How does Double Indemnity use compositional techniques?

Figure 1

Double Indemnity uses compositional techniques such as German Expressionism to create a sense of entrapment around the character, due to the straight lines/edges and shadows used in scene, such as in figure 1. This not only presents the character as trapped but also creates an enigma about the place, because everything is covered in shadows and it's difficult/disorientating to look at.
This creates a sense of confusion in the scene for the audience and therefore makes the shot enigmatic as it is difficult to see.

Double Indemnity also uses chiaroscuro lighting to hide the real identity of the characters through the use of shadows contrasting with the light. This is because it makes the character seem as if he has a good side to him yet is shrouded in darkness of something he has done in his life, such as committed a murder, so the shadows and chiaroscuro lighting becomes a metaphor for the darkness in his life.

Figure 2

In figure 2, the use of the venation blinds creates a sort of prison bars effect, which makes the characters seem imprisoned and entering a "criminal world", and could be foreshadowing this the end result (prison). The dark intense shadow from the woman in figure 2 could suggest how she is a femme fuetal character, who is leading the Walter Neff to a bad place/criminal world. The dark shadow emphasises the evil within her and how she should not be trusted.

The director of "Se7en" also uses an enigma to create tension, because the opening sequence tells us a lot about the characters and very little about the story, so the audience has no idea what will happen later on in the film. This creates tension because it keeps the audience guessing about what the plot is. The props used in the film, such as the metronome creates lots of tension because the constant, annoying sound of the ticking every second makes the audience wonder why it is used and what it is ticking for, as it could be a metaphor for time ticking down, but yet the audience don't know what it is ticking down for. This creates tension as it is an unknown quantity in the film however is clearly important.

Finally, the director of "Se7en" uses an enigma to keep the audience watching and entice them into the film. The way in which everything about the film in the opening sequence (pre-title) is mysterious keeps the audience interested in the film and why everything is as it is. In the opening sequence, we learn about how the city/location is clearly a crime-ridden city through the use of constant background noises, such as dogs barking and people shouting, or just the constant rain that is outside. This creates a constant enigma about the film which keeps the audience constantly watching as there isn't many points in the film where all is quiet and where things seem "normal", which keeps the audience on the edge of there seats wanting to find out more. 

Se7en: How does the director use an enigma?

The director of the film "Se7en" uses an enigma to create confusion and expectation amongst the audience. The director does this by using an opening sequence that shows many objects and props that are made to look important yet the audience doesn't know what they are used for or why they are there, yet expects these objects to be used later on in the film. For example, in the shot with the knife, pen, badge and paper rose, these are all random objects that would seem to have some meaning/use, yet the audience isn't told what they are for or why they are there. However this also creates an idea in the viewers mind about what Sommerset is like, but only small parts of his personality, which creates an enigma around him. The objects create confusion they don't necessarily fit together as objects, and so confuses the audience as to why they are there and whats so important about them, which again leads to the expectancy of the objects. 

The director of "Se7en" also uses an enigma to create tension, because the opening sequence tells us a lot about the characters and very little about the story, so the audience has no idea what will happen later on in the film. This creates tension because it keeps the audience guessing about what the plot is. The props used in the film, such as the metronome creates lots of tension because the constant, annoying sound of the ticking every second makes the audience wonder why it is used and what it is ticking for, as it could be a metaphor for time ticking down, but yet the audience don't know what it is ticking down for. This creates tension as it is an unknown quantity in the film however is clearly important.
Finally, the director of "Se7en" uses an enigma to keep the audience watching and entice them into the film. The way in which everything about the film in the opening sequence (pre-title) is mysterious keeps the audience interested in the film and why everything is as it is. In the opening sequence, we learn about how the city/location is clearly a crime-ridden city through the use of constant background noises, such as dogs barking and people shouting, or just the constant rain that is outside. This creates a constant enigma about the film which keeps the audience constantly watching as there isn't many points in the film where all is quiet and where things seem "normal", which keeps the audience on the edge of there seats wanting to find out more. 

How does the chase sequence and opening of The Third Man use framing and certain composition techniques, mise en scene and cinematography to create meanings, metaphors and effects.

