Assignment 9

P A M E L A R I A N N E

M I C H A E L A

ASSIGNMENT 9: OPENING SEQUENCE ANALYSIS.

Task One Task Two Task Three

Michaela Purpose/Conventions

MES Barthes

Rianne CAM SAM Sound Propp

Pamela Editing Narrative Todorov

Who is completing what?

Opening Sequence Analysis Sheet.

To Kill A Mockingbird.

Genre; Drama

Year; 1962

Director; Robert Mulligan

Main Actors; • Gregory Peck• Mary Badham• Phillip Alford

Screen Shot From Art Of The Title.

Purpose/Conventions.

Purpose Conventions

• To make the audience feel confused and gripped.

• Makes the audience want to continue watching, builds an enigma.

• Child speaking in the background.

• Close up of toys and objects in the room.

• Creates a teaser.

Why does the camera keep zooming in on the watch?

CAM/SAMClose Ups Extreme Close Up

This is a close up shot of the contents of a ‘toy’ box that is shown at the beginning of the sequence.

This is an extreme close up of a crayon in the ‘toy’ box. We can see a hand (presumably a child’s hand) picking up a crayon, but we are kept in suspense as to who the child/person is.

ANGLES

Canted Angles

This is a Canted Angle.Its there to disorientate the audience.It is shown from the view of the person colouring in, rather than how the audience sees it.

MOVEMENT

These screen grabs of two different objects are to show the movement of the camera in the film.

MESMes Evidence

Setting • Possibly child’s bedroom

or playroom

Lighting • Artificial

• Filmed inside, this is evident through the way the room has been set out and the objects within the sequence.

Continued..

Mes Evidence

Characters • None shown in the clip.

Representation• Bird drawing

represents the ‘mockingbird in the title of the movie.

EDITING

• Continuity editing • 180 degree rule• Match on action • Eye-line matching • Cross cutting • Insert shots • Sound bridging• Pace • Time• Time allocated • Transition • Special effect

PACE

• The pace of this opening scene is slow.• This would mean that the child was very calm • This can also mean that they have used very

minimal number of shots

TIME

• The time would be in chronological order • This was discourse time where the filming to

actual same amount of time in the story time

TIME ALLOCATION

• The character or what is presented would stay on screen for 2 seconds• In this case it would move on to a different shot

when the child finished drawing curvs till the end of the page

TRANSITIONS

• In this opening sequence the transitions would fade into a different shot • It would either fade/dissolve/overlap

This was faded out from a different shot

There was 2 shots that are overlapping

SPECIAL EFFECTS

• There was no special effect as this film was very old • And it was originally black and white

Sound Scape Diegetic• In these two shots from the scene

you can hear a child humming/singing to themselves.

Ambient Sound Effects/Foley

• In this shot of the clock, you can hear it ticking in the background of the diegesisand the sound also continues across more than one cut.

N/A

Volume Control Voiceover

• There is no visual image to indicate the volume increasing or decreasing, but in this shotthe volume of the Background music increases significantly.

N/A

Non-Diegetic Synchronous

• In the beginning, you can hear the sound of a piano playing. • It is outside the diegesis.

• In this shot, you can hear the voice of the child still humming in the background, as well as the background music.

Score Music Dialogue

N/A N/A

Mode of Address/Direct Sound perspective

N/A N/A

STRUCTURE

• The opening sequence is in linear order • Which means its in chronological order • it starts from the beginning till the end and not

starts at the end until the beginning

ENIGMAS

• While watched the opening sequence we came up with a couple of questions that we wanted to find out…• Who Is that child?• What has the child got to do with the film?

Barthes Theory.Barthes theory Evidence

Enigma What role will the mockingbird have?Why does it have such an important role?Why is the child playing alone?

Action Why is the child laughing?

Semantic The child is presented as a normal child, laughing, playing with her toys and drawing.

Symbolic Crayons are symbolic of children’s toys.Mockingbird drawing is symbolic of the title.

Cultural The toys shown are very outdated and basic, such as marbles, dusty crayons and an old fashioned watch, this suggests that the movie was set in an older time period.

NARRATIVE THEORY

• Propp’s theory was not applicable to our opening sequence.

EQUILIBRIUM

• It started of the child getting out his toys from the box to start playing

DISEQUILIBRIUM

• When the child starts taking the toys from the box • He would put all the items everywhere.

RECOGNITION

• The clock would be a disruption as it means something and something should be happening • Or waiting for something to happen

ATTEMPT TO REPAIR

• When the child would draw the bird just like the title • It would repair everything what he done and it

seemed this is what he wanted to draw

NEW EQUILIBRIUM

• Is started a new day • As it has changed the location from the child to

outdoors