Analysis Of "Shawshank Redemption"

 

 



The opening sequence of this movie begins with a black background with white writing, this represents the hope of the entire film. There is hope throughout as we see as an audience which is reflected in the first few seconds. It begins with an establishing shot of an isolated hut, this isn’t the main setting of the film but begins the plot to come. We know that this is an opening sequence as there are credits throughout the opening. There is music playing from a car radio and it is operatic and serene and sounds very sad and depressing like the mood. There is a range of shots to show the development of the scene and gives the audience hints of what is about to happen. The lighting is dark and it is dark establishing that it is at night and that the people don’t want to be disturbed. The hook of the opening sequence is the murder that takes place, is it who we think? Or is that too obvious for the audience? There is cross cutting between the court room and the event that takes place, it keeps our attention on the sequence and we as an audience do not get bored. The opening continues and is quite dramatic, we are drawn in as an audience.

 

The first thing I realised after watching the clip was its very clever use of flashbacks and the way that makes use of after effects to separate the two,(Present tense and past tense) they do this by mainly 3 techniques, these are some of the techniques I will now be analysing.

Firstly, lighting, most of the whole opening section of the film, is in low key lighting, which creates dark shadows that darken the mood and add mystery to the scene. Uplighting is used to distort the mans face using on light from below the actor: creating shadows which distort his face and highlighting his expression. During the court room scene the overall lighting is grey and somewhat colourless.

 

Further to this when the lovers enter the cabin the filter is yellow adding the sense of past tension within the scene and on entrance both male and female have silhouette and low key lighting is used once again but to add a sense of passion.

Secondly, camera work, this is also very complex and clever firstly, it makes use of reflections, a common conventions of thrillers, which is quite disorientating. There are alot of close ups and extreme close ups in this scene, and some shots are in between medium and close up, mostly when he is getting out of the car, the particular shot just after he gets out of the car is a dominant medium shot, making him look very powerful and dangerous. Tracking is used frequently during the court scene to put emphasis on the persecutions authority and to highlight the intimidation. We could use this technique in our short film when the antagonist is on screen, making him also look powerful and dangerous.

The way the "flashbacks" are separated from the present tense, are the fact that in all the flashbacks, the shots have a yellow filter on them, making them look very vintage and old, they also have music playing, (The title sequence music) as if it is on a record player as you can hear the crackles of it. I feel this was very clever, and if we were to use flashbacks in our piece we would most likely use a similar technique.

 

 

Furthermore, mise en scene, they're are props like drink, the bullets, the hammer in the court case, even the womans red dress and jacket she wore, red connotes passion, intense, blood, love, lust, i feel this was particularly chosen also to emphasise the love, lust, and passion in the scene, i feel this was very clever.

 

In addition the film is edited very slow; which makes the viewer pay attention to detail  and also during the court scene makes the viewer experience the pressure that the male is under. The font used for credits and titles, is very 1950's setting the scene, also it is much like bars and fences, like a prison or prison bars, it is quite formal, and very masculine.

 

Sounds in Media.

There are many sound techniques in media,
Firstly, there is diegetic sound, sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film for example if we are in a bedroom scene and an individual is playing music, a shot will be taken of the cd player from which is the sounds source. On the contrary Digetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame; if we were to hear a door bell or a Television, although it isn't in shot it is diegetic as it is still possible. Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound

In contrast to this, there is non diegetic sound. This is sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action. For example, narrator's commentary or voice overs, sound effects which are added for the dramatic effect and also mood/ atmospheric music. The difference between diegetic or non-diegetic sound are emphasised film viewing and listening. We know of that certain sounds are represented as coming from the screen, or story. while others are represented as coming from outside the space of the story events. A play with diegetic and non-diegetic conventions can be used to create ambiguity (horror), which is most like what we will be doing when creating our thrillers.

Furthermore, there is parallel sound,Parallel sound describes the condition where audio and visual effects match, not in synchronity, but in tone and mood. It is "parallel" with what happens on the film, for example if something emotional is happening, emotional music, most likely minor chords. I think the majority of our thriller will contain this. May also be called synchronous sound.
In addition to this there is contrapuntal sound,Contrapuntal sound is where the sounds or music used contrast with the film; sound that does not fit in with the events happening.  The example we were shown done this technique very well, it was Trainspotting, the scene where Ewan McGregor is talking of drugs etc, and the music being played is triumphant orchestral music. Which completely doesn't fit, but it gives a very unique and clever effect for example it makes you feel as if he thinks what he is doing is good and triumphant.

Lastly, sound bridges are when the scene begins with the carry-over sound from the previous scene before the new sound begins.

We could use  many of these within our thriller as I think it would create confusion and disorientate the audience.

Analysis of the opening of 'The Machinist' 2004.

The film starts with a sound bridge, of a man groans, breathes,and sighs, which is almost sexual sounding, whilst on screen all we see is titles slowing fading in and out on a black background, this immediately disorientates the audience wondering what is going on as, these previous groans which were most likely assumed to be sexual by the audience are shown to be the groans of a man rolling up something in a carpet.There is use of music, which is mainly, once again consistent of violins and synths, the volume of this goes up and 

down parallel to the tension in the film.

