“Witness” (1985) : How Peter Weir establishes the thriller genre in the opening scenes.
Description:
- Little boy from Amish background journeys to city with his mother (the unknown) and in the train station train is cancelled entrapping them in the city and the boy witnesses a gruesome murder in the toilets and is then questioned by the police (police not sticking to regulations completely showing police corruption)
Mise-en-scene:
- Suspense builds as each toilet door is opened in search of witnesses (the boy). Entrapment as boy is stuck in toilets.
- Props in toilet scene: gun and knife straight away showing classic thriller conventions.
Location:
- Claustrophobic places connoting entrapment and a sense of nightmare. (For example the toilet scene and the boy trapped in the toilet cubicles during the murder)
- The city represented as a dystopia (similar to the dystopia in “Once Upon a Time in America” and “Essex Boys”) (wet shiny street in city further affirming the connotation of dystopia)
- “Happy Valley” (sign in city when car stops) ironic showing further the dystopia.
- Philadelphia station statue of angel holding a dying man possibly representing the angel being the boy’s protector in the future.
- Claustrophobic unglamorous locations connoting criminality, entrapment, corruption and moral decadence of the city and its people in contrast with innocent Amish boy.
- isolated, deserted city at night.
Lighting:
- Wet shiny streets connoting sense of nightmare/ unreality (dystopia). Used to reflect low levels of chiaroscuro lighting.
- Chiaroscuro lighting (light on dark)
Sound:
- Diegetic sound of water after murder building suspense further.
Camera Angles:
- Low angle shot of train making it feel quiet menacing representing how menacing the city they are on the way to is (dystopia).
- Over the shoulder high angle long shot showing the point of view of angel statue like the angel is watching down on the boy.
- Shot of boy going towards toilet door alone (vanishing point of toilet door) (child going in to vanishing point representing going in to the unknown. (Shot possibly rule of thirds of vanishing point…?)
- Close up of child’s eye as he witness’s the murder placing the audience in the eyes of the witness. Then a point of view of the action in the boy's eyes.
- Close up’s used to position audience with the characters/ action (identifying with characters emotions)
- Shot of boy trying to lock the door and it not locking connoting nightmare.
- Shot of killer searching for wittness with low angle of just feet seeing inside cubicle from below building suspense.
- Shot of boy standing on toilet with body shaped as crucifix possibly representing how the statue of angel is looking out for him, good vs. evil.
The murder scene:
- interesting shot further in movie showing police and political corruption:
I like the link you've made between the statue and the positioning of the child in the toilet cubicle when the killer is checking the toilet cubicles for a possible witness.
ReplyDeleteI suggest you begin to use prezis or slide shows or power points rather than writing up your posts in note form.
The purpose of the lighting (ambient and non ambient) would be useful to discuss.
Better but remember quality rather than quantity, BUT your analysis remains mainly undeveloped.
Some satisfactory analysis of generic aspects of mise-en-scene.