The three techniques I’m looking at are the camera shots, editing, and sound and music. This is to look into the effect these have and the reason the director decided to use them in specific ways.
In this clip the first thing that the audience see is of the villain then reasonably quick cuts to the other characters and all these shots are medium close ups. Medium close ups are used to show the character in some detail but partly the surroundings as well, these mediums shots are used to show the true fear and panic in all of the characters faces after what the villain says, the audience can tell which is the villain as all other shots on the other characters are static and stay in the same place with no movement showing that they have no control of their movement, however when its on niall (villain) then the camera moves around and tracks his movement showing he is in control, this gives it an equal balance of movement and static camera work and contrast each other showing the different personalities of both types of character.
There are a series of fast edited shots these involve a close up of the device that causes this drama and different angled shots of the surroundings and the impact that the device had on them. The importance of the close up of the device is to show the significance of it as it has such importance. This device caused the explosion therefore a close up of it shows what it is and lets the audience know that this is and how this explosion happened. Followed by different medium close ups of the surroundings shows what the device has done and the extent of the damage, the fact that these shots are not clear to see and that they are moving so fast, doesn’t show much and what the audience can’t see makes the images in there head much worse which creates this sense of enigma as they are unaware of what has actually happened.
The editing in this 4 minute clip is very fast, all the transactions are fast and each shot is very short. The fact that this has happened is to reflect that at this point something with a high impact is going to happen because these fast transitions are showing the peak of the drama. With all these fast transitions occurring it also could represent the villains state of mind as its clear to see he isn’t all there in the head and with these fast transitions are there to emphasise this. Match on action is also used in this small series of shots as it shows the explosion happening close up and then a long shot showing the scale of the explosion and that it is much bigger and has a greater impact on all the characters present and not just 1 or 2 of the characters. It is similar to dropping a stone in water you would see the stone then all the ripples are the aftermath. With all the fast transitions it creates this high adrenalin atmosphere with so much at state to the effect of this explosion. After the explosions has happened and its on the last shot of the explosion happening from different angles it dissolves back into the church this is to show that a short period of time has passed and its now clearly marking that the explosion has happened and this is the aftermath of this. At the end of the scene as it’s showing the aftermath of the explosion smoke slowly fills up the camera making it no longer visible to see and then the credits come up. This smoke is similar to a white fade and could represent that someone has died and with the camera on a crane and getting higher and higher is also similar to going to heaven and going up into the sky but it does not show you this so again leaving it up to the audience again.
Sound and music is clearly understood in this scene and the music is used to create tension and set the atmosphere. From the very first second in this clip there is background music that isn’t amplified so its not that important but the fact that it is there has some sort of reference as to what is going to happen. The background music is quite a low pitch monotone instrumental, it is quite gothic and similar to what you would hear in horror films, like music that would play when looking around the corner and not knowing what is there. This is consistent throughout and stays at the same level of volume and is non-diagetic as there isn’t actually someone present playing these instruments as that wouldn’t make it realistic at all. This instrumental is always present when in the church as when it cuts to outside the music is no longer there which shows that something bad will happen inside the church. When the church door is opened the audience hear this happening and know that someone is there to help but the music still continues to play and this is to represent even though there is someone there to save them the drama still happens. After this point the music gets louder and much more obvious to the audience and when its at the peak of tension just before the church explodes the music is very high pitched and at its loudest point making it much more dramatic. The music stops when the explosion takes place this is to amplify the explosion sounds and smashes making it sound much more dangerous and to match what the audience is seeing which is a lot of dust and smoke. This again is to make it as dramatic as possible and to have the maximum impact on the audience.
During the aftermath of the explosion the music changes to slow piano instrumental music, its amplified to match the glass smashing and all other crashing sounds. This music continues to play and all other sounds around are blocked off therefore making this the only sound the audience can hear. This has some effect as its depressing music and subtly hints that something bad has happened. This makes the scene as dramatic as possible and has been built up to such a high point and when it all comes knocking down at creates the greater effect.
URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFGs-KgunVw&feature=related
original footage
16 years ago
