Opening title sound analysis

I chose to analyse the sound in the opening titles for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
There was no dialogue in this opening sequence so I just analysed the music (a huge part of this sequence & generally the film) and the sound effects.

Music:

• Starts with music - get the sense that the film is a musical.
• Orchestral music from the original score by Stephen Sondheim - gives the dark/ominous atmosphere.
• Starts off quietly and then the violins start to get higher and the trumpets get louder, to the crescendo - overwhelms the audience and adds to the darkness of the film.
• Pace quickens as it takes us through the process of the pies being made - makes the audience feel thrilled in anticipation for the film to start.
• In minor - gives a slight strangeness and seriousness to the film

Sound effects:

• Starts with the sound of a thunderstorm & rain - kind of like pathetic fallacy? - gives the film a dark, scary element.
• Sound of the blood trickling - emphasises horror genre.
• Sound of the cogs turning, meat grinding and the blood dripping - makes the audience feel uneasy which ties into the genre of the film.

Continuity analysis

For my continuity sequence, I chose to analyse a scene from one of my favourite films ever, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Establishing shot:

• ELS of the building that the restaurant is in - to inform the audience of where the scene is taking place.

Shot reverse shot:

• When Ferris is talking to the waiter, they switch between shots of the two of them - we see how both characters respond to the conversation.

180 degree rule:

• The whole scene is filmed from Ferris's right side and does not switch to the other side. This is so the audience will not feel disoriented or confused.

30 degree rule:

• When Ferris says that he is going to call the police, the shot changes to face the phone straight on, so the camera moves about 45 degrees. If the camera did not change the angle it would look like a jump cut, which looks slighty strange and glitchy.

Match on action:

• When the waiter enters the scene, we see a MCU of him walking toward Ferris, Cameron and Sloane. It then changes to an LS of the waiter walking toward the three of them, but he is still walking, so the scene looks logical.

Sound:

• When Sloane is on the phone to the waiter, Sloane's voice continues through the shots changing. This is so we can see both of their reactions to what the other is saying.

Accident Continuity Analysis

What worked well:

• Played with the action shot and convention of establishing shot - started with a close up rather than an ELS.
• Match on action - from when he runs into the room in slow motion and crashes into the locker.
• Good range of shot types.

What we could improve:

• Start of chaotically and then move to slow motion - too much of a change and seemed out of place.
• Room looks the same on both sides, so it looks as though he falls over toward the locker he crashed into, rather than away from it.
• Broke the 180 degree rule - crossed an invisible line and the direction was changed.

5 codes (When Harry Met Sally)

I chose to analyse When Harry Met Sally... (1989) for my film (the first 7 minutes).

Enigma code:

• Who is the old couple? Why are they relevant to the story?
• Who is Harry kissing?
• Where are they driving to? Why are they going together?
• Why are they going to New York? What will happen to them in New York?
• Why are people with such different personalities going to spend an 18 hour road trip together and what will happen?

Action code:

• The old couple are talking - we know (eventually) that they are not Harry and Sally, so this suggests possible foreshadowing of events and how Harry and Sally will fall in love.
• Driving to New York together - a long journey, we know that their meeting and this journey is important to the story. This makes us want to know what happens to them later on.

Semiotic code:

• Big building with lots of young students around - a university/college.
• Sally is wearing make up and her hair is perfectly done - takes pride in her appearance at all times, even for a road trip.
• Harry is wearing jeans and a jumper - a bit scruffy, doesn't really care about his appearance.
• Wide shots of the road & outdoors where they are driving - suggests the length of how long they have been driving for.

Cultural code:

• Titles - simple, with cheerful music - get the sense that this is a lighthearted film, rather than a thriller or horror movie.
• Old couple telling story of how they met - suggests romantic comedy.
• Harry and Sally arguing about Casablanca - a well known romantic film, so we understand what they're discussing and side with Harry or Sally.
• Going to New York - famous for being a big city, we understand that they're going there for opportunities and to experience something new.
• Characters arguing - building tension between the two, and they have to spend the next 18 hours together.

Symbolic code:

• Harry talking about his "dark side" - possibly a bit pretentious? 
• Sally talking about her planning - very organised, maybe irritating?
• Old couple talking at the beginning - foreshadowing of Harry and Sally's relationship?

Film Making Conventions and Cultural Codes (American Psycho)

I chose a scene from American Psycho, from the middle of the film. The genre of the film is drama/crime.

Film making conventions:

• ECUs of each business card, and when each character takes out their business card - shows the importance of the cards to the businessmen.
• As the scene goes on, the framing on Patrick Bateman gets tighter and tighter - making the scene more tense as we read the anger and jealousy in his facial expressions.
• Voice over of Patrick's inner thoughts - although he is not outwardly expressing his jealousy we see into his mind like none of the other characters get to.
• Sound of the clicking when the other businessmen open their business card holders is enhanced and isolated - get the sense of building tension - as Patrick focuses more and more on the business cards, he gets increasingly jealous.
• Other characters are shot with MCUs or CUs, but only ECUs on Patrick and the business card, so we focus more on Patrick and his emotional response to the cards.

Cultural codes:

• A room of very well dressed businessmen - all very rich and highly thought of in the business world.
• Comparing their business cards - competitive nature of their work place - Patrick becomes furious when he learns that they all consider Paul Allen's business card to be better than his, but a large percentage of the audience would not understand his jealousy, which makes Patrick's reactions and emotions even stranger to us.
• Their clothing and the room that they are in have fairly muted colours - nothing too bright - shows the seriousness of their environment

Reflections on shots

Genre:

We chose horror as our genre and we decided to represent this by having dull colours and a tilted LS to convey the strangeness of our main character, and to make her look sinister. The hair on one side of her face and the intense look makes her look like a villain.

Achieving the effect:

We achieved the effect by putting a sepia setting on the camera and shining a pag light directly on Ella and tilting the camera.

What is successful:

I think the genre is being conveyed successfully and our decision on changing the setting on the camera and tilting the frame was a good idea, because it conveys the darkness of our character.

Improvements:

I would probably make the shot tighter, an MCU or CU so we could control more in the shot and get rid of the background. The lighting is good, but I would change it by putting the light underneath Ella's face to give harsh shadows on her face to make the shot even stranger.

Analysis of film still

I chose a still from the romantic drama, Atonement (2007). I chose this still because although it is quite a standard shot, the composition and mise-en-scene says a lot about the film just from this single image.

Camera:

• MLS of Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and Robbie (James McAvoy), with a sharp focus on Cecilia and Robbie softly out of focus. Cecilia is in the foreground and Robbie is in the background, in a slightly high angle shot, from the point of view of a window.

Mise-en-scene:

• The vivid green colour of Cecilia's dress stands out against the mainly brown background.
• The large bookcase & brown walls makes it looks as though it is in the interior of a library.
• The light at the side of the shot to make the Cecilia's dress stand out more, with light on Robbie - possibly from a window - so it looks as though it is natural light.

People:

• Cecilia is looking off screen and Robbie is looking at her, so we can guess that Robbie is in love with her but because Cecilia is unable to look at him, she may not love him/her love for him is not allowed.
• Cecilia and Robbie both formally dressed, so they are attending an event, possibly a dinner party.

Composition:

• The shot is off center, in order to show both of the characters and both of their facial expressions. 
• They are standing far away from each other to show the friction in their relationship.