Lighting is used during film making to create all sorts of moods. A bright light could mean something loving or happy is happening this is typical lighting in films such as children’s. Darker lighting is most commonly used to symbolise something creepy or scary, used in horror films to create suspense. A tinted light such as red may symbolise danger, blood or passion used in a romantic scene. When tinted lights are used colour wheels come into action for example if blue the scene may be cold or bright vivid colours like orange may suggest a warm, foreign scene.
Where the light is coming from is also important for example if it is back lighted it would create a silhouette of the character this suggests mystery along with side lighting which only highlights half of the character’s face. An under light shows a frightening effect which is very popular in horror films.
The next common factor of creating a film is the use of sound. This is the most important aspect of the scene I will be analysing. If a film has poor camera functions this means sound should be focused on. There are four main types of sound in a film these are diegetic, non-diegetic, parallel and contrapuntal. Diegetic sound is sound that we can see where it is coming from on the screen and non-diegetic is the opposite this is when you don’t see the object the sound is coming from. Parallel sound is when the sound links in with the image and contrapuntal is the opposite again, a sound that does not match the image on the screen. Another type of sound is a sound bridge this is a sound that carries from one scene to another, this is often done using a piece of background music.
Editing is usually the last thing done in the creation of a film. It is the tweaks the directors and other staff do to the scenes, sounds and lighting for example slow or fast motion may be added or how long each scene lasts. Another thing affected by this is the credits at the beginning and end of the film.
Camera movements are the second most important aspect of an effective scene along with light. There are many different movements a camera has among these are hand-held, rolling, track and dolly. Hand-held camera is when it’s a jerky home video affect often used to reflect the emotion of the character say if they where drunk or drugged, a classic example of this is in the horror film ‘Blair witch project’. A track movement is when a camera follows a character or opens out from a close object such as Pip running in the opening scene. A dolly camera is when the camera moves around an object or character this is most commonly used in landscape views and filmed from a crane or helicopter.
Mise on scene is a French term, its meaning is ‘what is in the scene’. This is the message the film needs the audience to grasp. The mise en scene is created using the rest of the aspects, props are most commonly used for example a castle which is put in a dark and dingy setting has created a scene of fear and horror. These are a form of subliminal messages. In a way the audience is able to receive a certain feeling about the scene without being told.
My analysis will be of the opening scene of ‘Great Expectations’. This scene has fully grasped all of the factors mentioned above. To start sound played an vital part. In the beginning sound is used to trick the audience. The director has used a soothing music to play in the background while Pip is hiding in the corn field. This doesn’t create tension thus forms an act of surprise on the viewers when the chase starts. To emphasise the speed of the chase and the fear of Magwitch the director uses the sounds of the convicts chains rattling as he runs. Heavy breathing is also used to accentuate the panic in the scene. These sounds are not recognised while watching the film but do create a sense that is critical.
The director’s camera movements also create and important sense throughout the scene. He shows how fast it is and how tense it is. This has been done using a track camera to follow Pip as he is running and a shaky camera to give the idea of magwitch’s point of view when he is chasing Pip. Zooms have also been used at the very being when Pip is hiding in the field. He shows a landscape and has it quiet then he slowly zooms in on Pip and brings him to focus that’s when he starts running and then starts to follow.
Another aspect is editing. Once all of the scenes have been filmed the director has gone through and edited it to create an opening scene. First his has cut down the length he has done this to create the sense that the chase was quick and frightening. He has also merged the picture slightly to show speed in Pips running. This is ever so slightly and can be hardly recognised but many directors use this method to mess with the viewers mind.
Overall this is a very successful opening scene and engages the audience to follow on with the rest of the film. It creates suspense and tensions. It shows the viewers that the following film will be full of scenes with just as good editing, effects ect.