SCENE ANALYSIS
Visual Analysis #1
When analysing a film scene - there are a few different production conventions to look at (eight to be exact). Aesthetics, space and composition, acting, technical aspects, editing, narrative, and representation are all important factors when creating a scene.
I'll be analysing a scene from the film, The Master - the specific scene is titled the Processing scene. I will be putting each of those production conventions against this scene to figure out why it is so powerful.
Aesthetics
To begin, i'll talk about the most noticeable part of the scene - aesthetics. In this scene, the main character Freddie is getting interrogated by a man called Lancaster after trespassing on a ship. During this interrogation, the room they choose to film in is soaked in darkness - nothing can be seen on screen apart from the characters. The room is devoid of any sensory distraction - forcing not only the audience to look at the characters, but also giving the character Freddie nowhere else to look other than into the eyes of his questioner. He can't look away and is being forced to answer the questions. The mood this conveys is very serious - no bright colours to give us the implication that Freddie's safe but no indications that he's in danger either. It's all unpredictable and, like walking through a dark room, you don't know what to expect from this interaction - but it makes you tense.
Space and Composition
Moving on to space and composition - the film tries to follow the rule of thirds, in every shot neither character is directly in the centre. Both characters are never out of frame - either they are both on screen together or they can both be seen in over the shoulder shots.
Acting
The acting in this scene is phenomenal - Joaquin Phoenix playing Freddie was effective in the way he could visually show Freddie lying. Every head turn and awkward laugh was effective in telling the audience when he was lying. Any other actor could have played the role of Freddie and given us an equally interesting movie - But Phoenix creates an unnerving atmosphere around the character which tells the view that this is not a man you want to get on bad terms with because he's that unpredictable.
The acting for Lancaster was also captivating - Philip Seymour Hoffman does a great job at creating this character, the leader of a cult. Lancaster is an intelligent man who, in this scene, has dealt with people like Freddie before as you can tell with the way he words his questions and the constant analysis of when Freddie is Lying - giving the audience the impression that this man is not someone you can hide secrets from. Lancaster's calm demeanour throughout the scene - shows us that he is a kind of voice of reason to Freddie, telling him what he thinks of himself and whether or not his actions should be judged.
Editing
The editing in this film isn't the most complex editing in the industry - but its simplicity is necessary. The director wants you to see what the characters see - when Lancaster is questioning Freddie, the audience looks on in as a over the shoulder shot - insinuating how cramp and enclosed the characters must feel in the small room with each other.
Narrative
The narrative in this scene is smart - by staging a interrogation, the main character (Freddie) gives the audience an insight to who he is as a person and what he had done prior in the movie. We find out that Freddie is aggressive, having killed someone, and that he is a compulsive liar. All of this is shown as Freddie is forced to reveal more of himself to Lancaster. Most movies feel as if they are dumping information on the audience - unnecessary background knowledge or information that the view would want to discover naturally throughout the movie. In this scene, they are also dumping a lot of information onto the viewer - but that doesn't mean it's useless. Freddie's background is shown to be more and more traumatic and horrible as he is interrogated - developing Freddie's character and gaining empathy from the audience. Knowing this, we can understand why Freddie is the way he is - and what has caused him to become so emotionally out of control. The narrative also introduces Lancaster as an intelligent yet manipulative man - as he is the interrogator and can tell what kind of man Freddie is from his behaviour.
Representation
When talking about what the representation is in this scene - some may be stumped. The men in this scene are both white males - not unfamiliar to cinema. However, I do believe this scene represents the struggles that people with mental disorders go through. Our character Freddie is a veteran from World War II, he doesn't feel like he fits into society after the war. We find out through the scene that Freddie has some kind of history of abuse from his family. His mother is mentally ill and is being kept in a psychotics ward - perhaps she's there because of the way she treated her son. Freddie's father was an alcoholic and died because of it - Freddie clearly feels grief over him as he begins to cry at the question. And lastly, Freddie had intercourse with his own aunt - depending on what age he was at the time can also affect whether or not this also counted as abuse. He did mention he was drunk, but he could have been a teenager when it happened. It may not have been his aunt though, as Lancaster repeatably asks about his aunts identity while following those questions with ones about his mother - Lancaster may suspect Freddie of being sexually abused by his mother but could be masking those events with his aunt instead, as the experience would have troubled him deeply.
All of this suggests that Freddie's life full of grief and abuse has made him mentally ill, and he want's to feel better. We know this because Freddie treats the processing as a therapy session - during which he can unlock subconscious memories of his family and childhood that has ruined his life and perhaps feel better when he knows whats wrong with him. He is eager to keep the session going so that he can find out more about himself - believing that Lancaster is helping him and wants to make him a better person. This represents how people are desperate to find out whats wrong with them and finds comfort in finding out the causes of their misery.
Visual Analysis #2
The final scene I want to analyse for visuals is from the animated movie, Polar Express. This scene has so much to talk about as a point of narrative, all through its use of visuals.
