will have attracted people to go and see mocking jay part 1 simply because she is staring as the main character, i think that because she w in the movie the people advertising it made sure that i was known, the advertisers would have used this to their advantage, they would have also used josh Hutchinson's fame to help promote the film as lots of people like the actor.

i think that this film also encouraged other teen targeted books to be made in to movies for example maze runner and divergent. 

Jurassic park scene analysis.

Jurassic park film analysis

The scene starts with an establishing shot of a kitchen, this shows the mise-en-scene and allowed me to know the setting of witch the scene was going to take place, I think that the director did an establishing shot so that the audience could see how small and compact the kitchen area was, perhaps to add emphasis on the enclosed room, the low key lighting also makes the area appear smaller making the characters look trapped, this is a generic convention of sci-fi horrors witch gives you an instant insight of what the film genre is. After the characters entre the room they switch of the lights which makes the lighting even more low key, to me this made me think that they were hiding or running from something, this added tension and made the atmosphere more known to the audience, once the lights are turned off the camera tracks them as they more lower down and hide, while this happens the footsteps that area heard on the ground as they run are really loud, this adds to the intensity because the room they are in is so quiet and the footprint are immensely loud in the silence, the use of extremes is generic in the sci-fi horror genre().

 In the initial view of the scene everything is low key lighting other than the exit signs which are red, red is also a generic convention of the horror genre and is shown in the mise-en-scene of many other films; the shining uses red to signify danger for example the words “red rum” are written in red this shows the danger behind the words, in this situation the red indicates danger, this also gives you an insight into what’s going to happen in the scene because the only way out for the characters is danger, this made me feel uncomfortable because I knew that there was no escape form what the children were hiding form.

The scene continues with a two shot mid-shot of the characters with the lens focused in the two characters and the door, I think the director did this so that people saw the relationship between the characters and the door, the door being there salvation but also their fear, I think that the director also did this to establish the importance of the door and the characters, I instantly thought that because the door was in focus that something significant was going to happen through that door because of this the scene made me feel suspenseful, like I was waiting for something to happen.

There is a jump cut to the door which makes you know that something is defiantly about to happen, there is a low thumping noise that begins as the camera zooms closer into the door little window, there is low key lighting all around the door however there is a strong light shining through the doors window, this could signify hope or freedom, by this I mean the window could represent light at the end of the tunnel, however the noise in the background of the zoom is repetitive which genetically, according to horror conventions means that something is about to happen, even though you have that feeling of hop coming through the doors lit window. Suddenly with only a small quite sound a dinosaur appears, to me this doesn’t scare me I think that perhaps it didn’t because conventionally there would be a loud sound to shock the audience however there wasn’t one, I think that the director did this maybe to make the audience feel like they were there, I think that if there were loud noises it would have taken away the realism, if there was a monster outside my kitchen I would be quiet too and I think that this was done purposely so that the idea of you having to be quiet scared you more than a loud noise would have, because to me I felt that I was experiencing what the characters were feeling.

The dinosaur breathing heavily on the glass blocked out the clearness and light almost like the dinosaur was crushing all the hope that the characters may have had, the camera then zooms toward the male character who then sees the monster for the first time, there is a lot of reflection in the cabinets and surfaces in the room which makes the room look unused and very cold I think that the director did this to show that the characters are completely uncomfortable and scared because the room is obviously not an environment that they are used to because it is so clean and desolate. The boy has a bandage on his hand witch shows that he has been hurt, maybe from this dinosaur, this gives you an indication that they might be hiding from the dinosaur, once the camera show the boy it jump cuts back to the window on the door, the dinosaur turns its head and squints its eye as if it has spotted the boy, almost like it was looking for him the first place, this made me feel tense as I was wondering what was going to happen to the boy and unnerving because the eye was directly in the centre if the camera which made the dinosaur look like it was looking at me, this again seemed to involve the audience to almost make it feel like you are there watching it.

All the way through there has been low and quiet repetitive sound, however this is then broken by the dinosaur making its diegetic sound, it also steams the glass and its face is dead centre, this shocked me slightly as I wasn’t expecting the music to break its repetitiveness, I think that this was done so that audience would be shocked and surprised because you were expecting something to scare you and it didn’t you forget that you were supposed to be waiting for a scare and then this unanticipated noise frightens you even more. The dinosaur completely blocks out the window so there is no clear light at all anymore, which makes you think that the characters have no hope left.

There us parallel editing after a jump cut from the dinosaur to the children characters, its jumps straight to a different character in a different place where there is high key lighting and the sound is less extreme and much more relaxed because there is no repetition in the music, I think that the director did this to emphasis the different situations and show the intense and the calm, this could show how the characters are feeling and also show but you know that its happening at the same time because once the other female character says “unless they learn how to open doors” it jump cuts back to the handle of the door in the kitchen, this means that what she said foreshadowed what was going to happen.

