Sound

The absence of a sound track for the majority of the clip, creates awkward silences between dialogue.  The dialogue is very weak and quiet during this scene.  This adds to the awkwardness of the situation.  Also, a lot of the actor's lines are unfinished, they stutter and pause between words, highlighting their discomford and anxiety.

The diegetic sound effects, of the girl fiddling with the locks on the door, are amplified to draw the audience's attention to the boy's anxiousness.  Her dialogue during this scene also contains awkward pauses and unfinished sentences to empahsises her awkwardness in the situation.

The scene of the father sitting in his car maintains an ambient sound of street noises that you would expect to hear during the day.  The short diegetic soundtrack is asynchronous to the mood of the scene, which adds to the fathers discomfort and draws attetion to the discontinuity of the scene.  Diegetic sound effects of the car window, the seat sliding and the car horn are clearly heard to exaggerate the silences and to emphasise the father's anxiety.

A sound bridge of a non-diegetic soundtrack is used between the scenes in the two locations.  The soundtrack is composed using a harmonica, commonly used in blues and for sad moments.  This choice of soundtrack makes the audience feel pity for the boy, because of his disabiltiy and the awkwardness of the situation.

Editing

As the girl opens the door we see a long shot from behind her looking down at the boy in the wheelchair, and then up to see the father.  This tilt revealing the father shows the girl was not expecting the dad to be with him.

The next shot reverse shot shows an eye line match of the girl looking down at the boy and then up at the his dad, whilst waiting for a response.  This is used to emphasise the awkwardness of the situation.  This scene also establishes the 180 degree rule for the following scenes shot in this location, maintaining the continuity.

A long take follows this shot of the man looking for the money.  This drawn out take is used to give us time to see the father's expression and to make the audience anxious.

The following shots contain two action match shots, which are used to make the scene flow smoothly.  We then see an eye line match of the girl watching the boy talk to his father, drawing attention to her awkwardness 

The father has now exited and we see an eye line match of the boy looking across the room to the door as the girl goes to lock it.  A shot reverse shot is used to show the boy's vulnerability, then to her locking the door and then back to the boy, expressing his anxiety and nervousness.

The next shots are particularly long takes during their conversation.  These slow pace takes have been used to create anxiety in the audience, as the shots are longer than they need to be.

An eye line match of the father looking out his car window at the room his son is in, highlighting his anxiety and discomfort.

Next we see a series of jump cuts of the father in the car.  These series of shots have no relation and draw attention to the discontinuity of the scene.  This shows the father is anxious and fidgety.

A cross cut is used to imply the two events are taking place simultaneously, but in different locations.

The final scene privileges a master shot of the boy and girl.  The master shot shows her being on top/above him giving us the impression that she is in control.

Camera work

The first scene is a short dolly shot, giving the audience the opportunity to appreciate the traditional farmer costumes and the props that are being handled by the men in the scene.

The second scene begins with a long shot of Amy.  As she walks closer the camera pans, following her movement, to a medium long shot displaying her costume in full.  This shot also allows us to establish the new location.

The third scene is a dolly shot, moving closer to the vehicle Amy is in.  This gives us a sense of uncertainty as the shot becomes a close up to show her facial expressions.

The fourth scene opens with an establishing shot to show the new location, followed by an medium long shot, giving us a view of the crash in the foreground, and the character's in the background.  The crash acts as a barrier between Amy and the Headmaster, giving us a sense of division between the characters.  The camera pans up to Mr McDonald once he has arrived on the scene and then back down to Amy's level, emphasising the contrast in height and superiority of the characters.  The final shot is a close up on Amy, forcing the audience to feel sympathy for her.

Scene five opens with a long shot, establishing the new location and displaying the props placed around room, as well as the decoration of the room its self.  The over-the-shoulder shots which follow, are tilted, low angle shots, from Amy's assumed eye level.  This gives the characters authority over the audience and makes them appear more intimidating.

Scene six consists of more over the shoulder shots down at Amy's eye level. The low angle shots of Mr McDonald put the audience in Amy's position.  The over the shoulder medium close up shots of Amy display her body language.

