When looking into a film to research that is
in our genre and similar to our film I encountered a few problems. Because our
genre is so specific there are not many successful films similar to ours
however there are a few. Our group is split up into 4 people: Darren, Tom,
Ellis and Me and they had all chosen to review different films. This left me
with either doing the same film or going to a less successful film and we
wanted to have different research as there is no point in researching the same
thing twice but we also wanted to look into the successful films. This left me
with little option, however I did have an idea. ‘The Walking Dead’ is a TV
series that’s in our chosen genre and having watched it myself I know it is a
similar plot line to what we want to do. Also The Walking Dead is one of the
most successful TV shows in Britain (even though it’s American) and although
it’s not a film it’s still just as good therefore I decided to do my film
analysis on this.
The scene starts off with an establishing shot
of the road to tell the audience where the scene is going to take place. The
shot is very slightly moving to show the effect of realism in the scene that
it’s not mechanical and still but that it’s smooth and human. There is also a
tracking shot that follows the subject of the shot scene, which is the
character in the car. This is used to slowly follow the characters movements as
he drives. In this scene the props and scenery are made out to show that this
place where they are has been abandoned and left for a while and definitely
that something bad has happened with the burnt out cars and the tipped over
lorry. This first shot stays on screen for a long time this is so that you can
see the whole scene as it sets the scene and you can take all the aspects of
the shot in and the scenery. The scene then goes into a sort of hand held shot
but most likely to be shot with a shoulder rig as you follow the character and
slowly move closer to him as he moves closer to the camera. The reason I think
it has been shot using a shoulder rig is because the shot is moving and
following the character but it is very smooth and not jittery at all. The next
shot again is similar following the characters movements as he goes along down
the banking. This time though the scenery comes more into play with the upside
down cars and the traffic etc. showing you that something happened here and it
wasn’t good. It then goes to a POV shot to show you some of the damage and what
has actually happened here and you get to see this all through the characters
eyes which is good as you feel more involved with the film. Even still here the
abandoned cars are being shown and part of peoples lives are shown abandoned
such as the child’s bike and dolls. It carries on showing you the scene with the
character in shot looking around. The next shot is very interesting as it shows
a pan from inside the car of the character looking in at this creature or
corpse that sits in the front seat. Now this is important because this is the
first sight of a ‘Zombie’ you see in this film and It tells you so much and
there hasn’t even been any dialogue yet so it’s very effective as the
cinematography and the mise en scene are already setting the storyline without
any dialogue. The sound in this scene too is effective as it’s diegetic sound
effects of the crows and flies but apart from that silence which also adds to
the storyline saying that something has happened for it to be silent as there’s
no background noise or cars zooming past therefore something has gone wrong.
Going back to the zombie that you see it tells you a lot about it as there are
flies buzzing round it and that only happens really when it’s a dead corpse or
if it just smells horrible but either way it shows you that that zombie or
corpse as we know at the moment has obviously been involved in a huge problem.
The scene goes on with more shots of the character walking through and the
scenery of many cars now abandoned gets stronger which could foreshadow that
the deeper you get into this series the more there is to see and the more
problems there is to overcome. It then goes into a POV shot to show what the
character is seeing and it shows a sign that says ‘NO GAS’ which isn’t good for
the character as that was his plan as he has a petrol bottle in his hand. Also
this shot is good for the storyline as there’s not many places that run out of
gas and it is strange to see a station that has none therefore reinforcing the
idea that something bad has happened. Then the camera tracks forward to the
character as he either hears something or realises something because his
reaction changes and he turns round. Then the character looks under a car where
there’s a still shot from under the car showing him looking. Then another
character appears on the screen. From the costumes you suspect it’s a child and
she goes to pick up a teddy. You see this all through a sort of POV shot but
it’s more a still shot from where he is as his head is on its side but the shot
isn’t. Then the shot follows this new character and pans up to show that it’s a
girl, all the time not showing you her face. The next shot is of the main
character now where the first piece of dialogue is said. The man tries to get
the attention of this girl and to comfort her telling you he’s a policeman.
This also gives us insight to the character and what his profession is
therefore telling us a bit about him, like the fact he’s caring and kind and
wants to help. Also during this dialogue it is a medium close up of the mans
face and you can see that the character is scared, again strengthening our idea
that there’s something to be scared about. The shot then follows the girl and
she stops. It cuts back to a MCU of the man again a little more relaxed now the
girl has stopped and again shows his caring side giving us an idea about what
the character is like. It cuts back to a medium long shot of the little girl as
she turns round and you can see that all her face is ruined and falling off.