Figure 1 

Figure 1 uses many techniques to create meanings, metaphors, and effects, such as certain composition techniques. In figure 1, the vanishing point towards the left of the screen takes the attention of the audiences eyes and makes the look towards it. This becomes disorientating because the actual focus /direction that Holly is drawn to is the opposite side of the shot/direction (out of frame), so the audience can get easily confused. Figure 1 also uses the chiaroscuro lighting to create a sharp contrast between the two directions that Holly could go in. This could show, due to connotations of light being hope/good, and dark being evil/bad, that Holly should go towards the light as it would be better. The darker side of the image (the side Holly actually ends up walking towards) could be more dangerous or the wrong way to go. By going this way, he finds Harry, however finds a darker ending than he would've thought. This lighting used caused a sense of expectation for the audience due to one side being darker than the other.

Figure 2

In figure 2, the high contrast sharp chiaroscuro lighting on Harry Limes compared to the darkness around him shows how Harry is seen as a good person, however the truth about him is mostly obscure, because all we get to see about him is his face, and nothing else. This means that the audience only know his identity and nothing else, which creates an enigma about his character because all the audience can see is who he is/what he looks like. Figure 2 also uses a tilted shot, which creates a slight disorientation for the audience. The use of the tilt shot could also show how Harry Limes character is different/mysterious because the first time we see him in the film is this shot, and the shot isn't clear enough to distinct many features about him. The tilt shot adds to this because it's off balance and makes the shot even more unclear as he isn't visible properly.

Figure 3

Figure 3 uses an off-centre vanishing point that is out of the frame, which creates an enigma about the chase and a sense of expectation because the audience can't see where Harry is running to. This creates links to the idea that the truth about where Harry is running to is obscured and can't be seen, because Holly doesn't know what Harry is doing not only in the sense of where he is going, but also the whole idea of what Harry is up to/why he is running. The use of the the lighting to create a shadow on the wall rather than the audience seeing Harry running creates an enigma about the scene. It also creates a sense of expectation for the audience because they see Harry essentially chasing a shadow which is leading him into an area of unknown. This creates a sense of the unknown for the audience, as a form of darkness (connotations of a shadow) is leading Harry into darkness/the unknown. The shadow also creates the theme of the evil within for Harry, which adds to the enigma.

Figure 4

Figure 4 disorientates the audience through the use of camerawork. The tilted low angle shot creates an off-balance image that disorientates the audience as they don't get a clear view of the location or the character who is in the shot, which creates connotations of anxiety and panic as the shot is so confusing. The use of the deep key lighting and angular German expressionism adds to the sense of anxiety and panic because it makes the shot seem claustrophobic, added to by the low angle shot which a third of the frame covered by a ceiling.

Chris & Josh PreliminaryTask

The task for this piece of work was a continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.

For the shoot, we had to plan how we were going to go about filming the scene. First off, we planned how we were going to use the 180 degree rule without breaking it, which was fairly easy as we just had to plan 3 separate camera angles for the conversation. We had planned to have an over the shoulder shot of character 1, an over the shoulder shot of character 2, and a master shot that had both characters in it. We also planned to have these camera all on the same side of the two characters, so we wouldn't break the rule. (As seen in the diagram.)

Our teacher (Mr Seal) insisted that we should do each part of our planning because it meant that we would know exactly what to do when we were filming, and therefore wouldn't have any mistakes made or confusion during the filming.

In our scene, we decided to use continuity editing because it would make the scene look smooth and wouldn't look amateur or jumpy, which would look bad and possibly confusing to the audience.
We also used the rule of thirds because it gave the two characters an equal look of power because neither of the characters were taking up more screen room than the other, they both had equal nose room/head room/lead room.

During the project, I learnt that planning and group-work is very important for making short films, because it means you can have no confusion in the group and everybody knows what they are doing.

How Do Directors Film A Conversation?

Directors film a conversation by using rules such as the 180 degree rule. The 180 degree rule is where you only film one side of the characters. This is used to film a conversation because it simply makes it easy to establish the scene, such as who is sitting where. This allows the audience to connect with the characters on a personal level. In the technique you only need to use 3 camera angles; an over the shoulder of one character, and over the shoulder of the other character, and a "master shot" which establishes the scene and where the characters are sitting, these three camera angles are the only used because it gives the audience a sense of familiarity with the characters. However it may include a 4th camera which could have a "quirky" shot (e.g from above) to give a new perspective on the conversation. The rule also works with other common tips to shoot a conversation such as continuity editing, because it makes it easier to use continuity editing as you can fit the clips together smoothly from the same side every time.

