A personal response to 'Prisoners'

The scene starts off outside with a long shot showing a car; the back lighting from the diner creates a sense of mystery as the features of the car cannot be properly seen. The continuous rain throughout the scene creates pathetic fallacy, making me feel down and miserable. The diagetic sound of the rain makes me feel like I’m actually involved in the scene as there are no non diagetic sound effects or music, making it seem very realistic.

There is then a jump cut to inside the diner, the high-key lighting contrasts to the low-key lighting outside and creates a sense of safety and security inside compared to the eerie atmosphere outside and makes it seem more welcoming. The mise en scene of the mans all black clothes may show that he is a sad person or that he has something to hide as he is out in the dark with dark coloured clothing. His clothes also contrast to the light colours in the diner which makes him stand out and seem like he doesn’t fit in. The camera zooms in from a long shot, showing the mans clothes and the diner, to a mid  shot as he begins to speak to a waitress. The fact that the rest of the diner is empty and he is the only customer shows that he is a solitary person, which is emphasized when the waitress mentions that it is thanksgiving as this is usually a family holiday. The slow zoom of the camera makes me feel like time is passing slowly which adds to the misery of him being there on his own as time often seems to go slower when you have nothing to do.

There is then another jump cut to an eye level mid shot showing the front of the man and the waitress. The depth of field focuses on the man rather than the waitress which shows that he is going to be the more significant character of the two. Although the shot is eye level, the man does not look at the camera once, making me feel distant and gives me the impression that he is untrustworthy. The diagetic sound of his phone vibrating then transitions into the non diagetic sound of a police radio describing the situation we are seeing and giving exposition about what is going on as the camera tracks the man as he walks out into the low-key lighting outside the diner to get to his car. A close up of his face as he talks into a police radio shows that he may be slightly more trustworthy than he was presented as at the start. The diagetic sound does not directly say that he is a police officer however it makes it very obvious by the way he responds to the radio.

A long shot shows the man approaching a van by the woods, the setting gives it a mysterious, eerie feeling and the only lighting is provided by car headlights and police lights within the scene. This shows that it is a crime scene and prepares the reader for the rising action. Non diagetic sound begins to play, the violin making a sound often used in action films to suggest that something is about to happen.

We then see an out of focus close up of the left wing mirror of the car and a bright light is approaching. Both the audience and the characters know what this light is even though it is out of focus and it is not mentioned. There are quick jump cuts that show parallel editing. This tells me that both shots are happening at the same time. You see a man approaching the van and the reaction of the man inside the van which creates tension as the viewer knows what is going to happen however the characters in the film are unaware of what the other is doing.

 The van then begins to move and the camera tracks the van to force the viewer to focus on the action. There is shouting which shows how chaotic the situation is and the jump cuts are very fast which adds to the thrill of the scene. The editing is matched on the action as we see the van driving away from an outside perspective as well as a perspective from a police car that is parked behind the van. This shows more than one person’s point of view so gives me a better understanding of what is actually going on. This is a convention of action films like this one as it gives the viewer m very good look at the action, meaning that they feel more involved and the thrill of the scene is maximized.

The van crashes into a tree and there are several shots panning around the van and tracking police walking around the van. This gives the audience a detailed view of the special effects used and the devastation caused by the crash. The camera then zooms into the windscreen and we do not see anyone. This creates tension as we do not know if the person is alive and if they are we do not know where they are or what is about to happen. There is then a jump cut to a two shot of police men about to enter the van. This shot seems to last a while as they debate who will go in first, showing that they are scared and building tension as the viewer is forced to wait in anticipation of what is in the van. When they go into the van the shot tracks the places where the torch is pointed and there are jump cuts between that shot and a close up on the police officers face. The parallel editing shows both what the officer can see and his reaction to what he sees which shows the viewer exactly what he is feeling during the action.

A personal response to 'Crimson Peak'

