This basically means what is in the scene? what is in the scene is what information is in front of the camera for the audience to help them work out what's going on. It is made up of five different elements;
- Setting and props.
- Costume, hair and makeup.
- Facial expression and body language.
- Lighting and colour.
- Positioning of character within the frame.
The setting and props help show clearly where the scene is set for example if their is a bookshelf full of books it is most likely that the scene is set in somewhere like a library rather than a dentistry for example.
Costumes with the help of hair and makeup help develop the character so that the audience has a rough idea of who the person is and what they are like. an example would be, a villainous character is most likely to be wearing dark scary clothing with a less groomed presence.
Facial expressions help the audience understand how the character is feeling and they give a feel for the genre of the film.
lighting and colour this is slightly more complicated, there are two types of lighting which are high and low key. high hey lighting is used in softer films like romance and rom-coms. In these films more filters are used to create the effect of overly natural colours (blue is really blue). films like this also use exaggerated colours and sunny scenes because weather is often linked to emotions. High key lighting is used in darker films like horrors of thrillers. there are four things that are usually used in a film like this and they are... sharp contrasts, to emphasis the distinct features of the face and body of the characters. deep distinct shadows these make the presence of the characters more tense. silhouettes are used as these make you fear the unknown and make you wonder which is good for a horror film and finally back lights. these all help to create a perfect image.
the positioning of the characters helps emphasise what the film is about and gives a feel to the superiority of the characters.
Carrie (2013)
The setting of this film is in a small town in America, there are also scenes in a school, a house and a dance. These all help to create a realistic feel to the film. The opening scene of the trailer is of a woman singing in her house, this makes the audience feel like it is a normal film, with ordinary people doing casual things. The scene then quickly changes to a shot of a door in which a girl is trapped behind screaming to be let out, which automatically brings tension to the clip and scares the audience into wondering what is going on and wanting to watch more to find out. As the trailer goes on more of the scenes are introduced for example the next scene is of the school corridors. which then brings the tension level back down confusing the audience making them want to know more.
The first person to appear in the footage is a lady around the age of forty, with long brown hair and a cross around her neck. The clothes she is wearing are a dark long dress. Because clothing helps develop the character, her clothes could say that she is a woman of religion, due to crucifix and the long dress. There is not much to show about her personality other than that she is possibly a dark person with lots of secrets this is due to her long dress covering the majority of her body, it could imply that the dress is a representation of herself and that it is possibly a metaphor there to help the audience. The characters hair is really long, long hair is usually associated with witches or people with a creepy nature, this could shoe that she possibly has a creepy nature. The other character in the one of the first three scenes is the main character Carrie, she is dressed in her first scene in a casual school suitable outfit, this could show that she is a normal girl who attends school and has no unusual problems. The way her hair is positioned is to the side in a braid this could show that she is possibly less confident compared to the other character who seems to be her mother, Having her hair tied back gives us the feeling that she is uncomfortable with letting her hair down.
The facial expressions of these two characters are very similar we only ever see the emotions of either sadness or anger never happiness or joy, the characters in the clip don't seem to smile this linking back to the genre of the film could show that it is a scary film and that it doesn't contain any joyful parts.
Low key lighting is used quite a lot in the trailer this is to emphasis the dark nature of the film and to make it fell more scary, the lighter the colour palate the friendlier the persona of the film.
as the source is a moving image the positioning is varied, there are shots where the characters are close up this is to build tension and make the audience feel small and weak, it shows dominance and aggression. there are also other shots where the camera is further out positioning the characters whole body in the screen this along side the panning of the camera makes the audience feel helpless and like they are just watching the characters from a distance and are not really involved too much with the film at this current point.
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A walk to remember. (2002)
In this image the characters costumes are very traditionally American with the tartan shirt and the floral blouse. The clothing shows the people as normal young adults of the time. The hair and make up of the characters is simple and plain there are no false prosthetics and no heavy make up. The characters are positioned together in a close formation this shows that they have a good relationship and are most likely in a relationship. The girl in the image is smiling into her chest this could show that maybe she is less confident and shy than the male in the image who is smiling into her hair. The lighting is very warm and high this shows that the film is warm and romantic. The characters are positioned close up in the screen this makes you feel part of the image, it also shows that the film is based around them.
