THE DARK KNIGHT
- Establishing shot of the city, the dark building could be a connotation of evil, death, bad things.
- A slight tilt down shot of the back of a man holding a mask and bag, looking rather mysterious, the mask looks like it could be used for something sinister.
- The diegetic sounds are emphasized, i.e. the drilling, shooting, echoes of the voices.
- Soundtrack uses a lot of drums, this makes it seem tense and dangerous, and it also gets louder as it goes on, suggesting that things could be getting worse.
- High key lighting is used to show daylight.
- The costume make the robbers look like they are average pedestrians off the street, apart from the clown masks they wear that covers their identity.
- Camera takes are varied, when the breaking in occurs, they are long takes, and then when it’s the shooting, there is a lot of quick paced takes.
- Parallel editing is used.
- BCU shows the Jokers emotions, happy and self satisfied.
- Low key lighting is now used to make the Joker look evil.
- The non-diegetic soundtrack (drums) on the BCU increases dramatically as he reveals.
- MCU shows that the objective is complete.
INCEPTION
- The sea is powerful, so the diegetic sound of the waves crashing is loud, and the only thing you can hear. Makes you think why are we there.
- Waves are being shot in slow motion
- Character is delusional and confused, he is having hallucinations of what we are guessing are his children.
- This establishing/POV shot is of where the character is at the present time, the house is large and looks like it's owned by someone with a lot of money.
- Dialogue is a different language, meaning he's in another country. Subtitles have been added in the post-production.
- The colour of the picture is a sepia effect, maybe meaning it is back in time.
- MCU shows emotion on the character.
- Close up of broken glass, immediately tells the audience that something is wrong.
- Establishing shots of the flat/house we are in, a lot of things are destroyed, makes us think why, how, and who did it.
- The soundtrack is contrapuntal, it doesn't fit with what is happening in the shot.
- Tracking shot slowly moves in on the character, creates mystery, as you'd think he's dead at first. Also shows how much of a mess the place is in.
- CU of his hand, looking a bit damaged after possibly hurting someone/something.
- By the looks of the flat, furniture, technology, it was owned by a person that has a fair bit of money.
- Long takes
- BCU of the character, looking quite vacant. We don't know if he was the one who caused this damage, or that this was his flat.
- Straight cuts, suggest that what we're watching is serious.
JAWS
- We hear the non-diegetic soundtrack before we see anything, this creates mystery.
- First thing we see is a POV shot underwater, there's 2 possible things it could be, a diver, or a shark.
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- The soundtrack puts people on edge, so the audience might think that this POV shot is in fact a shark.
- Cuts to a beach party, teenagers we assume, drinking, smoking playing music, we hear a harmonica and guitar, which are both diegetic, playing. It seems relaxed, not knowing what is about to happen.
- The tracking shot of the group of people shows there's quite a lot of them, and going from what the soundtrack was like, it could be anyone that get's hurt.
- These two characters have an interaction, we see this by having an eye-line match, MCU shots on both of them.
- These two shots could suggest that these people will be victims.
- Their costume is quite middle classed, they can afford to buy alcohol and cigarettes.
- Continuity editing is used to show realism and flow.
TAKEN
- Opens with a 'home video'. This is to show the past. There is also a lack of quality in the picture.
- Flashes that are inserted during editing, could mean someone is dreaming or remembering this.
- The mother and the daughter in this shot could mean that the father is taping this video.
- The non-diegetic soundtrack that we hear is a piano piece, it sounds quite sad as if the character wishes he was back in that time again.
- This shot confirms that what we saw was a memory and he was dreaming it, and now it is in the present day.
- As he is alone in this shot, it makes us wonder if the two parents are still together and if he see's his daughter as much.
- The LS/establishing shot makes it looks like he's in a flat of some kind, and his costume makes him look as if he's not bothered to get dressed and it's been like that for a while.
- CU of the picture connects his dream and the girl together, we assume this is his daughter now.
- This ELS establishes where we are, it being what looks like a mansion, very rich and clean. In comparison with what he lives in, it's the complete opposite.
- MS shows us the mother and the main character with their daughter, here we assume that the house we're at is theirs, or the mothers new husband.
- Sound wise, the diegetic music you and the character can hear is happy and modern, good for a garden party
- As the opening revolves particularly around his daughter, we can get a clue that the film is going to involve mostly the father and daughter, from what we've seen already, the father looks to care a lot about his daughter, and would do anything for her.
