Film Language

Camera, Editing, Sound and Mise En Scene

Boyz N The Hood

The setting of this film is South Central Los Angeles in a time where the area's gang and drug culture was vastly on the rise. There are several themes that are noticeable in the opening sequence such as racism and crime. We see this when the children walk into a crime scene and also when the school teacher is on the phone to Tre's Mum. The red 'stop' sign is a key icon as it represents the worrying rate of crime and how it needs to come to an end before the next generation becomes hooked into a life of misdemeanor and corruption. The narrative of the opening sequence is displaying a day in the life of a child in South Central LA, starting with a group walking to school and then sitting in a Geography lesson. The final part of this short narrative shows how the young boy Tre, walks home encountering a young man being beaten up and finally entering his house after a long day at school.

When looking at the use of Camera techniques, we need to use three different criteria; frame, angle and movement. The first shot we see is a group of children walking down a street. The producer uses a long shot to picture the entire group of children while using a trucking movement to show how they are walking to school. The next scene is the location of the crime scene involving a shooting, here the producer uses a close up of a poster with bullet holes in it and then transitions this into an extreme close up to emphasise the danger of the children trespassing into this recent crime scene. In the classroom scene, Tre and another boy have a confrontation. A series of high angle and low angle shots are used to show the angry facial expression on Tre's face and then it returns into a long shot when a fight breaks out between the pair. The camera becomes still when Tre is making his way home from school, the producer does this to show how Tre does not take any notice of a man being beaten up behind him, as if it is normal for things like this to happen in broad daylight.

The acronym we use to describe editing in media is STOPS, standing for screen time, transitions, order of narrative, pace and special effects. The most significant character in this film is Tre. In this opening Tre receives the most screen time as he features in every scene in the first six minutes. The transitions of scenes in this opening are straight transitions. Although, there are several fade ins and fade outs especially after the children visit the crime spot and even in between the different drawings that are shown. The last drawing that is shown belongs on the wall in the classroom, therefore the camera zooms out and the classroom becomes the new setting. This same feature also shows how the narrative naturally flows chronologically throughout the day. The pace of the opening is consistent all the way through until the final scene where Tre is shown walking home. The pace slows because Tre may be reflecting on his eventful day and replaying it all in his head in slow motion. Special effects are not used in abundance for the Boyz n The Hood opening, this is intended because the producer wants for the audience to feel a sense of reality and naivety of society in this era. This is achieved because the narrative corresponds to any other child's day at school but it shows how society in LA is divided between gangsters and ordinary civilians.

Mise En Scene can be analysed using the acronym CLAMPS which stands for costume, lighting, actors, make-up, props and setting. Firstly, the costumes used are very basic and casual representing the community as an average working class society. At the start of the film it quotes "One out of every twenty-one Black American males will be murdered in their lifetime" therefore it is clear that the film focuses on black people in society and this is why the majority of the actors are black. There is one prop that stands out due to its ambiguity, which is the long, thin wooden stick that the teacher hands to Tre when he is asked to teach. This prop is ambiguous because it could be interpreted as a weapon or simply just a teaching tool. Notice how Tre becomes increasingly aggressive towards a classmate when he holds the wooden stick. This could represent how a weapon makes young people subconsciously aggressive and it could even tell us how easy it is for a young person to access weapons in a community controlled by gangs rather than  a stable government.

The sound techniques in this film opening vary from in different scenes. The first taste of dialogue is presented almost immediately when the group of children are walking to school and we hear them talking about homework. The accents of these children are typical Los Angeles accents suggesting they are all local characters.When the group take a detour, we experience several non-diegetic gunshots because there are posters with bullet holes pierced through them. This creates an intense atmosphere and it gives the audience a sense that the children are trespassing into a dangerous area. Additionally, there is more use of non-diegetic sound a few seconds after the children first step into the police lined region. Instead, this time the music is sorrowful implying this dangerous place is the location of a very recent casualty.In the final scene of the opening of Boyz n The Hood, Tre is walking home from school and you can hear the non-diegetic sound of a phone call which is also voicing over the surrounding sounds of Tre's  journey home. This conveys to the audience that the phone call is very important in the context of the film and that the sound of violence is less relevant because it is a daily occurrence in South Central LA.

The Matrix

Colour & Binary Oppositions

This scene from The Matrix is played at night and there is very little light throughout. The darkness represents mystery and evil and this is achieved by the producer as there is an intense chase on a woman who holds supernatural abilities. Furthermore, there is one clear opposite portrayed in this clip and is the split of men and women. One woman is trying to escape from a swarm of police officers and undercover agents, yet with her superpowers she is able to escape unharmed. 

Up: Married Life

Sound, Mise en Scene and Camera

In this clip from Disney Pixar's Up, the same music is played throughout, however at happy times the tempo is quick but at sad moments it slows down. For example just as the couple get married the music is joyful which represents excitement for the many happy years to come. Additionally, when the couple hear that they cannot have children the music slows down immediately creating a sense of sorrow for the audience. In terms of Mise en Scene, there is one use of props which is the house the couple live in. At the start, the house is in desperate need of renovation and the couple are seen decorating and re-building the house. At the end when Ellie passes, Carl is pictured sitting on a step in front of the house and is similar to the first image we see of the house. One camera angle, the close up, is used throughout this clip. One significant close up is when Carl's tie changes as each day goes by, this is also key when showing how time passes.

Cape Fear Opening

Camera & Mise en Scene

Immediately, we see an extreme close up of the posters and books on the wall of the prisoner's cell. This implies that this particular prisoner has been an inmate for an extended length of time therefore he needs to keep himself entertained in order to survive. When the scene progresses we actually realise that he is due to leave the prison, this is because the costume that he puts on is very casual suggesting he is returning to a normal lifestyle.