Today in media we were shown some opening scenes to some films in class. We were then told to write a review and to analyse what we had been shown in terms of what we had seen, what types of sounds we hear, what we associate what we have seen with (denotation and connotation etc. So in this blog post this is what I am going to be doing.
The first film that I am going to talk about it Kill Bill vol.1.
In the film we are faced with a groovy kind of picture/setting in the beginning . This was part of the opening credits. When my class and I saw this we all came to the conclusion that it reminded us all of the James Bond opening as this is what we associated the swirly, groovy colours with as it was in a circular spiral shape. This is known as intertexuality because the director has borrowed bits from other films. We also concluded that the film was set in the olden days because of the kind of music that was being played in the background it was non diagetic sound as the music wasn't associated with anything on the screen. When that passes we also hear the sound of a woman panting but at this point it is still the opening credits so we are confused and unsure about what was going on. We then see why the woman is panting and it all becomes clear to us. The panting that was used in the opening credits was still being used as we were shown why she was panting. This is an example of a sound bridge because the sound from one scene is being continued in the next scene.
Also in the seen the director has used Low Key lighting. I know this because one side of her face is illuminated and the other side isn't. The side that we can see, we see that it is filled with blood this lets us the audience know that she can been beaten up or hurt.In the opening scene we also only hear the mans voice, we are unable to see his face so this leaves us in the dark about what he looks like and who he is to her. at the end when she says ' its your baby' before she gets shot this give us an idea that the man must be someone very close to her. In the scene we also see that he is wiping most of the blood on her face off. This gives us the impression that he must care about her a little bit because he is wiping the blood off her face for her, However this is contradicted by the fact that he shoots her in the head.
The second film that I will be reviewing is Drive
At the beginning of the scene all we hear is the radio and the match that is going on. When I was watching this I was uncertain as to why he had out the radio on, but while watching the film it became clear to me. The is also non diagetic sound on the background. This sound starts of quietly and works it way up getting louder at different stages. The Music starts off quietly, I associate this with the fact that the main character is aware that the real work is yet to come so he is keeping himself calm for the meantime. This is why I believe that the music starts off quietly. From 35 secs in the clips you hear the beat of the music coming in, I believe that the is used to symbolise the fact that he isn't feeling so calm any more. He is becoming more and more anticipated about what he is about to do.his face at that moment also shows that he is anticipating what is going to happen and also shows the nervousness that he is feeling. When the music is at its loudest that's when we know that ' it has all started' We also hear policemen talking over a walkie talkie, The main character has done this because he wants to be aware of the police's next actions and what they are currently doing so that he can avoid them. Through out this whole clip there is no dialogue between the people in the car. The only dialogue that we hear in the one between the police men through the walkie talkie and the radio commentating on the match. My class and I decided that this could be due to the fact that he was concentrating on what he was doing while trying to pay attention to what the police men on patrol were doing and also while he was trying to keep up with the match. So he didn't want any distractions.
At 2:17 mins in the film the music in the background starts to quieten down . This brings us back to what I said before about the main character feeling a sense of calm. Because at this point he is hiding away from the police and he knows that he cant be found by them. but afterwards, as he starts to drive away the music starts up again and gets louder. When watching this clip I associated the music in the background with his heart beat. When the music is at its loudest that shows that his heart is beating really fast and when its at its lowest or there's no sound at all that's what his heart is back to a normal speed and he is calm. In the background on the radio we hear the commentator say '10 seconds on the clock' this also related to the main character as he has 10 seconds to get where he has to be so that he is no longer wanted by the police.
However as he gets to where is needs to be in time, the music in the background is still playing. I decided that the music may have still been playing, as a way to show the audience that he has done it. It symbolises celebration. This is also reflected in the scene by the people that are around him. They are jubilating and celebrating because their team has won.
Here is the clip from Drive. This is a shortened clip from what I originally saw as I was unable to find the original one.