This tells me that no one can survive in these conditions meaning she must be dead.
This indicates to me that the loving corpses are the problem or at least a
factor. The girl seeing the man starts moving towards him and it cuts to a MCU
of the man and he is scared moving back as the camera follows him. He then
raises his gun which if he has a gun again this must be a problem. And shoots
the girl. As the girl gets shot the shot is in slow motion to add effect. This
works as you actually get to realise that he’s just shot a child. Even though
she was a zombie it’s still a child and that’s a very hard thing to do. This
gives you more knowledge of the character, that he’s not afraid to do what
needs to be done.
This is the end of that first scene and
looking back at it I feel it’s very interesting and effective. Especially in
the way that there is no dialogue until 3 minutes and 30 seconds in but yet
still you already have an idea of the story and what’s happened in the plot
without anyone saying anything about it. The cinematography and sound in this
scene was good the editing was good as well, especially the slow motion. But it
was the mise en scene that stood out and took the lead in this scene as the
props, costumes and acting really gave you an idea about the storyline and an
example of what to expect in the film. Also it was very intriguing seeing all
the cars and when watching it you want to know more about how the cars and the
scene got that way and who the girl was and you want to know more and watch
more which is exactly what the first few minutes of a film is supposed to do to
you so this episode does a great job of this.
The next part is the title sequence that
comes on straight away with a very powerful theme tune that fits to the clips
that are on. The first shot is of a broken window that looks like it has been
abandoned for a while then a door handle opening slowly. All of the shots have
a dark effect on them like they’ve worn away like the cars in the scene. The
dark effect gives me the impression that the setting is dark and the story is
set in an abandoned world, perhaps post apocalyptic and the powerful music
makes you feel like you want to know more and you feel inquisitive. It then
goes on to show what at this point you presume is the main character (the man
we saw earlier) and a name comes up next to it which I presume is the actors
name. It then goes on to show another face with a name and then a woman’s face
with a name. It doesn’t directly tell you but you come to the conclusion that
these are the main characters and the actors who play them. It then goes on to
show more scenery of the post apocalyptic world with more names of actors, all
the while still keeping this dark effect with the powerful music. The music is
known as parallel sound as it fits what’s happening on the screen as it’s
slowly moving from shot to shot and the music gets more intense. It then shows
more shots, one of two crows eating a dead animal, which immediately tells you
there is something wrong, as crows are usually associated with death and fear.
Then more shots of the city are shown one of which is an establishing shot
showing you how the whole city has been abandoned. This confirms our idea that
there has been an apocalypse. And finally the title comes on the screen
flashing as if it’s a light flickering. This effect is good cause again it makes
you associate it with broken things. The title sequence overall is very good
and fits with the first five minutes of the film. The sequence itself doesn’t
show that much, but shows enough to leave you wanting to see more which is
effective as you watch more of the show!
The next scene starts off with a close up
shot of food and then dialogue comes in between two men as they’re talking in a
car. Then it goes to a shot looking into the car at these two men who look
healthy and clean which is different to what we’ve just seen. Then there’s a
few shot reverse shots as the two men are talking about a normal conversation
eating normal food as if nothings wrong. The two men are in police uniforms
telling me they’re policemen or at least posing as policemen. They carry on
talking as the camera goes closer but they’re laughing and joking and making
general conversation. The editing in this first part of the scene is continuous
as they are having a conversation. This makes it easy to follow. The two men
carry on talking while the camera keeps swapping positions. The man we saw at
first lifts up his hand and he has a wedding ring on therefore telling us more
about the character, that he is married. But listening to the dialogue him and
his wife are having problems therefore telling us more about his relationships
to the other characters. This shot stays on him for a long time and because
it’s a close up you can see all the emotions in his face as he starts talking
about these problems again telling us more about the character. He mentions he
has a child and that him and his wife argue in front of him. They carry on
talking then there’
s a moment of silence which is interrupted by
the police radio going off about a near by problem and they jump up in a hurry
and the shot changes quite quickly as they move around to find the map. Then
the shot begins to move as they get ready then there is a shot from behind of
the police car setting off in a hurry and then the camera follows them. This
part contains fairly fast pace editing showing us that there’s a problem or
that something’s happening. There is then an establishing shot that starts on
the same crow we saw in the title sequence feeding on the dead animal and then
it pans up to two police cars on the road establishing the scene. It then goes
to inside the car to show us it’s the two men and then there’s different shots
that show both cars passing on the road. Then there’s a pan that shows one car
going ahead as the other one stops. As the leading car stops it shows one man getting
out spikes from his boot and running with them. This is a hand held shot as
it’s jittery and shaky as if to portray the fact that they’re in a hurry. Then
they lay their spikes. Most of the sound in this scene has been diegetic and
the odd sound effects every now and then but as it cuts to the other police car
making a radio call to the other units the sound carries on to the next shot of
the leading car. They then all start to get out and there are different shots
from different angles just switching between them to show you what’s happening,
all the while the police radio is on in the background. It then goes to a close
up of one policeman’s face and you can see the fear in his eyes telling me
there’s a problem. It then cuts to the two men holding the guns and that’s only
necessary if there’s a severe problem. It then cuts to s moving shot of a car
drifting from one side to the other and the police sirens come on as in they’re
being followed. Then it shows a pan of this car being chased by to police cars.