The seventh scene starts with an establishing shot to show the change of location.  This shot is followed by a montage of insert shots of men using props associated with hard labour, building a theme of experience and age.

The eighth scene begins with a tilt up shot to reveal a note left by Amy, with very girly, childish handwriting, followed by another tilt up shot and a slow zoom on a photo to build sympathy for Amy and to emphasise her emotions.

Scene nine starts with a tilt up to the window of Amy's room, to show that it is an open window we're looking in through.  This signifies that this is a serious event, that Amy has left via her bedroom window.  The positioning of the camera represents Amy's emotions of feeling cast out, looking in on her note being discovered.

Scene 10 is significant as it is not shot at Amy's level, but at Mr McDonalds eye level.  This expresses the absence of Amy and now the audience will experience the narrative from his perspective.

Mise-en-scene

Scene 1

The first scene has a group of countrymen on a farmland in Scotland.  Some of the men are shown as being quite elderly; grey hair, beards.  However they are all dressed similarly; flat caps, warm coats, thick trousers, boots, gloves.  The colours are all very dull and boring. The men are seen packing away their tools. These factors combined, give the audience the impression that the environment is very masculine and hard working.

Scene 2

This scene introduces us to Amy.  Amy is dressed very casually.  She is asked to drive the truck, but once she's in the driver's seat, she looks very puzzled at the controls and hesitates to eventually get it moving.  Her clothing shows her youth and how she is out of place.  Her nervousness in the vehicle shows that she is lying to them and does not know how to drive.

Scene 3

Amy has crashed into another car on the road and a men steps out to confront her.  The man has grey hair, a beard and is dressed smartly yet old fashioned.  He begins yelling at Amy showing much authority and she responds by cowering behind the other characters that come over to the accident.  The way she reacts is very child-like.

Scene 4

This scene contains only two characters.  The farm owner and the school headmaster (the crash victim).  They are inside the farm manor which is decorated very maturely and there are a lot of wooden surfaces in this room suggesting it is a study.  This is the first scene from the clip that is not outside, but carries a low key lighting.  The men pour out glasses of brandy from a decanter.  These props are very mature and would not be associated with the younger generation.

Scene 5

The farm owner is giving Amy a telling off.  He points his finger down at her whilst his talking to her.  This gesture show his authority over her.  She reacts to his commands very childishly, throwing a tantrum before running out of the room.

Scene 6

This is a montage of the countrymen working outdoors and Amy's bedroom.  The men are displaying their trade skills and carrying large heavy objects around.   These images again display the masculinity of the environment. In Amy's room we see teen magazines scattered on her bed, a teddy bear, lots of pink decorations and a note she has left, the handwriting of which looks very childish and playful.  These images again display the masculinity of the environment.  These two places in contrast show a distinct difference in age and gender, summing up the clip conclusively.

Stereotypes

I have been given the stereotype of age to analyse and I am going to look at school kids.  Ben Mitchell from Eastenders is a small boy, possibly a young teenager, that attends a public school in East London.  He is portrayed as being a bit of a geek; a bit shorter than the other kids, carry's a large backpack, wares glasses, has pale skin and a typical boy haircut.  Nothing about him particuarly stands out amoungst the other kids, but in the scene I have chosen to analyse, he is being bullied for having a hearing defect.  There is a group of 4 or 5 kids that surround Ben and appear to take pleasure from threatening and making fun of him.  This is a massive stereo type of school kids worldwide, both the bullied and the bullys.

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Task 1

Part A

Media Language - List and explain the terminology commonly used in the media such as mise-en-scene, continuity, diegesis, donotation, connotation, close-up, diagesis, lighting ratio, etc.

Analyse the following:
Cinematography - the camerawork used
Editing - special effect and the pace of scenes (fast/slow)
Sound - the diagenic and non-diagenic sounds during the scene
Mise-en-scene - meaning 'everything in front of the camara' such as the characters, props, costumes, movement, location, lighting.
Representation - how people, or groups, are portrayed by the media. Looking closely at the age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, regional identity, disability and social class of the characters

Part B

A case study of two films analysing the production, distribution and exhibiting

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Attack on the Block