At the beginning of the clip the mise en scene creates an eerie feeling by using low key lighting from the window at the end of the hall. The only other light comes from the candles that the character is holding; this could show that she is the only living thing in the house as she is the only one that brings light and she is seen wearing a white dress which contrasts with the dark background. The scene opens with a mid shot and the camera dollying to show the female character as she walks through a dimly lit hallway. The camera slowly pans down to show her hand turning the door knob, this forces the audience to focus on what she is doing, showing that the door will have some significance. We then see the camera zoom in to a close up on the characters shocked face as we hear the diagetic sound of a dog barking. This causes the audience to feel uneasy as the character previously implied that the dog was shut in the room however as the camera does a shot reverse shot from her face, to the dog and then back to her face both the character and the audience realise that this is not the case. The non diagetic screeching music picks up as the camera again focuses on the door; the music tells the audience that something is about to happen and it often indicates a climax of a film. As the scene progresses we see a long shot showing the character, the dog and the setting; this reveals just how creepy and dark the hallway is which follows genre stereotypes of gothic horror films like this one. The camera cuts to a close up focusing on the ladys face however we can see slightly over her shoulder this time which is different to the other close ups in the scene; this causes the audience to look at the background before the camera quickly pans down to show a red demon groaning and crawling across the floor. The next shot is being filmed from a low angle from behind the demon, this may show that although the female character is scared of the demon, she still has power as the demon is looking up at her This shot also gives the audience a close view of the gruesome demon as the depth of field shows both the things close to the camera and the things far away.  We then see a close up of the front of the demon as it crawls towards the camera. The diagetic groaning is loud and unnatural but still human like which makes the audience feel uncomfortable. The camera then dollys to follow the lady as she runs down the hall and gets into an elevator and we again see a close up of the dog as she picks it up. This shows that she is very attached to the dog as even though she is scared, she still wants to keep it safe. She steps out of the elevator and we see a long shot showing the setting of a red cave. The use of the colour red in this scene contrasts to the prior scene as the lighting changed from being cool toned upstairs to being warm toned downstairs. The change in setting keeps the audience interested as it gives them something to look at. The use of red in this film may also symbolise evil as both the demon on the floor and the walls of the cave downstairs are red and there appears to be a lot of evil, supernatural things going on. As the camera shows the new setting, the sound of the demon groaning is still audible however now it is non diagetic. This shows the audience that it is still there and the character has not escaped it, which could suggest that it may return later on in the film. After establishing the setting, the camera zooms in to a close up of the ladys face as she looks at a lock on a box. Light seems to shine on the box, making it stand out from the background and showing its significance. We then see an extreme close up on words engraved into the metal on the box as the character reads it out loud. This tells the audience that this is very significant as it is shown in a close up and they hear the word being said so it ensures that they focus on it and remember it.

A personal response to 'Trainspotting' (1996)

Arguably one of the most iconic films of the 90s, Danny Boyle’s trainspotting follows Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor ), a young man struggling to rid himself of his heroin addiction accompanied only by his drug addicted friends and underage girlfriend Diane (Kelly Macdonald). Set in Edinburgh, this exhilarating and thought provoking film presents the viewer with insights in to the many aspects of addiction and obsession, with Renton famously saying “What they forget is the pleasure of it, otherwise we wouldn’t do it.”  However, as the film continues we see the struggles faced by Renton and his friends as a result of their addiction such as the death of Simon’s baby at the start of the film and the death of their friend Tommy later in the film. What interests me about this film is that it shows both the highs and lows of addiction which provides a refreshing change to the usual mundane portrayal. As a lover of the books the film was based on, I was hopeful that it would do the books justice and I wasn’t disappointed. All of the scenes in the film are well directed and keep me entertained no matter how many times I watch them.

                The opening scene is one of the best and most important scenes as it sets the tone for the whole film. We see Renton and his friends running down a busy street to Iggy pops ‘Lust for life’. The fast pace of this song gives the audience a feeling of the rush and euphoria the group experience throughout their high points in the film. This immediately engages the audience, causing them to question why they are running or what they are running from, a question that is soon answered as the camera angle changes and we see them being pursued by the police. This seen quickly indicates that these are not a group ordinary, law-abiding young men. This is the theme throughout the film as they are always running away and they use their drug use as a way of doing so. We see them running away from authority, employment, conformity, family and friends. However, most predominantly we see them running from their own responsibilities and the consequences of their actions. An example of this is when they realise that baby Dawn has died and the mother immediately asks Renton to cook her up a shot of heroin. Another time we see drugs being used to run away from reality is when Tommy, who for most of the film has been against drug use, turns to heroin after his girlfriend breaks up with him as he does not want to face the fact that she is gone. The monologue over the music during this scene “Choose life, choose a job, choose a career, choose a family…” gives Renton’s philosophy of a typical life. The monologue ends with “I chose not to choose life” again reflecting that he is running away from conformity.

                Although all the scenes are hard hitting and draw the viewer deeper in to the story, there are certain scenes that stand out to me. One of these scenes is when Renton climbs into the filthy “worst toilet in Scotland” to retrieve his opium suppository. The dim lighting and grey walls in the bathroom create a depressing atmosphere, showing just how Renton is feeling at the time. In my eyes this scene represents how degrading and dehumanising being an addict can be as he is willing to retrieve drugs from a dirty toilet. This also shows how far addicts are willing to go to get a hit. The lack of lyrics in the tranquil classical music during this scene creates a juxtaposition forcing the audience to focus on the gruesome scene in front of them. The camera angles used in this scene take the viewer close to the toilet, enveloping the audience in Renton’s  experience and showing just how filthy it actually is which helps them to empathise with him a little more. As the scene progresses the director chooses to take the viewer on a dream -like, hallucinogenic fuelled journey with Renton into the toilet itself. To me this represents just how all- consuming it was for him to retrieve his drugs and how detached from reality he had become. During this scene the colour scheme changes from the dull grey to a beautiful deep blue, reflecting the change in Renton’s mind once he had retrieved his drugs.

To summarise, although I find every scene in this film engaging and significant, I think these two stand out as there is a stark contrast between the two. The first scene showing the rush of a high moment in Renton’s life and the latter scene showing the grim reality of the lows he experiences.