Low key lighting surrounds the handle of the door and shows reflection onto the door as the handle is moved up and down by the dinosaur, because the only thing that I can see is the door handle I can only concentrate on, this to me makes me feel on edge, because I know what’s going to happen and because all I can see is the door handle that’s the only thing that the director has allowed us to think about at that point, I think that this is because the concept of a dinosaur opening a door is extremely surreal the idea is terrifying and to me that’s the reasoning for why the camera was static on the door handle was so people could get the opportunity to be scared of the concept as well as the fear for the safety of the characters, this made the handle extremely significant to me because it gives you the opportunity to be scared for more than one reason.

The camera remains static while the dinosaur opens the door and you see the claw, then there is a jump shot, I think that the jump shots wear used to make the sequences pace significantly quicker so that the scene gave the impression of because dangerous and nerving because the action is constant, there is constantly something happen which gave me lots of things to think about in scene all at once, to the head, the camera then goes static. The dinosaur then breaks through the door by opening it and then blocks the door way, or the exit way, because the sign is red which is a convention of the genre the dinosaur being the danger and the evil consumes the door frame, this really emphasises the importance of the red in this scene because It shows the shear danger that thee characters feel about the dinosaurs

Molly Ryan.

An analysis of The shining.

The shining

The scene initially starts with a close up of the door and an open lock, the doors design is wooden, this could tell us or give meaning that the is something bad with in the room, because an upside down crucifix( the basic design of the door) signifies evil and satin making the room appear dangerous and evil. The unlocked door could be foreseeing that is going to happen later on in the film, that they will have to or need to lock this door, the use of mise-en-sen to me makes this scene seems negative and makes me think about what is going to happen throughout the scene. The use of close ups in generic in the horror genre not only to exaggerate a characters emotion but shown here to emphasize the importance of the lock and upside-down crossed style door.

As Danny enters the room there is a close up zoomed out into a mid-shot I think that this was done to emphasize the isolated nature of the film I think that with the use of this shot Danny appears to be in danger and seems to me to be almost trapped in that room this is also emphasised because of the low key lighting in the room, this makes the room seems smaller and I think that this was shot this way to almost drown the actor and the scene with the fact that the film progressively persists in showing the isolation that the family is in.

A quick camera pan to jack could show the shock of Danny that his father is still awake, and the fact that jack isn’t facing the camera he is glaring at the wall could indicate that he has been awake for some period of time, the mise-en-sen shows this because jack is wearing a dressing gown this backs up the idea of jack being awake for a period of time and hasn’t just been woken up. The camera has jack completely in the middle of the shot this could potentially indicate his level of sanity knowing later in the film that he shifts slightly out of centre shot this could have been done purposely to make the audience believe that jack, although staring at nothing, has some aspects of sanity.

After the initial sight you have of jack in the bed room you see him turn his head toward Danny (the camera) I thought that this gives the audience an insight of what is going to happen in the film, I found that the slow head turn as well as the non-diegetic high pitched strings that this action gave the scene a unsettling feeling to it, like something was about to happen. Instantly after this there is a jump cut to the other side of jack where you can see jack, jacks reflection in the mirror and Danny, I think that the director did this to maybe symbolise the split with in jack the line between sanity and insanity, the idea being that you aren’t the person in the mirror the reflection in the mirror is not you, I think that this was used well as you can see the lost expression on the actors face but can also see the reaction of Danny this to me gave the audience a clear insight of what either character was feeling therefore letting me interpret what is going to happen next, this is a convention of the horror genre; letting the audience imagine what is going to happen, depending on your imagination this scene could potentially scare you just with what you think is going to happen I think that this technique was used thoughtfully and very well.

The camera stays in the same position and then jump cuts to a mid-shot of jack looking at Danny, this shot doesn’t have the mirror reflection in it and also features jack gesturing Danny where to go, almost like he is reaching out to him and that his sanity is being restored because of the lack of the mirror in the shot. The music throughout this scene is no-diegetic and is repeated high pitched stings which is also a convention of the horror genre, the music indicates that there is still danger in the scene, to me this makes the scene still appear unnatural and creepy, the way that jack calls his son over is also very unnatural, its very nerving the way that things are said, it’s as if the character jack is using his words to taunt Danny or make Danny feel uncomfortable, this performance really adds to the effect of the scene and gives further meaning to the film, by the audience being able to detect abnormality’s within  a characters voice.

