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’.