Writer: Pamela Wallace (Story) Earl W. Wallace (Story and Screenplay) William Kelley (Story and Screenplay)
Budget: $12,000,000
Box Office Gross: $65,000,000 (USA)
Cast
Harrison Ford - John Book
Kelly McGillis - Rachel
Josef Summer - Schaeffer
Lukas Haas - Samuel
Jan Rubes - Eli Lapp
One of the films I chose for my Thriller Research is the Film: Witness (1985). I am going to analyse the Mise-En-Scene, Camera Shots, Sounds and the Representation of the scene.
Camera Angles and Movement
At the start of the scene the camera shows a Low Angle shot of the statue. This shot shows the high status of the statue.
The camera then cuts to a High Angle shot of the boy standing and looking at the statue. This shot shows the vulnerability of the little boy. How weak he is, how small he is in such a big world.
The camera then cuts to a Medium Close Up shot. This shot establishes the location of the mother and the child which is that they are isolated from everyone else and that they are on their own.
Then the camera cuts to a Medium Close Up shot of a 25 year old white man on the lavatories. This medium close up shot of the man brings focus to the character which shows his importance to the scene.
The camera cuts into a head and shoulder shot of two gentlemen. They couldn't see their faces which creates suspense to make the audience think 'what are they going to do'.
The camera then cuts to an Close Up shot of the man being choked by a red jacket. This shot is used again while the child oversees what has been happening. It is used again to make the audience see the murders happen on the child's Point of View.
The shot is used again to show the unlocked lavatory stall and it is used again when the child tries to close the door. This close up shot shows how scared the child of the men were as he was trying to lock the stall so the men couldn't reach him.
The scene cuts to a Close up Shot of Samuel standing on the toilet as the man reaches the stall. The use of the close-up shot allows the audience to identify with his emotion, which shows he is just emotionally traumatized because he saw a person getting murdered and now in turn they are after him.
The camera then cuts to a Medium close up shot of the Police Officer (Protagonist) of the film. The use of the Medium Close-Up shot shows his dominance and power because he is a Police Officer and would do anything to keep Samuel and His Mother away from Harm.
Lighting
During this scene the film uses a variety of lighting. Throughout the murder Scene Weir mostly uses non-ambient lighting but as the scene goes to a close it uses a variety of Ambient lighting.
Props and Objects
The film also uses a variety of objects throughout the scenes. The best example in this scene would be at the start of the scene where the young boy was standing in front of the statue. The camera angle shows how big the statue is.
Locations
To increase the suspense of the film. The film was set in claustrophobic locations such as Toilets and Waiting rooms. This increases the suspense because the characters are away from the public eye so no one really sees what happens.
Costume
The costume used by the characters is what would a typical amish child would wear. A Hat, shirt, tie, trousers. The characters also speak German. Which is also part of their amish Identity.
Sound
The film also uses a variety of sounds. The film uses a lot of Diagetic sounds and some soundtrack. The diagetic sound is the dialogue and the soundtrack is the music is used when there is no dialogue in the scene. There are also some scenes where Diagetic and Soundtrack sounds are combined together. An example of this is when after the murder happened. The murderers were talking amongst themselves and they heard a noise which was the child in hiding.
Thriller Conventions
The Generic Conventions of the films include Assassins and Conspiracy. Another generic convention would be the fact that the film is set in claustrophobic locations.
Just the scene itself represents a variety of things. The scene shows a negative representation of the American culture because of the murders happening. The film also shows stereotyping because of its representations of the different races.
Your analysis is beginning to develop but you need to explain the purpose of the aspects of mise-en-scene which you interpret. For exampl what is the purpose of using diegetic and non diegetic sound in the murder sequence? This is a point which always needs explaining.
ReplyDeleteNote the use of enigma - the audience does not see the face of the killer but can identify his ethnicity - well done for raising the spectre of stereotyping here though you could have developed this point.
The costume of Sam Lapp and his mother is as you explain part of their identity but this also establishes the difference between the Amish world and the American world of corruption.
You could explain how watching this clip has inspired aspects of your planning, for example camera angles and movement, sound, locations.
Keep up the good work Tim.