Danny walks into the shot slowly, like he is reluctant and is placed on jacks knee slowly with no change in the facial expression of the actors, this again could signify jacks insanity (repetitiveness is also a generic convention of the horror genre) or the unnaturalness of the situation, the way that both the characters are acting is almost like the character haven’t done this before, because of the awkwardness shown, however as the scene progresses jack seems to relax more and be more comfortable with what he is doing whereas Danny has no expression and is tense making you think that its Danny that’s awkward and doesn’t want to be in that situation, this makes you think that there could be bad history between them or jack did something that Danny didn’t like. As this progresses the camera jump cuts to face the front of the actors, the camera also gets closer this could have been done so that you can see the emotional barrier between the characters.

While the characters converse the non-diegetic music gets higher in pitch and more repetitive, the make tune played over and over again, this is a convention of the horror genre and I think that it was used to make the conversation more and more intense like something is about to happen that will make you jump but it doesn’t. within the conversation the character repeats the words forever and ever and ever, these words are said earlier in the film by two twin sister girls that were murdered in the hotel, this makes what he is saying seem almost spine chilling, the repetition of the words creates for me a tension because I know that Danny has heard what his dad is saying from two dead girls, to me this makes this scene one of the best scenes in the film because you can really start to depict the mentality of the character jack.

Molly Ryan.

Haywire group analysis

Group analysis

group analysis

'Haywire'

The sequence starts with an eyeline match, showing both the characters perspectives when they look at one another. There's no speech, just glances at one another; it could be implied that the two characters have had a dispute of some kind, we experience a little tension within the car. The shot is taken at eye level as though its through the car windows, thus the shot is slightly blurry, and the lighting is low key; this could be symbolic of the distance between the two characters, their relationship is blurry, not entirely in focus and the lack of distinguishable facial features due to the low key lighting reveals how the mood of the situation may be quite dark. This sequence makes me feel sympathetic to the two characters, I'm left guessing what could have happened and how the relationship could have became distant, as a result the mood of the whole situation is dark and a little daunting, if the characters feel distant, I start to feel distant.





Transitioning to the next shot, we are shown a pieces of a broken mirror, laying on the floor. This could imply how the characters we saw in the previous shot are themselves broken. The broken mirror is the main focus of the shot, in the background there is a body being dragged but it and its surroundings are blurry, the effect this has is that its establishing conflict, such as the dead body in the background shows a physical conflict, and the broken mirror revealing metaphorically the mental conflict. This makes me feel more sympathetic towards the characters, its almost as if the characters cannot see it themselves, instead we see it through their actions and surroundings; in turn this makes the characters more relatable, we all have our own conflicts.

In the next shot, we se the same body that was dragged trough the room, lay in a bath tub with the tap water running, the non-diegetic sound of the guitar cords and the diegetic sound of the water running create a strangely soothing, it seems calm and relaxed, which juxtapose's what the sequence shows entirely: there is a dead body yet i feel relaxed. This shot could show how the female character may also feel relaxed, she can certainly take a shower and do her makeup in a relaxed fashion, which leads me to believe that the killing was almost a relief, before we saw the conflicts both characters had with one another, now the conflicts have somewhat been resolved; the atmosphere is calm and collected, and we are at a peace of mind.

The next sequence shows a low angle tilt showing the character looking in a coat on the floor, to which she finds a mobile phone, transitioning to her POV: a close up of the phones screen as she rings the last number called on the phone. Parallel editing reveals the character on the receiving end of the phone call is sat at a dinner party in a high key lighted area, he then determines who the caller is and moves onto a low key lighted area. This as a result looks rather secretive, he leaves the table to go and speak to the caller in a dark area where he cannot be seen; this makes gives a rather sinister atmosphere and in turn i fell a little intimidated.




The receivers actions in the next shot to me suggests he knows the caller and is probably fully aware of the situation she is in. The conversation reveals that the female character and the male character were in a relationship, the receiver asks "is the divorce final" *pause* " where are you?", to me this looks as though the receiver has concluded that the female character has murdered her partner; to which the female hangs up the call, and for the first time we see the female panic. Again we are introduced to yet more conflict: now the receiver knows about the murder, naturally he is opposed to it making him a threat to the female character which in turn creates physical conflict; and in hanging up the call in what seems to be a panic to me could suggest that she for a brief second contemplated whether it was a right move of a bad one, thus creating  mental conflict



Eyeline match is used as the female character leaves the building she is in to reveal an man across the street, we are unsure of the identity of the man, but its possible that even the character wonders the same. We can see the conflict of her guilty conscience as she follows the man down the street, she even tilts her hat slightly to hide her own identity from the man. Further down the street as she comes to traffic lights, she ignores the red light telling her to stop by crossing the street; this highlights the conflict that the character faces and could also forecast later happenings. If indeed she is suspicious to the man its possible the truth get revealed and she is taken to prison, in which case the red light indicates caution.