Thursday, 28 January 2010

Deep analysis of Swordfish introduction

Two mins into it:
SHOT ONE:
close up of John Travolta's face also his face is in depth of field. EDITING: fuzzy screen as if theres a bad signal. continuity. straight cut. SOUND: high pitched tension building key, John Travoltas character talks directly/ seemingly at the audience about hollywood cinema being 'shit'. MISE-EN-SCENE: hard to tell as all of shot's depth of field is on Travolta's face but green lights that are reminicient of electronics operating, are in the background, metal chair also maybe? they appear to be in darkness, save the light on Travoltas face. Neatly trimmed and styled beard, slick back hair dark black suit and strong tan. looks like a man of power, money.
SHOT TWO:
side mid shot of Travolta then focus pull onto background of metal table and chairs and cup and saucer- cafe? EDITING: continuity fluid, his talking is continuous. straight cut. this continues throughout. SOUND: music continues, Travolta now talking about 'Dog Day Afternoon' starring Al Pacino. MISE-EN-SCENE: we know see he is in a cafe.
SHOT THREE:
One sided mid shot, focus is pulled onto Travolta's face again then changes once more so the whole shot is in focus. SOUND: music continues, Travolta continuing to talk about Sidney Lumet as a director. MISE-EN-SCENE: metal jugs etc in background.
SHOT FOUR:
close up and D.O.F on cigar cutter and his cigar. SOUND: we hear the noise of the cutter as the music and Travolta continues to talk, listing film making techniques. MISE-EN-SCENE: cutter and cigar give off a kind of gangsteresque lifestyle of this character.
SHOT FIVE:
return to previous one sided mid shot. The same out of focus into focus shot is used. SOUND: music continues, Travolta continues to chatter, we hear cutter is placed onto the table and a lighter is picked up and lit. MISE-EN-SCENE: same as before and continues as the scene doesn't change.
SHOT SIX:
close up D.O.F. on lighter and cigar meeting. SOUND: gas of lighter, puffs of breath taken from Travolta.
SHOT SEVEN:
moving shot of Travolta lighting his cigar, almost like an unsteady camera. handycam? lots of focus pull in and out again. As Travolta finishe,s the camera pans to his face changing from an object shot to a mid shot. SOUND: lighter switching off, breathing as he sucks his cigar. sound of lighter being placed on table, Travolta speaks again of 'Dog Day'.
SHOT EIGHT:
side shot of Travolta talking. Again focus pulls. SOUND: Travolta talking about if sunny wanted to get away with his crime, he should have killed more people mercylessly. music continues.
SHOT NINE:
over two shoulders shot of mysterious characters in suits. D.O.F. on him still. SOUND: music vibrates a little more as if resounding in your head as he talks about killing people.
SHOT TEN:
close up of his face. D.O.F. is on him SOUND: as before.
SHOT ELEVEN:
mid shot of him focus pulls. SOUND: music is gradually changing keys getting lower and lower deminishing like our trust or like in him does. He continues to talk about killing. MISE-EN-SCENE: we see alot more of the background now, bottles of spirits are lined up behind him. we see his dark suit.
SHOT TWELVE:
pan from shirt to face close up. SOUND: music and chatter continues.
SHOT THIRTEEN:
reflection of a man half his face covered by dark shadow, also in a suit pan from this to Travolta close up. focus pulls and the unsteady camera handycam again? SOUND: he talks about how fast media travells nowadays about crime etc. music continuous.
SHOT FOURTEEN:
pan from body to mid shot handycam again? focus pulls. SOUND: as before.
SHOT FIFTEEN:
over two shoulders shot again. D.O.F. on a small section of his shoulder and glasses. SOUND: he talks about killing many peple all at once.
SHOT SIXTEEN:
close up of his face D.O.F. on him. SOUND: he talks of capturing all this on high definition camera and 'practicly tasting the brain matter'

All this shows just how detailed just 2 minuites of film thriller intro can be. in sound continuity etc. Although we don't have as much technology at hand, we can certainly take on board the level of detail and quality we need to add to our film.

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