Then there’s a shot from inside one of the police cars that is moving and
following the car being chased. Then they use a long shot of the car coming
down the road to where the two policemen are and they use a zoom whilst they
are moving to the right. This is to give the effect of fear. Then the car runs
over the spikes and it starts to spin. It then goes into a slow motion shot of
the car and almost immediately goes back to normal speed as the car flips over.
Then again back to the slow motion shot of the car flipping and eventually
turning upside down. The slow motion shot was used to show the full effect of
the crash and show what the crash was doing to the car, which was completely
wrecking it. The crash was all edited in a fast pace motion, even the slow
motions shots were cutting away fast. Again this is to show the scariness and
the realism of the crash, as it’s an unexpected event. Within that eventful
part of the scene the sound effects were very loud and it’s only the sound
effects that occur, there is no music because again they want you to focus on
the effects of the crash. It then cuts back to one of the policemen holding his
gun looking scared. The other two police cars that were chasing the car stop
and the people inside get out with their guns up. Then all the men start to
slowly advance to the car as the camera is hand held most likely on a shoulder
rig as it is smooth an it follows them advancing. It then cuts to a hand held
shot following the main character as he moves towards the car. The reason they
have used a hand held shot is to give the effect of dear and the fact that it’s
a dangerous situation. It then cuts to a close up to see the fear and the
emotions of the other policeman. It then cuts to the broken car and a man
manages to force his way out of the door with a gun at which point things get
hectic and it cuts fast to the different police officers as they’re shouting.
It cuts back and the man shoots. Then there are several cuts that show then
exchanging gunfire this fast pace editing is used to show the action and fear.
It then moves back again to a slow motion edit of the man shooting the main
character at which point it cuts to him getting shot and then back to the
policemen killing the man in slow motion. I presume this is used just to give
more effect to the death and make it look better. It then switches speeds again
when showing a medium close up of the second main character and again goes back
to slow motion as another man appears out of the car shooting. Going back and forth
between the two sides it switches from slow to normal pace and when he dies
it’s in slow motion again. It then cuts to a moving shot (shoulder rig) as they
check up on the main character making sure he is okay. As they’re chatting
about him getting shot it cuts to another shot of another man climbing out of
the broken car. All the while the fear in their voices has raised a lot and you
can tell they’re scared, therefore unaware of the man climbing out. And then
the man shoots the main character as he has his back turned but the main
character goes down in normal pace and when they shoot the guy who just shot
him he also goes down in normal pace which is unlike the other deaths. Then
there is several hand held shots from different angles of them going to the
main character and checking he is okay. This is dye to the fact that getting
shot is life threatening and a very serious and scary thing so they are
portraying that through the cinematography. Then it cuts to a close up of him
on the floor bleeding and you can see the emotions in his face and then it cuts
to a POV shot from him on the floor and his friend over him keeping him alive.
This shot stays on for a while so you can really see the emotions of the
character and it then cuts to a high angle shot as it zooms out and goes into
slow motion. This is effective because that’s how the character would feel
slowly dyeing like that. The shot then fades to white, almost as if he passes
out.
Over all the first few scenes of this film
were very good and very interesting and has made me want to re watch it. In the
first scene it was the mise en scene that stood out and told the story and it
was very good at doing it so For our film we need to focus a lot on the mise en
scene making it look believable. In the title sequence it was the theme tune
that stood out because it was very powerful and very strong and it lead the
title sequence really. And finally in the third scene it was the editing and cinematography
that took the centre stage as there were a variety of different shots that told
the story and the editing made it much more effective that it would have been
if it was just continuous. But to conclude this extract of the episode is very
good and there’s a lot that we could learn from this to make our film.
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