Focus on how one or more of the mise-en-scene, performance, cinematography, editing and sound create meaning and generate a response in a film sequence.

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Film studies essay                                                                                             11th November 2007

Focus on how one or more of the mise-en-scene, performance, cinematography, editing and sound create meaning and generate a response in a film sequence.

  • The clip must be a complete sequence of no more than 7 minutes in length
  • If the sequence is a complex one, it may be much shorter than 7 minutes.

 I have chosen to look at the final 7 minutes of the film “saw.” I will be looking at the use of sound and mise-en-scene and what affect this has on the audience. I will start from the scene where Lawrence cuts of his foot and I will only be looking at the scenes involving Lawrence and Alex.

 There aren’t a lot of non-diegetic sounds used in this sequence but the effect of that is that it makes the sequence appear more realistic to the audience therefore making it scarier. Diegetic sound is used most throughout the sequence and example of the use of diegetic sound is the tape recorder found later in the sequence. At the Beginning of the scene, Alex is screaming and shouting at Lawrence telling him “don’t do it, we can sort this out!” The tone of Alex’s voice scares the audience as he sounds scared which adds to the horror of Lawrence cutting of his foot. We can also hear Lawrence’s screams of pain, which are slightly muffled from his shirt. The fact that we can still hear his screams loudly shows how much he is screaming making this scene seem realistic to the audience.

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 As the scene progresses, we can see Lawrence getting weaker and one way that we know he is getting weaker is the dramatic change in his voice before and after cutting his foot. We hear him screaming and shouting loudly in the scene before, then once he cuts of his foot, his voice becomes quieter and deeper with gasps in between sentences, this shows that he is really weak and finds it difficult to speak.

 We get to the point where Lawrence gets the gun and points it at Alex. Alex voice shows his fear of dying and ...

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