Aesthetics
The aesthetics in this scene are cold and isolated - the calm blues and whites are a direct contrast to all the yellows and reds that were on the train, and so the audience is introduced to this unfamiliar setting. By doing this, we feel cold and alone as the ticket is carried of by the harsh, icy wind - far away from the protagonists as we hear the train in the distance. Throughout the movie, the general aesthetics are much more lively and warm - and so by taking the audience away from all that can leave them feeling unnerving.
Space and composition
Concerning space and composition in this scene, the ticket is always in the centre of the screen (until it is eaten by a bird and regurgitated). From what I can see in this scene, there is no signs of symmetry - since we are surrounded by nature, nothing is made to look the same. Everything is different - in contrast to the train where there was some symmetry.
Acting
There isn't really any acting in this particular scene - as the camera only follows the ticket as it flies away. I feel as though this was a great choice though. In many chase scenes - the characters are desperately trying to get a hold of the thing they lost, and it's all so high energy. Here, once the ticket leaves the window - there's nothing the boy can do. After he realises the ticket is gone, the music dies down and the scene doesn't have any energy to it - symbolising the loss of hope the boy has for getting it back. I think this is a graceful storytelling choice, that further emphasises on the theme of the Hero Boy loosing hope that Santa is real and that the truth is very bitter and cold. This low energy being created is much more fitting then if you had the actors screaming after the ticket had a fast pace.
Editing
The editing in this scene is smooth and continuous. From the very beginning of the scene, the camera follows the ticket at all times - never looking away for a second. The editors do not use jump cuts or any kind of transitions - everything flows together. By not taking the camera off of the ticket - the audience's suspicions that the ticket would be long gone slowly fades away as you realise that this ticket might come back to the boy.
Narrative
The narrative in this scene is using the ticket as a way to progress the story. As the boy looses the ticket, both the audience and him assume that the ticket is gone forever - but as the camera continues to follow the ticket, we see that the ticket must have some importance to the plot. The ticket coming back to the train could just be a coincidence for plot convenience, but instead it follows the theme of magic in the movie - as the ticket looks like it is trying to get back to the train. When the ticket comes back to the train, tension is created for the audience as the little boy doesn't know where it is. This effects the narrative as the boy owns up to loosing the ticket and the girl is taken away.
Representation
The polar express is great in all terms of cinematography - however, does that expectation carry over into representation too? Although there are no characters in this scene, the story of Polar Express follows the actions of three children from different backgrounds. The first character is the Hero Boy (that is his canon name - the main boy with the blue dressing gown) - he is a character who represents the average child. He is going through a part of his life where he no longer believes in Santa anymore, leaving him feeling lied to and ridiculous. All children will experience this in their lives and so for a Christmas movie to begin with a child who doesn't believe in Santa - many kids will feel as though this is a relevant topic to discuss. Billy, the third main character introduced, represents kids who are poor during Christmas. The fact that Billy feels embarrassed to sit with the other children may insinuate that he doesn't belong with them due to class. There's also his clothes, they aren't as colourful or as comfy as the other children's - showing how his parents might not be able to afford decent clothes. At the end of the movie, we also see Billy's house. It's small looking and looks as if he lives far away from any other houses - again, showing signs of poverty. By giving a child who most likely doesn't get anything from life - taking him on an adventure where he finds good friends and regains his Christmas spirit, gives children in Billy's position the same hope and liveliness of any other child on Christmas.
Sound Analysis #1
For sound analysis, the first scene I'm going to analyse is from the movie Gravity (2013). This movie is called a modern masterpiece through its use of sound - despite being set in the quiet void of space. After winning seven Oscars, I want to analyse a scene's sound to figure out why it was such a successful movie.
Dialogue
The dialogue in this scene is heavy, and if you were to watch the movie for the first time - you may have missed all the other sounds that make this scene so brilliant. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - as the dialogue adds to the increasing anxiety that the audience feels while watching. To begin the scene, one of the astronauts is speaking in a casual manner - he is telling Huston about an event that had happened in his past. While seemingly pointless, this is dialogue makes the character relatable to the audience - when most people watch space films they expect all of the characters to be smart and talking gibberish, but in the case of this character he actually seems very relaxed and informal for an astronaut. This conversation also makes the audience even more anxious about what could happen to the characters, since audiences can easily relate to this man.
The tone of the dialogue later changes once the astronauts are given warnings from earth. The man who was talking casually before now has a tone of panic and emergency in his voice, trying to get everyone moving to prepare for collision. Further into the scene, the women who had little lines at the start is now screaming and panicking when they get hit by a satellite, juxtaposed with how quiet and focused she was earlier. Even the man from Huston on the radio has a change on tone when he finds out that the astronauts are in danger - and the reputation of Huston lets the audience know that if they are worried, you should be too.
The dialogue in this scene sounds like it is coming out of a radio or transmitter - immersing the audience by showing them how the astronauts would actually sound to each other/Huston. It also adds to the aesthetics of the scene and sounds very sci-fi.
