Thursday 8 December 2011

The first 500 words of my analysis

A micro analysis on mis-en-scene and sound within a 4 minute sequence from ‘Saving Private Ryan’

My sequence is the opening of the film form 6minutes in to 10 minutes. The micro aspects I have chosen to analyse the clip of the film I have decided to talk about are; Mis-en-scene and sound. I feel that these micro aspects work well together because the sound will create the emotion for the audience on what is happening in the scene. They both indicate the genre of the film instantly which is ‘war’ and are also both important in constructing the narrative of the entire film. Mis-en-scene can be defined as what is in the scene, this mainly focuses on the setting, the props used and how they are used, the staging, the costume is an important part of mis-en-scene also especially for this film, also the movement and expression of the characters. My other micro aspect is sound, sound creates and effect on the audience, whether it be tension or sympathy for a character, it can also convey a meaning about a character.                                                                                                                       
          Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg. The opening scene concentrates on the emotions of the characters, and the struggles through fighting in the conditions of war. It creates emotion for the audience, and can concentrate on escapism.
          In the opening of the sequence, we see a close up of a solider, it is indicated to the audience this character is a soldier because of the costume the character is dressed in, it is a typical outfit that the audience would relate to soldiers with, also from this costume it indicated to the audience that the genre is war. We see the location as a war ground too and in the background are other soldiers. The close up of the character contacts the audience, and they get to feel the emotion of the character. We also see the character kissing a cross that is around his neck, this symbolizes that he is praying to survive, this conveys a message to the audience about the character, and it plays on the emotions of the audience. The sound in the opening of the sequence also connects to the genre, we can hear the sound of rain hitting the ground which constructs the mood of the setting, to be depressing, the rain within mis-en-scene can be seen as pathetic fallacy which indicates things are going to get This is diegetic sound which happens within the diagesis, there is also non-diegetic which happens outside and is added in after for example a voice over. Shortly after that we hear a whistle and then someone shouting, this suggests that it is a ‘captain’ ordering the troop to get in order. Shouting is a high tone and can play on the audience’s emotions as the scene becomes tense.

Monday 5 December 2011

Sound

The sound throughout the scene i have chosen, connects and relates to the genre of the film. We don't hear a lot of voices and conversation the construct the narrative, but instead shouts and screams. This type of communication between the characters creates tension and suspense of the situation, it makes the audience connect and feel as if they are apart of the film.
Te sound is very much focused on the sound of the gun shots and then the reaction of that, weather it be a scream or the sound of the bullet hitting something. Most of my sequence is underwater, or in water. Therefore we hear a lot of water sounds, where the sound tends to be a lot more quieter which isolates the situation, and creates the atmosphere of the sequence. Also towards the end of the sequence when the camera focuses purely on one solider who is the main character, the sound becomes distant and then the audience can feel the emotion of the character throughout the sense of isolation, scared and vulnerability. Sound is a micro analysis technique which constructs the narrative and contributes towards the genre and atmosphere.