• There was low key lighting
• Slow pace (only used 6-10 shots in the 2 minutes)
• Fade in with a sound bridge of a man struggling with someting
• relection of the city lights on the window which creates tension
• MCU and Close Ups
• Over the shoulder shots to show what he is doing
• Voyuerism and some of the shots seemed to be 'spying' on him and he doesn't know about it which creats suspension and more tension
• Sensory depriavtion- dpriving our sight which makes it scary
• You can tell he is an unhappy man by the way his clothes are untucked you would say that he had an office job and he was wearing a shirt
• He has cuts and bruses on his face
• Eyeline Match is used(This is when two people are having a conversation, you have to make sure that the eyeline match, no matter where the camera is.)
• The torch is reavled by paning
• Music- instruments
• sound effects- water running
• Reflections from the Mirror
• Mysterious sounds( grunting 'uh', sexual connatation which is intentional)

 

 

 

In the first scene (where we can just about make out that he is rolling up a body in a carpet), the camera makes use of another technique which is even more sensory deprivation, firstly the black screen although we can hear, and then when the visual fades in the cameras focus is on the window, and everything in the room, (the significant part of the shot), is blurred, disorientating the viewer.
 

Atmosphere of the opening is definitely reliant on the suspenseful tone of the music and as the piece continues it almost feels like that what we are watching is following what we are seeing like the opening has been cut to fit the music. For example the cuts between the approaching torch in the dark towards Christian Bale and Bale’s reaction happens during a wavy hum which stands out against the rest of the piece giving that scene a feel of panic and continues that feeling afterwards not with the hum but with an increased volume and tempo with the other instruments to keep up the tension as the body Bale kicks down the slope unravels itself during this time the cutting and editing still feels like it is following the audio as it increase speed much like the tempo of the music.

The atmosphere and mise-en-scene used in “The Machinist” is fairly common amongst other similar thrillers. It is a dark time of day so early morning or late at night alongside the dead wasteland like setting gives an ominous feel. The way Bale looks himself shows how edgy and paranoid he is with how he carelessly is wearing his clothes and how dirt covered he is especially his face. Bales truck like the setting itself appears old and rusted almost like the entire place is dying. 

The camera shots are very steady and contain little or no movement at all giving a sense of a false calm in the opening. Many of the shots are done from low or high angles. The camera shots also use voyeurism, this is a technique that makes it seem as if it is from the audiences perspective, as if they are spying on him, this is noticeable, once again in the first scene where it is shot from outside the window, and then when he is throwing the body into the water, we are almost "hiding" as many things  obscure our vision in the shot yet the main character can always be seen.The first 2 scenes are also establishing shots first of the character and second of the location. Going back to the end of the clip the identity of the body is not shown the audience only Bale’s reaction doing what thrillers do best and builds tension and intrigue.

Eyeline Match.

Eyeline match occurs whens people are having a conversation or where someone is looking at an object and then you see what he is looking at. At this point the camera has to match with what the person is looking at in order for the shot to be successful. An example is below;

An eyeline match is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. The eyeline match begins with a character looking at something off-screen, followed by a cut to the object or person at which he is looking. For example, a man is looking off-screen to his left, and then the film cuts to a television that he is watching.

Anaylsis of Thriller opening, Leon.

• Sound effects and instrumental music creates realism

• Low key lighting was a key aspect of the opening especially on the face which encourages mystery and from that you instantly know that it's going to be a thriller.

• The name of the film is show in capital letters which makes the stand out

• You can tell that it's in a New York City- you can establish this by the use of the setting i.e tall buildings and the fact there is yellow taxi's on the road which is an icon of New York City. I also noted that it's in the backstreet as it's run down and not busy which contrasts with the city.

• There were many close up's of faces- the closer you get to someones face the more tense it becomes. Low key lighting is also on the close up as shadows are created.

• They have cleverly used the significance of the glasses which give a reflection of what's going on in the scene.

• Fast pace as it enters the door

• The 180 degree rule is followed at all time as well as shot reverse shot

• There is also fade in and out which suggests time passing by- mysterious

• You could gather that at times the camera was hand held which could imply that it's form your perspective and that you're actual there which shows realism. (documentary realism)

• And finally I also spotted that instrumental music enters when he is drinking his glass of milk which implies that something is about to happen.

Lighting techniques within Thrillers.

There are many lighting techniques and conventions assocuated with thriller movies, two of which are high and low key lighting. Both High Key images and Low Key images make an intensive use of contrast, but in a very different way.

 

 

   High key lighting

The term high key and low key lighting is regularly heard in photography circles but often misunderstood. In it’s simplest terms a high key image is a bright image full of light and mostly white tones. It making use of reflectors and minimising and stopping any chance of shadows being caused. Usually using filters, so the hard light is softened. An example of this is shown to the left, it is using high key lighting.
High-Key lighting is almost the opposite, having many lights, making use of reflectors and minimising and stopping any chance of shadows being caused. During the set up of low key, varies different cameras are used to aliminate as many shadows as possible.

 

     Low key lighting

For low key images, less lights are often used but precision is required in the application of the lighting to control important shadow detail. Successful low key lighting is often directed towards camera from behind the subject and is flagged to avoid spill and directed to bring out edge detail.




The skill is in making sure that the areas of importance are either pinpointed with controlled pools of low powered light or the careful application of reflectors. In the set up of low key lighting only one light is used generally, this one light used is also usually hard light, to exploit the shadows of the face even more, the contrast created with low-key lighting makes it very "in your face" and makes it stand out; although it Is possible to use a soft light and still have low-key lighting.

 

 Three point lighting technique

The Three Point Lighting Technique is a standard method used in visual media such as video, film, still photography and computer-generated imagery. It is a simple but versatile system which forms the basis of most lighting. Once you understand three point lighting you are well on the way to understanding all lighting.

 

Key light

This is the main light. It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. It is placed to one side of the camera/subject so that this side is well lit and the other side has some shadow.

Fill Light

This is the secondary light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. To acheive this, you could move the light further away or use some spun. You might also want to set the fill light to more of a flood than the key.



Back light

The back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting (like the key and fill), its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject's outlines. This helps separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional look.