Ambience & Sound FX
The background sounds in this scene are limited. Most space movies like to be realistic in the way space is a void with no sound, and so Gravity also tries to keep that quiet ambience at the beginning of the scene. That's not to say they didn't add any kind of ambience - if you listen carefully while everything is quiet there is a low pitch 'rumbling' sound that is most likely the sound of the spacecraft and its mechanisms. Further into the scene, we hear all kinds of muffled sounds. The astronauts jet pack thrusters, the collision of the satellite, beeping of the computers and the sound of the satellites passing by.
Diegetic/non diegetic
For this scene, almost everything is non diegetic. All of the sounds and ambience were created later - the reason for this because everything in the scene was added with CGI or Green screen, no real satellites or computers were recorded. The dialogue itself may have been recorded with expensive lavalieres in the spacesuits, but most shots were filmed underwater and so this scene may have had ADR recorded over it.
Score
The score for this scene was chosen to create an increasing fear of danger among the audience - the music continuously building up to let us know something is coming. This build up doesn't happen until around when Huston interrupts the male astronaut and tells them to abort the mission, the music is then introduced abruptly and the tensions begin to rise. The score is also used to trick the audience - when the panic is beginning to settle in, and one astronaut looks out into deep space the music increases in volume. The camera sits until a satellite is seen heading towards the characters, but then it misses. The score may be used here to confirm the dread that something is heading towards them, and at a unstoppable rate - and so the score picks up.
Alterations in Post
In post-production, the Gravity editors would have had to add the muffled effect onto the collisions and other ambient noises around the actors. They would also take the ADR recordings and add the static-like radio effect onto the voices too, as the actors would initially be recorded with expensive microphones for good quality.
One smart alteration in post is the editors use of panning. At the end of the scene, the women is flung around by a mechanical arm. As she spins the camera is stationary, every now and again she faces the camera before spinning back around - facing somewhere else. As this is happening, you can hear the women scream - and when she is turned towards the camera, her vocals get louder. This brilliant effect immerses the audience by making the astronaut sound as if she is screaming directly in front of us or if she's screaming far away.
Sound Analysis #2
The second film scene I want to analyse is from WALL-E (2003), a film filled to the brim with folly effects and beautiful sound design.
Dialogue
This scene technically has only 2 lines of dialogue. Eve saying 'WALL-E', and WALL-E saying 'Eve'. The rest of the sounds are either mechanical noises or expression sounds coming from the characters. This lack of dialogue would make any film a little dull - but with Wall-e, the lack of talking in interactions makes the movie even more magical. When the characters aren't speaking you can hear beeping and other mechanical sounds instead - when Eve expresses happiness in this scene, she has a high pitched, but soft, beep. When Wall-e is hurt or sad, he has an exaggerated low pitched groan.
Sound Effects
Whenever WALL-E moves, the sound designers used old generators and motors. This makes him sound very old and run-down - where eve's sounds are designed to sound more soft and refined - more modern and sophisticated.
The sounds are well thought out to portray emotion - each beep is thought out to sound either excited, scared or unhappy which acts as dialogue where dialogue is not spoken.
Diegetic/Non-Diegetic
The entirety of this film is animation (apart from some scenes), and so everything wouldn't be recorded on scene - since they didn't have one. So, the film is completely non-diegetic.
Ambience
When the characters enters the truck - the wind from a storm is made to sound overpowering, which is then abruptly cutoff as they shut the door. The background noise is then kept quiet throughout most of the scene, allowing the audience to listen to the characters communicate and interact with everything around them. Until the music comes in, you can also hear the storm outside - muffled, until the music continues.
Score
The music used in WALL-E is a mixture of classics from the 70's and newer sci-fi music. Juxtaposing the two is great when demonstrating the combination of new generations of technology with old. A soft and more modern song is used for when Eve is looking at all of WALL-E's things - showing that she is in awe at all these old gadgets. The song demonstrating her curiosity. Then the old 70's song and dance is used to show WALL-E's intense understanding and obsession with the history of humanity - or that he is stuck in a time that has moved on to be more modern.
The well-known song 'Don't Worry, Be Happy', is used in a comedic way as it's coming from a talking fish. However, you could say that this song is used to bring to light Eve's anxious behaviour about being surrounded by things she doesn't understand, and that she should relax instead of always being in a state of alertness.
Alterations in Post
After recording the voices for the characters - the editors would have then vocoded their voices to sound more robotic and inhuman. They would then have to determine the right pitch of the voice depending on their emotions.
Each of the noises for Eve would have had to be altered to sound higher pitched and smooth. With Eve, they synthesised music to sound like force fields and magnetism - making her sound graceful and ethereal.
Another alteration was done to the singing fish on the wall. When the fish begins to play, it sounds incredibly muffled as if the mechanisms inside are all worn from ageing. The sounds from the fish also have been altered to give off a lot of reverb - the sounds bouncing around the truck. The same alterations are given to the TV later in the scene. The muffled effect makes the TV's audio sound old fashioned as if it was recorded on some outdated technology.