Film Analysis

A changed man (2003)

Directed by Jens Jonsson. A middle aged man named Chris is sitting in a taxi anxiously whilst looking at all the surroundings from inside the black cab. The driver, who is doing all of the talking, which is giving all the backstory of the town. This is the 'inciting Incident' as this is taking the character out of his everyday routine.

The protagonist is dropped off outside his old school. You could say that this is the 'plot point' but I believe its when our main character is standing inside the classroom alone in the next room. It shows the audience that he is at the point of no return. With the classroom shot, our main character looks quite small compared to the classroom; this is done by the high angle shot the director felt that it could convey the meaning of feeling small in a big place. Throughout the entire film, the lighting used is very effective because it sets the 'depressing' mood, which what the film is.

Majority of the film is based in the school gym where all the old school pupils are talking and meeting one another again, catching up from all those years apart. The way the tables are placed out, where all the characters are in frame, felt that this story would fit well in the West-End theatre; saying that, the narrative and locations used would work very well.

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Directed by Emile Ardolina. The scene I'm analysing in particular is the (Do you love me?) sequence. Frances "Baby" hears music in the distance, which is over the bridge and is drawn in by the character is holding the watermelon. It is interesting how the sequence is structured because I see that the bridge is a path to the 'dark side' so to speak. The low angle shot (which I felt that is a POV shot) from Frances perspective shows you the scale of the dance house.

Once we are over the bridge and in the house, we are shown various shots of exotic dancing, happening over red lighting; the red lighting represents very sexual and seductive incidents.  Their are shots of Frances looking on, and taking in all the action. The shot composition plays a crucial part in telling the story or character emotions because the camera is placed in the middle of the dance floor as people are dancing in the left and right of the frame; which means that us the audience are already in the action. 

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Directed by Stanely Donen & Gene Kelly.  The infamous sequence is of Gene Kelly's character dancing (and singing) in the rain. What I admire about this scene is the way it goes against meanings as rain represents sadness, badness and loss of hope but Gene Kelly takes in the rain like its a sign of relief.

The set design of the sequence is quite impressive as it looks realistic and it sets the tone of the set. The art director did a fantastic job for making this look like a street that was next to a various shops and the characters passes many shops that give off enough light to light the screen (studio lighting also helped). Many of the shots in this scene were tracking shots but some were stationary shots which stayed on screen for long amounts of time. I believe the long shots were used to show the backgrounds of the shots as I feel they were important for the sequence, also Gene Kelly's outstanding performance. 

The character onscreen moved with the tempo with the music, which sped up when Gene Kelly sped up his performance; everything was quite in sync with each other. 

The Birds (1963)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The attack in the attic sequence. We start off with Melanie who is sitting downstairs in complete silence by hearing movement upstairs.

The scene is constructed perfectly as it creates tension and suspense. Most of the location is in low lighting and the audience and the character are guided with a torchlight. When Melanie is walking upstairs, we are given a POV shots to create tension and the use of sound is at a minimum as this also creates tension. The audience know what's behind the door so without the editing of the sequence, it would fall flat and there would be no suspense at all.

Once Melanie is in the attic, she shines the flashlight around the room until she shines it on the birds; they then begin to attack her. The shots in the attacking part is well structured because we again get POV of the birds attacking Melanie and close-up of the birds leaving their mark on her body. This sequence reminds me of Hitchcock earlier work Psycho (1960) when Marion is being murdered by the murderer in the bathroom; the same editing techniques were used.