Coursework - Rachel and Sophie

For our coursework we have decided to comment on the cinematography and sound in a film of our choice. The four films we looked at were Matilda, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Mothman Prophecies and

Matilda

In Matilda there was a close up of her eyes which show how young she is and the concentration and happiness.

There is an eye line shot of a box of cheerio’s which is a voyeuristic shot so we can see what Matilda is looking at and controlling.

There is a flashback of things that her parents have said sped up to show that it means nothing anymore and its completely opposite to how she feels now as she is anything but what they are saying about her.

A panning shot is used when Matilda finds her powers and is happy, dancing around the room whilst she is controlling multiple things in the room such as playing cards and poker chips. The non diegetic music used is very happy and jumpy which suits the scene of Matilda dancing and it’s a real feel good music which reflects her mood as she’s happy she has this power.

When we see a clip of the bad guys there is creepy music that shows that they are up to no good and are sneaking around doing things they shouldn’t. The camera angle is looking down on Matilda in the garage which shows that the bad guys have power over her as she is only a young child however Matilda changes this when she moves the box behind them that they want and takes the video they took. This makes an ironic point in the film.

The Mothman Prophecies

There is non diegetic music is creepy, slow and spooky as soon as the credits start which makes us wonder what's going to happen and what the film could be about.
We then see an establishing shot from the sky, above the clouds which again makes us think what is up there and where is the location being shown.
Another part of the film is when we hear something strange and out of place in the music which could possibly be breathing which creates a scary factor to the music. There is also what could be seconds ticking which could show time counting down to something.

There are many voyeuristic views such as of the telephone and the keys, photos of a woman on his desk. Which we later see of her in the shower and then a close up of her putting on lipstick. We also see a close up of the lipstick alone whilst she is in the shower which shows she is feminine and looks after herself.

We then go back to a man in the office when we see many mid shots, over the shoulder shots and panning of him moving about the office, putting his coat on, looking around, walking to his bosses office and leaving the building however when he leaves the office the camera focuses on a television. The camera view is as if he's is being followed and it seems like it was filmed with a hand held, camcorder to get this affect.
There is a deep focus when he is on the phone, presumably to his wife, and the phone changes focus from the phone to his face and what he is saying to the person on the phone.

Before he has left the character has left his office we see a voyeuristic view of a notepad with a picture of a house on and some other notes however it doesn’t give away too much information to us.

There are many close ups of his face and the woman too this could show importance of the characters.

Near the beginning of the film we see lights turning on and the camera follows them as if they are leading somewhere. A few minutes into the film we see street lights on both sides of the screen which are moving fast which makes us think that the character is moving fast in a car.

We then see someone looking around the room at other people with a panning shot and then we see a mid shot of an angel holding a candle on the wall. These images make us wonder where the character is now and why he is there.

Another clip we see for a moment is a long shot of a snowy image of a bench and trees, this is random to us as it so far has no reference to us in the story.

The camera tilts when he character stands up as if the camera is following his every move, he then stands behind his colleague and walks away.

We then see yet another random shot of what could be a scanner with the text of ‘Washington Post’.

Fargo

In Fargo (1996), directed by Joel Coen the opening scene starts with non diegetic sound with big dramatic drums which become quite daunting and makes you think that something is about to happening or already happening. I think it also helps to set the mood of the film as its parallel sound. The next music we hear is diegetic sound of the music playing in the bar which again helps to show the setting and what kind of surroundings Jerry is in. another part of the film that helps show the setting and what the character is like is when we see a shot of Scotty’s room.

There are many different cinematography shots in Fargo such as an over the shoulder shot, camera tilts from a height, mid shots and close ups. Eye line matching when a number of people are having a convocation in the film, this shows what or who they are looking at. This is good when there are more than two people in a conversation so we can see who the characters are talking to and who it is that are talking. One of the camera shots used in Fargo was a bird’s eye view of Marge walking to the car which shows the surroundings of the snow. A favourite part from the film is when the two witnesses get shot and all we see is blackness as if we see through their eyes or as if it was our body. There is a deep focus used after Jerry is beaten up by a co worker and is using the telephone. At the end of the film when Marge sees the dead body in the wood chipper she is horrified, scared and nervous which we can tell by her expression and the chit chat.

From looking at Jerry’s costume I would think that he is a businessman as he is always wearing a shirt and tie which makes him look like a respectable character however as we know he has money problems which could show an opposite side. The bad guys in the film Carl and Gaear have opposite costumes which shows that they are slightly scruffier, don’t care what they look like and have a quite bad reputation which is then shown when they kidnap Jerry’s wife and kill Jeans father. Carl and Gaear are shown to be disrespectful as if they don’t have any emotions as they kill a number of people and sleep with women they don’t know.

The non diegetic music helps to emphasise the fear of the character and to set the atmosphere when the policeman is coming up to the car. Other non diegetic sound used is when the music becomes very dramatic and it makes you wonder what's going to happen. At the end of the film when Marge has found the car they have been looking for the non diegetic sound almost congratulates her.

There was a continuity shot used for speed so we don’t watch Marge eat her whole meal as this would be too long and irrelevant.

The expressions of the characters really help to address the mood and emotion in a film and usually make it feel more realistic rather than staged. An example of this from Fargo is when the driver is shocked when he killed the policeman which shows he didn’t know it was going to happen when he does really from the script.

The lighting used in the film had a lot of natural light especially when the characters are outside in the snow and because the snow is so white it makes the scene brighter.

There is a binary opposite in Fargo of good and bad when Carl and Gaear are trying to watch television and it changes to a view of the policemen watching television. This is also a good use of cinematography when it pans round to different characters when the editing makes it look like one scene.

I didn’t like this film as I thought it was hard to follow and a lot of things weren’t explained and moved on and ended suddenly.

North by North West

North by North West (1959) directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a film about a man called Roger Thornhill who is kidnapped by spies who think that he is George Kaplan however Roger later finds out that George doesn’t exist and he is being used by CIA agents with help by a beautiful young woman, Eve Kendall.

The non diegetic helps to tell the story and set the atmosphere as it’s very dramatic and speeds up and slows down or changes from high to low pitch. This helps to build tension or an emotion. The non diegetic music also helps to make you feel scared when the music is powerful as it gets louder and more dramatic. I like how it builds up in stages to create a good atmosphere for the audience as if they are involved in what's happening in the scene. A good part in North by North West is when the plane over rides Mr Thornhill and Miss Kendall’s convosation at the airport and they keep talking however we cant hear their convosation which leaves the audience thinking and wanting to know what was said.

The lighting used in the film is artificial when Roger is driving after being kidnapped as there is lighting behind him however its night and there is no reason that light would be there however it was used to show Rogers face in the scene.
Another part when he is driving after being kidnapped is how the use of close ups and voyeuristic shots of him driving so we can see the danger he is in.

There are many different editing cuts used in North by North West for example a quick cut and a match cut. There is a fade in the forest to the hospital which could show his disorientation as he doesn’t know where he is.

In the film there is a clip when Mr Thornhill and Miss Kendall are on Mount Rushmore and the background changes, I think this is a good clip and is well edited. Also there is a continuity cut which is from Mount Rushmore to the scene on the train. A commonly used cut was eye line matches when characters are talking such as Mr Thornhill and Miss Kendall.

I enjoyed this film as I wanted to find out why Mr Thornhill was being mistaken for Mr Kaplan and what the secret was behind Miss Kendall whether she was on the good or bad side of the film.