After looking at the City of God chicken chase scene i decided to look at an older film which is a classic but has a few scenes in the film that use editing in order to create an atmosphere to that scene with the use of different techniques.
The sequence i wanted to analyse is from an old classic made 1996 called 'Matilda' and was made based off the book written by Roald Dahl. The genre of the film is a type of family comedy which is about a young, intelligent girl who is excluded from her family. This changes once she goes to school and meets many people who are kind and friendly towards her, like Ms Honey for example. However Matilda soon begins to get involved with the Headmistress of the school named Ms Trunchball.
Time in Film: Start: 58 Min 38 Seconds - End: 1 Hour 1 Minute 29 Seconds
The scene i chose to analyse is the scene where both Ms Honey and Matilda go into Ms Trunchball's house while she's away, and the reasoning is to get Ms Honey's old doll that she had when she was a little girl. However everything goes wrong when Ms Trunchball comes home eariler than expected and sense's something out of place and then tries to hunt what she thinks to be intruders as she sees her chocolate box lid removed from the box, conveying someones been eating the chocolate out of the box.
 |
| (Beginning part of scene, Isn't the only part of shots there are more below i go into detail) |
This scene I’m analysing has a lack of equilibrium, because of the dramatic and unstable situation the characters are in at this point of the film. In this particular scene in the film is a great way to look at the use of some micro elements, like cinematography and mise-en scene.
Let's start with mise-en-scene, this micro element is based mainly around the setting, props, costumes, figure expression, and staging etc. However this micro element has a huge purpose towards the creating of a film, because it can help establish towards the audience what type of film it is, based on the setting or costumes etc.
The setting of the scene at the point of the film is obviously set in Ms Trunchball’s mansion. The first impressions of her home from the audience would be a massive, and mind blowing place, that is very elegant and tidy. This is ironic since Ms Trunchball would be referred as a strong, masculine woman, rather than an elegant woman. An example of this would be when she heaves her car back to her home, which would symbolise how strong she really is. However later in the scene the audience sees parts of the mansion that fits her personality, with the use of props, i.e. the steel balls, the dark basement with chains etc. Another element of Mise-en-scene is the use of costumes. The costumes used in a film can have significance towards the characters, and how the audience might first perceive them alongside with their actions.
In the scene we see three different characters and the clothing they wear. Matilda’s outfit is a pretty dress with a cardigan and red ribbon. The audience would first perceive Matilda’s outfit as sweet, and innocent. Because young children have that element of innocence attached to them, and having a young girl with clothing such as this, adds to being young and innocent.
In relation Ms Honey wears a dress with a cardigan as well, but because of her age the audience might first perceive her differently than Matilda. For example the audience might get the idea that she is a very simple and fairly basic woman. This choice of clothing might be used to give the idea that she isn’t of much importance within this scene, to help focus the audience more on Ms Trunchball and Matilda. On the other hand Ms Trunchball wears very masculine clothing, i.e. sporty clothes. The audience would get the idea she’s strong, and works out a lot, and by her facial expressions, and actions within this scene we would also perceive her as an intimidating and somewhat frightening figure.
Cinematography is another micro element that is revolved around the camera work within film making. For example different angles and shot types, composition, lighting and special effects. In this scene the camera movement within the shots are very fast paced, because of Ms Trunchball trying to hunt down the intruders in her home. This is used try and gain a suspenseful and heart racing atmosphere towards the audience. However there are switches between fast and slow paced parts of this scene, as well as having Point of view shots from one characters perspective to another. To help the audience relate to the emotions of the characters, and the situation they’re in.
In this scene the audience is put in three characters perspectives throughout. Matilda, Ms Trunchball, and Ms Honey. But mainly through the perspectives of Matilda and Ms Trunchball. The reason why the film makers focus on these two characters in particular is because of how different they are in comparison to each other. For example Matilda being a young, small, innocent child. Whereas Ms Trunchball being a huge, and older woman who is very strict and intimidating. This helps create a more frightening atmosphere towards the chase scene for the audience.
Another way at looking at the scenes situation is that Trunchball is the predator, hunting down Matilda the prey. So there’s this idea of symbolism between hunting and being hunted like animals. This is shown within the first couple of shots where the angles types are either low or high to convey the dominance Ms Trunchball has over the insecurity of Matilda and Ms Honey. Also in Shot 4, the angle is at a slight high angle, where both Matilda and Ms Honey are hiding behind the staircase. The use of the high angle also conveys insecurity, and the use of the staircase bars gives the impression that they are trapped and there’s no way out.
In Shot 24 the type is a mid shot of Ms Trunchball, but with a close up of Matilda at the side of the screen, alongside with an eye level shot. This is used to create a suspenseful atmosphere, which increases by Ms Trunchball slowly approaching Matilda. The composition of this shot is divided, where Matilda is on the left side of the screen and Trunchball on the right, and the door in-between both of them. This helps signify the division not only between them both and the door, but the types of characters they are. So the door symbolises a division between innocence and evil within this film. This shot also helps create a tension, where it slowly builds up to make the next part even more suspenseful and somewhat frightening.
The next couple of shots from shot 31 to shot 35 are at canted angles where Ms Honey gains Ms Trunchball’s attention, by throwing the prop of the steel ball against the wall and then Trunchball rushing across hallway. This angle type might be used to create disorienting feel towards the scene, in order to make the audience perceive the situation the same as the victims i.e. like a nightmare. Also there is a use of a lot of Point of view shots from one perspective to another, in order to gain the characters reactions and the emotions they feel at specific points of this scene towards the audience.
In shot 36 the shot type is at a mid close up where Matilda tries to escape the mansion from the back stairs leading into the kitchen, but accidentally makes the pans tumble on her way out which re gains Trunchball’s attention. This leads Ms Trunchball quickly taking action by jumping down the banister, where the angle of this shot is at a worms eye view in order to create an intimidating figure of Ms Trunchball jumping down. As she lands there is a use of an earthquake effect to symbolise how strong and powerful this character truly is, and to horrify not only the characters but the audience as well.
The fast pacing of the camera movement continues where Ms Trunchball sprints towards the kitchen to capture her intruder. The use of quick shots as well as having a zoom in shot 63 builds a fast and intense atmosphere towards the audience. Once Ms Trunchball enters the kitchen the pacing halts, which is shown by the fact that there’s not much sound and having a slow tracking shot. However the tension slowly creeps in as soon as Ms Trunchball notices the table in the kitchen, where the shot begins to zoom into a close up of her face, which is at a low angle to convey her dominance and her power, thinking she will capture the intruder.
In these final shots of this sequence the audience can see the shadow of Ms Trunchball slowly approaching the table, and getting closer to lifting the table cloth. This adds to the suspense and tension that is slowly rising towards not only the characters, but the audience as well. Then the use of the close ups and extreme close up of Matilda and the shadow of Ms Trunchball slowly coming closer, is used to show how frightened Matilda is through her facial expression, to gain the audiences empathy toward her.
Once Ms Trunchball fully lifts the table cloth to find no one there, the tension begins to calm down. Then having the use of a tilt underneath the table to witness Matilda clinging underneath the top of the table is used to relax the audiences mind, and to add a sense of humour towards her way of not being spotted.
Overall, despite the film being a family comedy, this sequence from the film has some very fast paced, frightening and horrific moments, along with some great micro elements that make this scene so suspenseful. On a whole this sequence uses a wide range of Mise-en-scene and Cinematography throughout, in order to produce a heart racing scene where the audience are put in position of the characters and how they feel.
No comments:
Post a Comment