Directors also use continuity editing when filming a conversation because it makes the scene seem smooth without any jumps. Simply because if the conversation had jumps in it, it wouldn't look very professional. This also makes it clear for the audience to see what is going on when people are moving objects, such as a cup of tea. This tends to be used with a shot-reverse-shot technique because it can cut between the person, and what they are moving, whilst keeping it realistic/smooth. For example in the Coffee and Cigarettes clip when Iggy Pop chinks cups with Tom Waits the continuity editing is smooth and makes it easy for the audience to keep track with whats happening when the camera angles change, making them seem like they haven't missed anything and therefore don't get confused.

 Finally directors use head room and nose room/lead room as another technique when filming a conversation. This is where the character has space to look into (nose room) and space above there heads, so it isn't cut off and is fully viewable. This technique can show how much power a character has: for example if a person has lots of nose room in a close up they seem powerful and controlling, because they have a lot of room to look into. However if they have little nose room, then they seem confined into a smaller space and seem claustrophobic, thus making them seem weaker. This can be seen in the Breaking Bad clip, where Walter has a lot of nose room throughout the whole the scene, whereas at certain point in the scene, Gus has little nose room, thus showing his weakness and Walters dominance.

Peaky Blinders Media Homework:

In this shot, the director uses a puddle to create metaphor for calmness, which is then interrupted by the Peaky Blinders and ripples start to come from the footsteps that they make. This is a way of showing there power and there significance in the shot, because they change the mood/feeling of the setting. The shot also uses the lighting to make the Peaky Blinders seem like they control everything. For example, in this shot, they are covering up/blocking out the only light that is in the shot, and the fact that they are blocking this light makes it seem as if they have power over the area and how they are possibly "evil" as darkness can have such connotations.
Also, light has connotations of hope, so the fact that the Peaky Blinders are covering up the light could suggest that they are getting rid of all hope that may have been. Finally, the use of the dynamic shot that reflects the Peaky Blinders off of the puddle makes it difficult for the audience to see who the characters are (making the characters seem mysterious and confusing), which in turn could create suspense for the audience because they can't make out who the characters are just from reflected, dark outlined figures. They low angle shot also shows there dominance as characters because the audience are looking up at the characters.

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The director also uses lighting and effects to emphasise the groups power, for example: the flames/fiery colours that shine off the Peaky Blinders faces shows how they aren't fazed by the dangers of fires and other industrial dangers. In terms of mise en scene, all of the Peaky Blinders are wearing very similar, smart clothing, they all wear hats and the same shoes (previous shot). This could be to represent the "gang culture", because they all have something that links them together as part of a gang. The fact that the shot used is a mid shot shows us the emotions of the characters, and as it is so close up, it may not show claustrophobia, but instead to show how tightly nit of a group they are.

In the final shot, the shot looks almost as if it is from a western film, with the group walking towards what looks like a western type saloon. Some of the hats that they wear also look like "western hats", this link could make them seem as if they "mean business" which is another way of making them looks powerful, as they are about to walk into this western like saloon as a group and possibly cause trouble. You can also she the flames in the reflection of the window, which again shows how close the danger is and how unaffected they are by it. The fact that the flames only appear when the Peaky Blinders turn up could also show how powerful and dangerous they are because the danger starts to appear when they appear.

What can we learn about how to shoot characters walking from this scene in Peaky Blinders?
From this scene in Peaky Blinders we learn that to shoot characters walking, lots of techniques can be used to add dramatic effects to the scene and make it interesting and dynamic to keep the audience watching, rather than just having one or two shots of people walking. For example, the first shot used is a dynamic shot that makes the characters mysterious, therefore intriguing the audience as they want to know who they are.

Media Summer Bridging Task

- The Casino Royale Clip: - The LA Confidential Clip:

Introduction

Hi, I'm Chris Boyer and this is my AS Media blog.