The convict is first seen when he jumps out on Pip out of the left hand side of the screen. The convict jumps into the shot on the left hand side because the brain automatically starts from left to right so we immediately see the convict on the left. We are then amazed and also shocked at Pip’s scream. We can also see that the convict is wearing very ragged clothing compared to Pip who is dressed tidily and smartly. The convict’s face is dirty and is very different to Pip’s. He is wearing a white shirt and looks well. We can see from the convict’s entry that he has been living under very poor conditions and is starving hungry.
There are many shots in the film that give it a more apprehensive and frightening sensation. One of these shots is called a low angle shot. This is used to show that the convict is more powerful and bigger than Pip. It is to show that Pip is insignificant. This is very successful at the beginning of the film. Also these low angle shot lets the viewers sense the experience is coming from Pips point of view. Every shot, in my opinion, makes the convict more imposing. There are also many extreme close ups so we can see the difference of expressions on the two characters faces. Pip is scared and the convict is angry and satanic.
The lighting also adds to the feeling. When the convict grabs Pip, the light is darker on the convict than Pip. There is a low key light on Pip to show a scarier convict. Compared to the BBC version, the sky and landscape is more drab and eerie.
This is very different to the opening scene in the BBC version. We see that Pip is in the marshes, which obviously makes Pip look like a very small person. The tracking shot also adds to the effect of making Pip appear like this. We do not see the convict’s face or physical features when he starts running after Pip. This makes the viewer think that Pip is very small as Pip can only see the legs of the convict.
We hear the convict’s heavy breathing and chains that hang on his legs and body so it allows us to know he is present and is a convict. This then creates quite a fearful atmosphere. When the convict comes to attack Pip we cut away to the fields. At the graveyard Pip screams for his mother, as he is right by her grave. The screams in the graveyard contrast with the silence of the fields which we cut away to. This therefore means that we don’t know what happened to Pip. It is a shock that works moderately well.
We immediately see Pip wake up in bed and he shows that he is terrified and therefore has had a flash back. We then see his flashback continue to the graveyard and what the convict says to him. Here there are extreme close up to see the chilling fear and worry in Pip and the rage and the menacing expressions in the convict’s face.
The music is mysterious and the lighting is low-key but Pip seems to be much more in the light. This makes him look fearless and maybe useless and the convict is more in the dark which is similar to the David Lean version.
All directors need good music and sound effects to create tension to get the viewers attracted to the film. There are trees that creak and the wind can be heard in David Leans version. This music and sound mix together creating a scary atmosphere. In the BBC version the music is constant and it is first slow and up beat then its jolly music. The music and sound effects from both films create an eerier kind of mood and atmosphere but Lean’s is more successful.
In my opinion, as a whole David Lean’s version is more effective with the audience subjected to terror and fear. Even though the BBC version is more up to date and in colour, I do like the black and white version better as it is much darker, and the convict seems to appear out of nowhere just like the original text, whereas in the BBC version, we gradually see the convict, so we are not as surprised. The scenery is more effective too because the setting is actually in a graveyard and Pip is caught by the convict in the graveyard. This happened in the novel but in the BBC version, this did not happen as much as in David Lean's version.
