Alien- The here kitty scene.

 

 

The genre of alien is a Science Fiction Thriller. The lighting is low key which is actually opposite to the usual lighting used in the sci fi genrye however for this scene in fits in more to the thriller part of the film. When the man first enters the room with the alien there is a long shot showing the suroundings and all the high tech equiptment, it then follows with a rule of thirds shot, a close up and just all diegetic sound being used. the only lighting is shining down from the ceiling so most of what you see is sillhouettes i think this is creating the effect of blocking out some things so you listen to the sound of his voice and his breathing and it all becomes more serious. Moving round to the room full of chains, the camera is handheld to make the audience feel like there actually there and a medium shot is taken of the man and some machinery in the background all in focus with a chain in the foreground out of fucus just swinging back and forth. This is also a good technique to use as if something is in the way of your veiw you try and look round it so its making it more realistic.

For about four minutes the sound just stays the same, quiet, abit of chains knocking together and the mans breathing. For the whole four minutes it stays low key so your just paying attention to all the visual things you see like the water dripping down, his body language acts asif he has never felt water before.

 

When you first see the cat its taken from a medium high angle and keeps cutting back and for from that and the man, whereas the man was shot from a medium low angle asif the audience is seeing eachother through there own eyes. The focus in the shot of the man is shallow focus, him being in focus and the background being out of focus so the first thing we see of the alien is the out of focus tail, leaving wonder what it is, knowing its there but its hidden in the bavk, causing suspention. its the cats reaction that causes a change within sound after the four minutes to a loud change. The background is still out of focus when the rest of the alien comes down and only is the whole image in focus when you see the head of the alien, where there is also the first bit of non- diegetic sound added to this scence to add a buildup of what we can already guess is going to happen. A close up of the aliens mouth as it slowly moves creates tention as we can only see the spit dripping and know that its about to attack him and were seeing another veiw of this though the cat fear of watching it.

The mans got on his crew suit and just before he turns around you can see faint writing on the back, showing hes in a crew, I think, unknowingly giving sympathy as the audience would remember the rest of the crew members and where are they at this point?.

 

As he first see's the alien the shot is taken as a close up and you see the shock on his face but also the shadow of the alien reflecting against his right eye for just a second scares the audience, thinking hes about to be attacked that second, however he still has a few more moments. The non-diegetic music is increasing everyfew seconds he gets closer to the alien to keep the audieces responces building with the level of music. The first time we see the alien its an extra close close up on its teeth as the point of veiw from which the man is looking at a straight on perspective. it zooms in alittle bit more on the aliens moth with the rest of the background steamed out. The attack is so fast you only catch a glimpse of it but he gets attacked in the throat with his whole head in the shot and then diegetic sound takes over any other sound by him screaming and being taking bythe alien. The last shot is a close up of the cats face with a straight on perspective and the sound drowning out to the the chains again. I think this is effective because the cat has seen everything and cant warn anyone so it just sits there watching.





TrainSpotting

In this short clip from the film Trainspotting I've chose to focus on mise en scene. In the first few seconds you can tell the time this film is set in the 90's because of the clothing everyone is wearing and that there smoking in a public club. Its taken as a long shot to show how packed everyone is on the dance floor and there's a man on his own on the other side of a pillar in the room to show he may not be as included as the others. The lighting is strobe lighting like in a usual club, but flashing different colours to to signify different emotions all put together in one room. The next shots a medium close up of two people, the guy trying to make a pass at the girl, but there's a sign above there head with a list of sexual drink names so it could be whats running through his head as the board is just above them both, however on her side of the board there's also a list of names but the only sexual one is 'penis enlarge' so all of those things including that could be going through her head, the audience getting a subtle hint he probably won't get a chance with her in the end. Also the way the shot has been taken is so there are people walking past but their blacked out like silhouettes and the two people near the bar are the ones in focus, trying to make a more realistic setting and a feel that your actually there watching with people getting in your way. The fist shot of Ewan Mcgregor shows exactly what his character is like, his tops to short for him, his stomach is slightly out, he's got a jumper tied round his waist and he's chewing gum. His costume is a bright colour so even in the shot with a few other men, Ewan's the first person you see. The background also gives away his character because he's in front of a poster blocking the men holding two guns out so there coming out behind him giving the hint of him being trouble from the start.

 

The two men that are siting down having a conversation have separated themselves from everyone else, the camera angle is a long shot making the space look lager and more separated with diegetic music playing over the top almost blocking out there talking. When the women confront them there in the middle of talking so you can cause see them coming forward in a shallow depth of field. They stand over them to show authority using a low angle shot and with the men saying 'football' at the same time and the women saying 'shopping' its like the usual answers male or females would give.

 

When Renton first see's the woman he likes, the music changes automatically as the shot does to Blondie- Atomic, the words being 'your hair is beautiful'. I think this was done to show his feelings and whats he's thinking at the time mirrored through the song. Also the shot is a medium close up and the lighting is all white on her side whilst on his its still the club strobe lighting. Shes wearing a white dress an standing on her own so to say she doesn't need other people to have fun or doesn't have anyone to come with. The lighting on her is quite high key lighting to show there's a romance being built on his part. When she goes to leave she gets stopped by an older man who is holding two drinks in front of her, these i think being the choices she could make. One, she could take one drink and stay with him or Two, she could just leave. Her body language closes up and she takes the first drink, making the audience and Renton think she will stay, but then she opens up an takes the second, choosing to leave. The whole time cross cutting between her and Ewan Mcgregor the background of both shots being out of focus so all attention is on them, whilst still creating a nightclub effect.

 

When they have both left the club the woman is wearing a red coat so she blends in with the colour of the building. this shows she fits in more outside of the club then inside. The background is all in focus so we see the whole setting of outside. The name of the club is volcano and whilst there talking the letters between them say NO boldly. This could be what shes trying to say quite bluntly, but then there's a traffic sign in the background saying 'Give way' so these could be what she actually wants to do. But then the whole background goes out of focus so the decision is just up to him.

When she gets into the taxi the only light source is from inside so if he didn't get in his life would be dull or boring like the setting on the outside, where as the lights inside the taxi are red to show passion or lust, giving him a better option.